‘You’re Right on Time’ campaign makes Waves for Change

By Mango OMC

The South African NPC Waves for Change (W4C) is ramping up efforts to boost resilience, confidence and mental well-being among young people through its ‘You’re Right on Time’ campaign.

The campaign, which dovetails with W4C’s annual Immersion Session on World Mental Health Day (October 10), aims to raise public awareness about the ‘second window of neurological opportunity’ to improve the lives of young people growing up in high-stress environments.

According to the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, nine out of every 10 young people in South Africa lack access to vital mental health support, leaving them vulnerable to the negative impacts of trauma and adversity.

While UNICEF says the first 1,000 days of a person’s life are vital for socio-emotional development, there is also a second window between the ages of nine and 14 where young people can maximise their potential if they receive the right social and emotional support. Effective services during this window are even more vital for young people growing up in poverty, deprivation, conflict and crisis.

W4C’s 43 Surf Therapy coaches meet young people in this exact moment, where connection and safe spaces offer opportunity for change.

“We can’t emphasise enough how important this time is,” says W4C Muizenberg site manager Tony Gubeza. “Young people need access to safe spaces, away from all this violence, where they can develop the coping skills they need to have positive futures.”

The You’re Right on Time campaign speaks directly to this important period for intervention.

Since its inception in 2009, 12,091 adolescents have experienced W4C’s Surf Therapy programme. In research conducted by W4C, adolescents growing up in violence-exposed communities in Cape Town reported experiencing between 6 to 8 adverse events every year, such as witnessing shootings or stabbings, walking over dead bodies on the way to school, drug use at home, sexual assault and more.

W4C conducted a study in 2016 where feedback was gathered from 54 adolescents living in high-stress environments across the Western Cape. Their invaluable input helped develop what has come to be known as the Take 5 Model, an evidence-based, simple, replicable teaching framework that addresses adolescents’ needs holistically. This was subsequently fused with the rush of surfing to create Surf Therapy.

W4C partnered with the University of Cape Town, University of the Western Cape, The New School (New York) and Edinburgh Napier University in developing the Model, which is built on the pillars of energisers, emotional check-ins, paced breathing exercises, games of self-regulation, future planning, social connection and emotional check-outs.

The Take 5 Model and the benefits of surfing in the ocean are felt in both the short and long term.

Participants feel they belong to a supportive peer group, develop new social skills and master adaptive ways to manage stress, all while having fun!

Down the line, there is a reduction in risky behaviour, improvement in impulse and emotive control, physiology such as heart rate variability improves, and participants experience healthier relationships with peers, teachers and caregivers. These outcomes support participants to finish school, reject antisocial behaviour and gang involvement, and plan for positive futures.

Gubeza says: “Young people, no matter how difficult their circumstances may be, can learn how to build positive social networks and develop self-regulation skills to support healthy emotional and behavioural responses to stress, if they are given the right support and services.

“Surfing is what makes our programme extra fun, exciting and attractive to children. When they’re in the ocean trying to ride that wave, they are also experiencing respite and forgetting about all their worries”.

The Immersion Session on World Mental Health Day marks the start of W4C's annual fundraising campaign.

Immersion is the very first session in W4C’s curriculum and involves children walking hand in hand into the ocean and pausing to ask one another, “Are you okay?”

This powerful exercise instils a culture of respect, protection, and communication, teaching children to build trust, share feelings, and keep one another safe without taking them beyond their comfort zones.

The Immersion Session at Muizenberg Beach on October 10 welcomes anyone to experience its impact for themselves. In addition, it will enable the public to learn more about W4C, Surf Therapy and the far-reaching outcomes of timely intervention strategies.

Donations to the You’re Right on Time campaign support adolescents referred by teachers, social workers, clinics and hospitals to receive the support they need.

Donations start from as little as R40, which ensures a participant receives a warm post-surf meal. An amount of R200 will provide access to a child’s inclusive Surf Therapy session, R500 will contribute meaningfully to a W4C coach’s stipend, while a donation of R1 000 helps pay for the services of a debrief psychologist.

All contributions can be made through the W4C donations portal on the website.