We believe in the ethos: you protect what you love

 

The I AM WATER mission is to help people fall in love with the ocean.

 
 

Much of today's ocean degradation is fundamentally due to human disconnect. Many people feel very little, or no connection to the ocean, behaving in ways that negatively affect the well being of this precious resource.

We feel especially passionate about working with underserved / low income coastal communities where, despite living walking distance to the shoreline young people have never seen the world just beneath the waves.

 

Watch as a group of Grade 7 Students experience their ocean for the first time:

 
Awe is something many people experience when they're in nature, and according to a study detailed in The Nature Fix, it's associated with increased generosity toward other people. "Maybe what we get out of nature is a sense of connection to the larger community of life. I know how that sounds: at best like an aspiration dressed up as a hypothesis, at worst like woolly-headed romanticism. But here's the thing - science is on its way to proving it" ~ Jason Mark, The NY Times
THIS is how the sea makes us feel! Coach @lukeattenborough caught fellow coach @monraykenny with this sea-salt-inspired grin today at our workshop with Beacon View Primary at Windmill Beach. We LOVE what we get to share 💦💙
A happy day by the sea for the Grade 7s of Beacon View Primary. Looking below the blue at St James tidal pool 💙
Learning to snorkel in a country that is one of the top 10 "Most Biodiverse" countries in the world! Some of the team have been attending The Conservation Symposium in KZN, South Africa this week, hosted by @ezemvelokznwildlife. Yesterday, a plenary talk by @wwfsouthafrica CEO Dr Morné du Plessis covered how South Africa has an unbelievable wealth of natural capital in its wildlife and wild spaces. This has apparently helped tourism grow 3 X faster than the SA economy as a whole, and contribute more than 10% to our GDP. Now isn't that a wild country worth protecting, and inspiring future generations to feel a kinship to?
We've been reading Florence Williams's "The Nature Fix" to learn more about our brains outdoors...and here's an interesting point to ponder: "We don’t experience natural environments enough to realize how restored they can make us feel, nor are we aware that studies also show they make us healthier, more creative, more empathetic and more apt to engage with the world and with each other. Nature, it turns out, is good for civilization". ~ Florence Williams, The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative ________ Photo: Coach Katherine gently preps a Grade 7 learner from Levana Primary in Lavender Hill before showing her the world underwater
You will love the ocean. It makes you feel so... I don't know. Small, but not in a bad way. Small because you realize you're part of something bigger ~ Lauren Myracle
Levana Primary school is in the heart of Lavender Hill in Cape Town. Its community faces enormous challenges, not least of which is the gang violence the area experiences. But spending 2 days with the Grade 7s from this earnest, eco-conscious school and its soft-spoken, nurturing teachers taught us so much about choosing to leap whole-heartedly into new opportunities, especially if they're outside your comfort zone. Curious, polite and full of a kind of courage that inspires us, it was a privilege to share with these learners the wild spaces that bring us at I AM WATER so much joy and peace.
Today was a beautiful day at St James beach, where the high tides kept us on the grass for our home base! Oh, and on a side note: a big thanks to the ocean for kicking us some place where we'd notice the bright yellow spring flowers all blooming and the changing blue greens of the sea as it churned over the rocks during the day 🌸 Sometimes the ocean really does put you where you need to be, before you know where that place is yourself 💙 __________ Photo: @meganrose_f
Our beautiful community of coaches who ran our workshops on Monday and Tuesday. Finding individuals who are positive ocean role models who work in and around the sea, or the natural world, has been an amazing part of running these workshops and facilitating an experience for kids. They really do look up to these ocean heroes! Sam is a crewman with the National Sea Rescue Institute, Marlin is a teacher and a graduate of the Two Oceans Aquarium Young Biologists programme. Monray and Andrea are lifeguards, Katherine is a biologist from the University of Cape Town and Angel is a diver and yachtie 💦💙 🐠 We reckon you can see why we love our coaches!