Hanli Prinsloo

Hanli is building a generation of children from underprivileged communities near oceans and rivers who will contribute to the protection of the environment throughout their lives, through transformative immersive ocean and river experiences.

Hanli started I AM WATER to provide opportunities to engage and educate children about the world beneath the waves to understand their personal opportunity to protect the planet. Hanli believes that through safe and structured firsthand experience of being underwater, at the right developmental age, can facilitate positive connection to the environment and lead to lasting behavior change.

Although initiatives that teach about ocean conservation already exist in South Africa, what sets I AM WATER apart from the rest is that they take the children into the water for an immersive ocean experience designed to create a strong connection to the ocean. The idea behind this is that once young people experience life under water it is transformational compared to only learning about oceans theoretically in the classroom. This is especially important in a context where due to aparthied spatial planning they do not have access to the safest beaches and in some African cultures there is a strong belief that the ancestors live in the water and could take you therefore this compounds the disconnect between these children and the ocean.

Hanli with her organisation have developed the Ocean Connection Methodology which is the culmination of the activities in the 2-days experiential learning journey, and Ocean Guardian Workshops which I AM WATER uses to facilitate ocean connection with its participants. The Ocean Connection approach is more holistic than other offerings. Several components are designed to provide a transformative experience for participants. Through the mental and physical health (mindfulness) component, children mindfully connect to the ocean through the teaching of yoga-inspired stretching, stress-relieving breathing techniques and reflection. This allows the children to settle into their bodies, relax and prepare for their experience in the water.

I AM WATER has secured a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Basic Education so that the programme is offered through the schools and integrated into the curriculum. In collaborating with the schools and teachers, they work with grade 7 pupils who are on average 12 years old, and they believe that this age group is still young enough to learn through play but also forming core beliefs about themselves.

The ocean is the heart of the planet, with sea plants producing 70% of the oxygen we breathe. As such, the wellbeing of humanity is dependent on the well-being of our oceans. Ocean preservation is our gift to the future, and investment in the next generation is key to promoting efforts to protect our precious life-giving oceans.

The ocean is under threat, and much of the degradation as Hanli believes is in part due to the human disconnection to nature – many coastal communities are not included in the conservation dialogue. Climate change and ocean conservation are deeply linked, and it is now well established that coastal communities in developing countries are some of those most at risk from climate change. The problem is not only the lack of environmental education in low-income schools, but a lack of connection to and experience of our oceans, particularly amongst those mostly affected by ocean degradation in low-income coastal communities. In South Africa there is more than 2000 km of coastline. According to I AM WATER’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning divisions, children surveyed reported that more than 1/3 live walking distance to the ocean but only a few can swim or understand the ocean’s benefits to them and their influence on the ocean. This perpetuates the lack of curiosity about the link between life on land and the impact it has on rivers and the ocean.

For many previously disadvantaged people in South Africa nature conservation is not a priority due to many extenuating factors that affected connection to nature and the outdoors. Racial segregation and apartheid spatial planning in South Africa, have had an impact on black and brown people’s relationship with nature and oceans. During apartheid, the all-white National Party government mandated that black people were to live in separate areas and use different public facilities from whites. In 1953, the Reservation of Separate amenities Act was introduced, which enforced segregation of all public amenities according to the colour of one’s skin and this included beaches. Access to safe, first-class beaches that were suitable for swimming and ocean exploration was limited to those of European descent. In addition, in 1970, the government introduced the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act, which saw black and brown people being displaced to barren rural lands or dusty townships that were far removed from any forms of nature, thus further severing and connection with from nature.

29 years after the dawn of democracy, the effects of the Apartheid era are still evident and reflected in the vast inequality that exists today, as privileges such as diving, and ocean exploration remain beyond the reach of many due to the high cost of participating in these activities. According to Conservation Magazine, all people are at heart, environmentalists, however, the lack of awareness, knowledge and importance given to conservation crimes, including water pollution, can be expected to continue until South Africa’s society is educated enough about the link between life on land and the ocean and their role in reducing the harm on the marine ecosystem. According to Sustainable Seas Trust, education is key to resolving many of South Africa’s major socio-economic and environmental challenges and is important for promoting conservation and influencing decisions in communities. In line with the United Nations Sustainable Development goal 14, which is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources, educating and getting the youth of South Africa to actively engage in marine conservation is a big step towards decreasing the ever-rising threats on many marine species.

Recognising these factors Hanli has used advocacy, education, firsthand experience and storytelling to change the community’s perceptions about the ocean, teach about marine biodiversity, highlight the importance of ocean conservation, but most importantly, give underprivileged communities the opportunity to experience life beyond the shore.

I AM WATER has committed to providing programmes that give underprivileged youth a first-class immersive experience delivered by coaches who look like them and come from the same communities as they do. This makes the learning relatable and helps them to understand how the ocean directly impacts their lives and gives visibility to the fact that humankind cannot survive without nature unless we radically change our behaviour.

Their target group is under-resourced communities, where despite living within walking distance to the shoreline, many young people have never explored the world beyond the waves. They have made it their mission to ignite a movement of “blue minds” across the planet, to facilitate physical and emotional connections with aquatic environments, to build an understanding of the interdependence of healthy humans and healthy oceans and to influence behaviours to protect the global seas.

Their initiative involves four programmes that learners participate in - ocean guardians, river guardians, school speaking series and community coaching. The ocean guardians programme targets grade 7 learners from underserved coastal communities and consists of two full school days of ocean exploration spent at the beach practicing stretching and breath work, learning about marine ecosystems and ocean challenges, the human body’s unique adaptation to being underwater and exploring rock pools with marine experts. It connects participants to the ecosystem by allowing them to be a part of it and learning how to be confident in deep water.

