PUPILS from Mowat Park had special visitors from America who not only introduced them to a new career field but also inspired them through their passion of all things maritime.
The cadets from Massachusetts maritime academy and South African professor, Portia Ndlovu who teaches international maritime business in the USA, spoke to the girls about the opportunities maritime can offer them and how they can benefit from studying. Ndlovu, an attorney in training, has taught maritime for many and holds a PHD in the field.
She always had an interest in water but when a maritime professor at UKZN stepped into her class at school, she made the connection of three passions: Justice, water and education. “I decided then to study to the highest degree in sea related matters. We want to learn from Mowat Park, they have a wonderful school. We hope to obtain cultural awareness and experiential learning while we help them be inspired towards science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and choosing careers wisely,” she said.
Ndlovu taught the girl that a nation with a coastline should take good advantage of it and it all starts with education around the best use of the water and the maths and science behind it all. “Recently I was called to consult on a treaty by the African Union but I couldn’t leave my cadets and jet off on short notice. The AU contact was so kind and understanding about it. All these activities and research are my heart areas of study so the AU contact advised that I would be added to a list of consultants for future discussions. I live for such as anyone would be able to tell from my academic publications,” she added.
She advises the youth to go for it with everything and learn as much as possible because knowledgeable people are always needed to take the industry forward and stimulate economic activity and ethical job creation.
