Benoni-based NSRI celebrates its female volunteers
Annie van Rooyen, who joined with her daughter, loves learning the new skills she acquires as part of her ongoing training with the NSRI
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is celebrating some of its leading women volunteers in celebration of August being Women’s Month.
The female volunteers at NSRI inland Station 27, situated at Ebotse Golf and Country Estate, in Rynfield, are the heart of the organisation and offer up their personal time (hundreds of hours) and are on standby 24/7 to ensure water safety is maintained and people in distress are rescued.
Sarah Anderson, from the NSRI, said there is a stigma that rescuer organisations are more suited to men. However, the NSRI does not discriminate and welcomes men and women to join as volunteers.
Mala Shunmoogam is a trainee shore crew member, responsible for liaison between base and the rescue team at events as well as search and rescue during Gauteng floods.
Her duties include ensuring injured parties are safely handed over to paramedics on duty. She is a qualified Level 3 first aider through St Johns.
“Being a volunteer does not mean that we have nothing to do with our time. It means we prioritise our family, work and community time. We believe we need to play our part by volunteering some time to help the community,” Shunmoogam said.
She joined the NSRI after attending an exhibition at the Fire Department in Boksburg where the NSRI had equipment on display along with a video presentation.
On meeting the NSRI station commander, she decided it was a way to make a difference to at least one person’s life.
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Sherezaan “Zani” Botha is a trainee water and shore crew member and joined the NSRI after her cousin did.
She said she decided to do something good in her spare time as she loves helping people in need.
Libby Niterl joined with her children. “I wanted them to learn certain skills I could not teach them,” she said.
Annie van Rooyen, who joined with her daughter, loves learning the new skills she acquires as part of her ongoing training with the NSRI.
Niterl and van Rooyen are both part of the lifesaving crew, while Niterl is also the station’s committee secretary, responsible for ordering and issuing stock items and playing a pivotal role in the day-to-day running of the station.
Niterl said one of the prime motivating factors for her is to give back to the community and being a part of a family outside of her immediate family.
Volunteer Jamie Potgieter said women are able to do just as much as men and are able to bring added qualities such as empathy and compassion to the table. “Being inland, the physical challenges may not be as great (as coastal), but we do our share. It’s great to be a woman in what was previously a male dominated field.”
Shunmoogam added: “Women’s empowerment does not mean that men and women become the same. It means that we have access to opportunities such as sea rescue volunteering and life changes which is not dependent, nor constrained, by our gender, but rather by our abilities.”
The women of NSRI Station 27 have a diverse range of roles and occupations, ranging from au pair, student, sales consultant, motor industry auditor, personal assistant, and risk and legal compliance manager.
Station 27 is one of five inland stations operating around dams and rivers of South Africa with the goal to prevent drowning through rescue operations, education and prevention initiatives, and has a strong component of female members.
More than a quarter of NSRI volunteers are women, with the number growing each year.
Women form an integral part of the NPO which is dedicated to saving lives on South African coastal and inland waters and was founded by pioneering woman Patti Price in 1966, following the tragic deaths of fishermen off Still Bay.
For more information about Benoni’s NSRI inland Station 27 contact them on 060 991 9301.
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