When the children arrive at the beach they start with a mindfulness excersise. After the mindfulness component then the coaches present an ocean literacy (education) component, children are taught about the importance of the ocean, the gifts that the ocean gives humanity, the challenges it faces and the things we can do to help the ocean.This is then followed by splitting the group to explore the different stations which consist of tidal pool exploration where the students learn to be comfortable in the shallow water where they can stand on their feet and identify some of the marine life such as star fish, mussels, etc. The final group goes on a beach cleanup to raise the awareness of littering the harmful things that are discarded by the beach. The third component of the immersive experience is the snorkelling (sport) component where the children are gently introduced to the beauty of what lies below the ocean.

Hanli is aware of the great risk involved and the coaches go through an extensive training on child safeguarding and safety in water. They have a 65 page document safety and risk mitigation document and thus far there have been no incidents.

The school speaking series involves representatives from the Coaching Communities who visit schools and deliver informative, fun and engaging presentations that focus on how humans are connected to the ocean, the gifts given by the ocean and ways everyone can be part of the solutions to these challenges. The presentations have been developed to be in alignment with the South African Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) curriculum so that students can be engaged on concepts and ideas they have already encountered. The programme is offered not only to the grade 7 learners, but the whole school to change their mindset about the environment and the ocean from an early age.

The coaching community program is comprised of marine scientists, National Sea Research Institute (NSRI) crew members, lifeguards and ocean conservation advocates who act as role models to the participants across the various programs. The coaches are provided with continued first aid training, free diving, public speaking, photography, and career development skills to equip them with skills development within the sector. The coaches are taken from the communities that the children come from, enabling them to see role models that look like them, engaged in ocean conservation

Through these initiatives they can teach communities, and particularly young people, on conserving marine life and having a healthy relationship with the ocean and life in it. They also provide the participants with a unique experience of the ocean that encourages them to stay connected with nature and make their contribution to changing the world. To date, more than 16000 learners have benefitted from the program. At the end of each 2-day immersive experience the learners are asked to write in their own words what their commitment to the ocean will be. Through this they start to see that their small actions such as committing to not littering or picking plastics and other rubbish, so they don’t end up in the rivers and ocean make a difference. Through subsequent surveys I AM WATER tracks these commitments and how they have shared the information they learnt.

One of the new programmes that I AM WATER launched in 2022 is the River Guardians Workshops. This programme was launched on World Oceans Day as part of I AM WATER's expansion of the work away from the coast to spread ocean knowledge and love. The goal of this programme is to draw the connection between freshwater systems and the ocean. Being an ocean guardian doesn't have to mean living close to the sea. The message behind the River Guardians Workshops is that one can take care of and protect the ocean, while enjoying and appreciating freshwater ecosystems. River health and ocean health are connected through the water cycle.

These workshops use environmental education as a tool to discuss topics like the water cycle, river health, conservation challenges and empowering solutions to the challenges presented. Citizen science is used in the form of a mini-SASS (stream assessment scoring system) investigation to illustrate how river health can be affected by human influence. Alongside the mini-SASS, a river ecosystem exploration and riverbank clean-up are used to further deepen the understanding of this message. These workshops take place along a river and are focused on allowing participants to see the connection between rivers and the ocean and how their actions can positively impact the natural ecosystems.

Since I AM WATER’s inception, it has become evident that there is a growing need for community-level grassroots initiatives to be equipped with the skills to mobilise youth in their respective coastal communities to connect, protect and sustainably enjoy the ocean. In response to this need, Hanli has established the OCEANS FOR ALL Alliance (OFAA), which offers free membership and support to community-level ocean conservationists. Through OFAA, participating organisations send a representative to be trained to implement I AM WATER's Ocean Connection programme. In addition to equipping participants to run Ocean Connection Workshops in their local settings, the training programme will equip the organisation's representative to train (once they return) other members of their organisation. The member organisation holds OFAA membership, and all staff, volunteers, members will have open access to online resources and the wider OFAA community.

Through OFAA, Hanli is cost-effectively scaling its work by offering in-person Ocean Connection training for new and existing organisations to develop, implement and evaluate their adapted Ocean Connection Workshop programmes (training is based on I AM WATER's Ocean Connection Methodology). Post-training, OFAA hosts online support sessions to provide ongoing mentorship.

Hanli Prinsloo has been navigating the complexities of the South African society from childhood. Having been raised on a farm in Cullinan near Pretoria, with progressive parents and a very conservative grandfather made for a very complex childhood given the political and racial tensions of South Africa. Because of her father’s support for the African National Congress, they were ostracized in the community and bullied at school, and she soon learnt the importance of being the change even when it is difficult. Her experiences as a white South African being raised during the height of the apartheid era taught her to be aware of the vast inequalities in South Africa and what that meant for those who were oppressed. While trying to find her place as a changemaker in the post-apartheid South Africa she moved to Sweden and worked as an au pair to fund her studies. She saw storytelling as the way she could have an impact by contributing to a different narrative about Africa in the Western media. For one of her projects, she went and covered the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe to tell the story of art and artist coming out of Zimbabwe. While in Sweden she was then introduced to free diving, and this ignited her love for the ocean. Amongst her many accomplishments as a free diver, she has represented South Africa at the Free-diving World Championships, become the first South African to hold records in all six competitive diving disciplines simultaneously and won the Nordic Deep Free-diving competition.

After moving back to South Africa in 2008, she discovered that not much had changed and those who had been previously disadvantaged were still barred from accessing many privileges because of the long-term effects of apartheid. She sought to find a way to combine her love for nature, storytelling, as well as her free diving experiences to change the status quo in South Africa, which inspired her to start ‘I AM WATER’. She was elected as one of the World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders in 2010.