Lubango - Thirty young people from Cuanza Sul province have received abseiling training over the last three months, promoted by the Chilean organisation named “Climbing for a Reason”, in partnership with Climb Angola, with a view to exploring the sport and boosting adventure tourism in their localities.
Climbing for a Reason is a non-profit organisation co-founded by Luis Birkner and Mateo Barrenengoa, with the aim of bringing the art of climbing to disadvantaged communities around the world. The initiative involves teaching the sport, building climbing walls, taking over some cliffs, knot workshops and donating equipment.
During the event in Huíla, these instructors trained National Police officers, firefighters and technicians from Angola's National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEMA) in rescue and salvage actions in cliff accidents.
According to co-founder Luís Birkner, who was speaking at the end of the 1st International Climbing Festival of Angola, held at the Serra da Leba viewpoint in Humpata, Huíla province, which closed last Sunday, the idea is that climbing will give underprivileged communities the opportunity to exploit the resources of their land,
He said that in Cuanza Sul a project had been developed to train a group of 30 children and young people, the first in Angola, who had learnt to climb rocks around the village, so that through tourism they can have a source of income by becoming tour guides for this tourist adventure.
Luís Birkner, who was with his wife, also a trainer, for three months training children and young teenagers from that province, said that they will be travelling to Chile, but leaving all the bases for the trainees to continue practising.
He said that in the community they were in, there are many children who spend the day in the fields, so they had brought their abseiling knowledge with them so that those interested could learn the sport and, over time, develop the practice to obtain a safe income.
The climber emphasised that during the nine days they brought six of the trainees to the festival, including one girl, who enjoyed the experience of practising in a different territory to their own and are now returning to their hometowns with more confidence.
There are studies underway for the creation of the first group of climbers of the country in Huíla and they will train those interested to learn and develop the sport, which is an initiative developed by Climb Angola in partnership with the Association of Tour Operators and Promoters (HOTOUR).
During the event, they had slacklining, a climbing rope bolting workshop, route development, search and rescue workshops for the police, the fire brigade and the Angolan National Emergency Medical Institute, as well as live music, cinema, traditional dances and an exhibition of local handicrafts.
Abseiling consists of coming down from a wall which can be a rock or a waterfall, or a free span, with the help of ropes.
It represents two senses, the most used and known is applied in mountaineering (a sport developed through the climbing of the high mountains) however, abseiling does apply to this practice and consists of descending via a double rope held at a point which the climber uses to slide down quickly.
It is mostly practised on uneven or complex surfaces for a vertical descent. EM/MS/MRA/DOJ
