Debmarine-Namdeb Foundation supports Wilderness Therapy

Octavia Tsibes
An excited group of eight young men from Augustineum Secondary School (Team Conquerors) in Khomasdal took on a life- changing experience recently, by accepting the challenge of an eight-day 120-km hike in the Naukluft Park without contact with the outside world.

They were accompanied by an experienced team from Wilderness Therapy, during the initiative which has been active in Namibia for eight years.

The aim is to bring change in the lives of young people and help them become responsible community members.

Wilderness Therapy focuses on taking participants into the wild for the potential development and character building. The purposeful exposure to adventures can enhance the development of positive characteristics, such as resilience, mental toughness and positive self-concepts. The hike challenges perseverance, commitment, values, motivation and determination, as it encompasses long distances, heavy backpacks, rough terrain and steep climbing at heights that include chains over waterfalls.

Many admitted that once they had to climb and hike the contours of the mountain, they regretted coming on the hike and treasured thoughts of quitting and going home. However, with each day their confidence grew through self-motivation and encouragement from the other participants and experts. They completed the hike with a new sense of achievement and felt victorious, as if they had just conquered the world. The Debmarine-Namdeb Foundation, as part of its social investment focus areas for 2019, committed to support all five hikes for the year.