Green Shoots in Limpopo

The recent Gauteng Orienteering championships were held in faraway Haenertsburg in the Limpopo province. At the GOC champs there were encouraging signs of orienteering beginning to take root in the Polokwane area.
Participating in the championships were, twelve learners from nearby Mphachue Secondary School, their orienteering teacher, Mary Makhobotlwane, and former pupil, Ephraim Chuene. Ever since the SAOF Teachers’ training course held in Polokwane in August 2011, Mary and Mphachue Secondary School have embraced orienteering. Not only is orienteering offered as part of the Life Orientation syllabus as Mphachue, but it is now an official sport at the school.
On the way through to their final controlling visit to Haenertsburg, AR club members Nicholas de Klerk and Garry Morrison picked up Ephraim Chuene in Polokwane. This was an ideal coaching opportunity as the pair confirmed and marked control sites for the GOC championship events.

OCAD for Ephraim

At the end of the first day of control-site checking in the forests, Nicholas and Garry put on their SAOF hats and presented Ephraim with a laptop computer, loaded with the Starter edition of OCAD 11.

Since his introduction to orienteering at the Teachers’ training course presented by the SAOF in Polokwane in August 2011, Ephraim has taken to the sport like a fish to water.  He has shown a particular passion for mapping and has produced some fine hand-drawn maps.  Inspired by his attendance at the SAOF Introductory mapping course in December 2012, he has since produced a number of additional hand-drawn orienteering maps.  Some examples are reproduced in this post.

Now armed with a laptop loaded with OCAD the SAOF is supporting Ephraim in his mapping efforts.

Club Starter Kit

A selection of Ephraim’s Hand-drawn maps

At the GOC champs prize-giving ceremony the SAOF presented Ephraim with a club starter kit.  With this we aim to support Ephraim towards his goal of starting an orienteering club in Seshego.  Seshego is a suburb on the outskirts of Polokwane where Ephraim attends college.  He has already mapped the college campus, where Nicholas and Garry have already completed a course set on Ephraim’s hand-drawn map at the end of their scouting weekend.

The SAOF is also in the process of providing a club starter kit to Mphachue Secondary School.  Their orienteering coach, Mary, is keenly assisted by a number of learners who have now attended both the SA O champs in September 2012 and the GOC champs in 2013.  Their enthusiasm and Ephraim’s talent for map-making means that, with the support of the SAOF, we are witnessing the birth of regular orienteering in the Polokwane area.

These initiatives are part of the SAOF’s projects to grow and develop the sport of orienteering more widely within South Africa.  The SAOF would like to acknowledge both the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and the Department of Sports and Recreation South Africa for the financial support that makes these projects possible.