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Alicia Keet: Passionate About Teaching

My name is Alicia Keet and
I am 35 years old. I am a mother of an eight-year-old boy and a two-year-old
girl. I was born in Stellenbosch and am currently residing in Macassar,
Somerset West. I am a teacher at Macassar
High School and I am
passionate about teaching.

In 2004, a few concerned parents and
teachers got together and decided to start some positive initiatives for the
youth of Macassar. This was when the drug methamphetamine, more commonly called
"tik", started to take hold of our youngsters. This is how our organisation,
Macassar Inter Church Alliance for Hope (MICAH) got started.

Surfing was identified as a possible
project because Macassar is situated along the coast. With the help of Cecil
Solomon from Surfing South Africa, the project started off with a bang. We got
120 youngsters from the local schools to take part in the first "Let’s Go
Surfing" event that was held at Strand beach.

This is how we got in contact with Andy
Pitt from Sonsurf
School. A partnership was
formed with Sonsurf
School to coach the Micah
surfers on Saturdays for two hours at no cost.

We currently have 40 surfers as part of
our project. For the past three years we had surfers taking part in SA Surfing
Grommet Games and the South African Junior Championships. These events took our
youngsters to places like Port Elizabeth, East
London and Durban.
Our surfers were also part of the 2006 Guinness Record attempt for the most
surfers on one wave, as well as this year’s Earth Wave event that took place at
Muizenberg.

Kahuna Surfing Academy had
been wonderful in including the Micah surfers in all of their events and even
got sponsors for the transport expenses.

SA Surfing has organized a Christmas party
for the Micah surfers for the past three years with no exception for this year.
SA Surfing has donated a few wetsuits and surfboards towards the project, but
we still need some more suits and boards.

Our aim is to get the surfers to the beach
as often as possible, but due to financial constraints regarding transport
cost, the project can only get them to practise once a week.

I have been so blessed with a team of
committed youngsters and parents who contribute so much of their time to make a
success of the project. People like Ashwill Botha, as well as a group of sport
loving teachers, Judy Terblanche, Monica Van Wyk, Leona Van Sonen and Shirley
Rhode. With the support of family and friends, I am able to take the project to
new heights.

I love the outdoors, and that is probably
why I love surfing so much. I enjoy hiking and take a group of youngsters for
weekend hikes at least twice a year. I am also an Award Leader for the
President Award Programme and enrolled 30 youngsters from our school to be part
of the program.

This programme encourages youngsters to
achieve a bronze, silver or gold award for their participation in sport,
adventure activities, and community service and life skills training.

Twenty of these participants have
qualified and received either the bronze or the silver award during May this
year. I play bowling and participate in fun walks and short distance running. I
take pride in motivating the youth and that is why I am involved in the Cape
Wailers Fieldband.

One of our achievements as the Fieldband
was being part of the opening ceremony for the Tri-Nations Rugby match at
Newlands stadium. These activities keep me focussed, motivated and drives me to
do more.

My advice to women and especially young
girls is to grab the opportunities that will empower our lives. Taking part in
sport gives you a zest for life.

It enhances your self-esteem; keeps you in
shape, brings you in contact with people and as a bonus enables you to see the
world. This might seem a lot of work, but to me its not! It actually enables me
to spend quality time with my family.

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