Our guest speaker last evening was Dave de Graaf from Live For More.
Dave is from South Africa with a background in engineering and robotics. He is passionate about helping people transform themselves and so, after volunteering with them, when an opportunity arose to become their Operations Manager, he jumped at it. The guys who are referred to Live for More inevitably come from a background of drugs, poverty and negativity.
Live for More offers their basic course of Tai Watea. This is a 17 week course based on surfing to help them create a better life for themselves. Building a relationship through a weekly “surfing and kai” program, the youngsters learn to trust the team.
Little achievements lead to positive relationships, group sessions hearing from role models – people who have walked in their shoes and turned their life around. The courses cover the full spectrum of cultural, spiritual and practical skills – helping the guys get off drugs; get their driving licences; create a CV for a job; hold down a good job. The achievements attained are based around Relationships, Connections and a sense of Belonging.
Dave closed with an amazing and moving story of one of the graduates. Truly touching and humbling. Live For More is totally funded by donations so it was great to present Dave with a cheque from the proceeds of our Kitchen Takeover – the last fund-raiser we held before lockdown.
Live For More make the most amazing difference in people’s lives and makes us proud to be Rotarians who can help them!