This course forms a component of a skills training partnership. Individuals will participate in a 14 day OBSA course & then be selected for a 4 week skills training initiative with Origin Coffee. Successful candidates will then have employment opportunities.
The participants have been selected from ‘Men on the Side of the Road’ and ‘Big Issue’ and have been unemployed for 6 months. Some are refugees with work permits & have suffered injustice during the xenophobic attacks several months ago.

The students and supervisors from the South African Education and Environment Project have written letters of thanks to their Outward Bound instructors and to the JDI Group who sponsored their course. This is a little snippet of what they wrote!

“I enjoyed myself to the fullest and also I gained lots of self confidence and how to treat and respect nature. What I experienced at the camp was how to abseil which I was a bit scared of but I convinced myself that I can do it and it turned out that there was nothing to be scared about. It also taught me that I must put my trust in the person next to me or in a friend. The camp for me was a great experience.” Songezo

The photographs & feedback letters very clearly demonstrate the extraordinary experience these individuals had and the excitement & joy they felt in being provided the opportunity of exploring their own limits. Each brought their own strengths to the group & as a team they exceeded their own expectations. The group developed trust & mutual respect through their shared experience. Each& every individual overcame a personal obstacle & through this accomplishment strengthened their self-confidence & increased their motivation. The opportunity to explore the pristine wilderness environment & be one with nature was a shared positive experience.