Turning school students into divemasters – the next step!

Since August 22^nd, Wicked Diving’s team of teachers have been visiting local tourism school, SMKN1 Labuan Bajo, everyThursday. Headed up by Jo, Wicked’s Conservation Manager, and Mei, Wicked’s office superstar and former student of SMKN1, the programme began with a series of lessons focusing on marine conservation.

From threats to the marine environment, to information about how many eggs a turtle lays, we aimed to give students a much broader view of what they can find right on their doorstep in the Komodo National Park. In addition, students were also given an inspirational talk by one of their peers, Marsel, one of Wicked’s divemasters and a Flores local. The aim of these classes was to inspire pride in the local area and give more information about how and why students should aspire to work within the dive industry.

The next stage is interviews. The programme we have prepared is not only theory based. Our intention is to take some of the more promising and enthusiastic students through a series of practical lessons, which will begin with swimming and then see some learning how to dive and working their way through the dive certifications to finally reach Stress and Rescue diver and then ultimately to become SSI Dive Guides. However, with 86 students in the class, it is impossible in our time frame to provide practical training in these areas to all the students to ensure success and further learning. We now begin the difficult task of whittling down these smiling and hopeful students to a smaller number.

We started the interviews on a student by student basis. We were looking for good command of English, ambition and a real desire to work within the dive industry. It’s a really tough job, as many students want to be given this great opportunity. The wonderful thing we realised throughout the initial interview process was how effective our classroom sessions had been. Many students cited a newly discovered love for the underwater environment and for its conservation. We also received lots of feedback which showed that the students had not thought it would be possible to start work within the dive industry and they now understand that it is possible, and also what skills they need to be successful. 

Our goals are two-fold and the swimming lessons will be split into 2 groups. Complete beginners in one group, and those who can already swim in a second. We will provide important life skills to those students who cannot yet swim, as whatever employment they seek in the future, living on an island nation and working in tourism will most likely mean exposure to water, be it swimming pools, waterfalls or the sea. By learning how to swim they can be more confident and safe around the water.

The second group of swimmers will be given an opportunity to improve their skills and demonstrate comfort in the water. It is from this group that we will take students to complete the diving programme.

We have already seen some very promising individuals, some of whom with a real hunger to become dive guides, even some students whose family members work within the industry already. We are looking forward to finishing the interviews in next week’s lesson and then being able to inform students of their successes. One of the really inspiring finding is that so far, we have just as many females as males. Go the girls!

We’ll keep you updated as we continue the programme and even profile some of our candidates on the blog, so you can meet them in person!

-Wicked Diving Komodo

Plasticman - We salute you!!!

Based just out of town in Labuan Bajo, near to the airport, is a pretty special place with big ambitions. This is the home of Plastic Man. Plastic Man aka Stefan and his group of tireless supporters are on a crusade to rid Labuan Bajo of plastics and other rubbish and to teach the message of recycling to all that they can.


Wicked joined up with Plastic Man recently, and local charity Support International, as we wanted to get a better feel of what they do and how we can help. 7 interns from the local tourism school and instructor Jo headed over on Plastic Man’s own unique method of transportation – a little pick-up truck, complete with sound system and speakers.


When we got to the waste bank, Stefan gave all of our interns a talk about how and why they are recycling. We all learned about how the rubbish is separated, where it goes and who provides it. We then split into two teams and got to work. One team began by separating the rubbish and preparing it for shipment to Surabaya in Java. The second team picked up spades and rakes and started digging the land around the waste bank.


In addition to providing recycling services, the goal of the waste bank is to provide a model of self sufficient farming for local people to come and visit. The ground is being prepared for vegetable planting, a well has been dug, Marley the goat is the first of the animals to join the farm and there will even be a reading garden where families can come and read books at their leisure in a place where reading resources are often hard to come by and to afford for lower income families.


Stefan and Support International have some great plans to take their project further and at present the majority of the work is done by volunteers, some international and some from Labaun Bajo. For any visitors to Labuan Bajo who want to get involved and help out Plastic Man, Support International and their various projects, there are lots of opportunities, be it for one day or one week.


We are grateful that there are passionate people out there who believe in protecting the beauty of their country and we’re lucky to be in the position to be able to help educate the younger generation about waste management. Hopefully a little bit of the passion and selflessness will rub off and we’ll be able to see the change far and wide.


-Wicked Diving Komodo

Labuan Bajo community project – The marine life in Komodo National Park

 Today Calle and Erik went to the local Vocational High School and did a large presentation on marine life inside the Komodo National Park. The kids were super keen to learn more and also practice their english :) We'll be back for more presentations in the very near future!!

We, Calle and Erik, have been in Labuan Bajo since may. We started as DMTs and after the sign off we have been lucky enough to work for Wicked Diving. A few days ago we got the honourable task to do Wicked Divings first community project in one of the local schools in the area, for kids studying to become tour guides. The subject; The marine life here in Komodo National Park.

We were to do the presentations for two classes, covering the basics of the marine life in Komodo. Some of the different kind of corals and species you can see here. Such as what plankton and crustaceans are. And what fish, whether feeding on plankton/algae or on corals and who the bigger predators are. We also talked about the current threats, such as throwing garbage in the sea or on land and not using trash bins, illegal fishing methods and a few other things that destroy or damage reefs, but also what you can and should do to help preserve the marine life.

Not being used to teaching or even standing in front of kids we where, to put it simply, a bit freaked out. But in the end it turned out to be pretty fun. The kids where great and really enjoyed what we had to show and tell them. The teacher, Mr Jon, who helped arrange this for us where very happy and we will continue doing different kind of community projects for the school(s) around Labuan Bajo in the future.

Komodo Divemaster Blog entry - July 1st

1/7/2012

I can say life in Labuan Bajo has been pretty busy. The tourist season has officially started. Things are rolling well at Wicked;  we’ve had loads of local diving daytrips, been exploring more dive sites by snorkeling and diving. Jaya is coming and going to and from the Komodo National park every three days. I’ve gotten a good insight on how a dive shop works. 

I’ve had the chance to arrange and take part on the daytrips. I’ve assisted on courses, drawn my first dive site maps and given my first little dive briefings. Which by the way is not as easy as it looks, especially for someone who can’t draw to save their life and is nervous about speaking in front of people. It’s been lots of new experiences and awesome diving. I have definitely learned a lot in the past few weeks.

I’ve had the chance to be onboard two of the Komodo liveaboard trips and the diving in the park… WOW! I’ve never been diving in such currents. At times it felt like being inside a washing machine, at other sites you could almost stop kicking and let the current take you. I think I want to become a drift dive specialist, why bother to swim ;)? 

And the things you see under water there; turtles, cuttlefishes, lionfishes, nudibranchs, eels, huge schools of fusiliers, sharks, rays, mantas, napoleon wrasses and jacks so big they look like they must be on steroids. I could go on and on with the list but I think you get my point. Above the surface tranquil scenery and sunsets that take your breath away. I can say I don’t miss bartending in back home in Finland.

The past couple of days I’ve had the privilege to assist on an open water course. It was really a joy to take someone diving on their very first dive. I remember clearly how excited I was when I saw my first Christmas tree worm and I thought it was the coolest thing. I actually still think they’re cool but they’re not exactly super special. And Hannah the student was such a natural. All the skills and everything nailed with no problems. And most importantly she had a really good time. A turtle on your first dive is not too bad. Dives 3 and 4 we came across a leaf fish and a frog fish which were both the first ones of their kind for me and made me a very happy dmt :)

-Linda

Our Komodo Divemaster course still has available spaces in August!