CONVERGENCE MAY - JUNE 2016

Travel
Another of his key feat is training
orphaned and disabled youth into
becoming diving instructors and dive
professionals.
In 2015 I trained four orphan boys who
were all PADI scholars from the Open
Water Diver to Dive Master Level. In the
same year, I also taught Persons with
Disabilities(PWD) which is considered
challenging because these are individuals
in wheelchairs, crutches or with polio;
giving them a weightless environment
to use their hands and swim like a fish
- that was an achievement for them."
Having also taken time during his
weekend class to guide and train PWD,
he also applied the special courses for
spinal cord injury patients designed by
Diveheart, a non-profit organisation that
provides and supports educational scuba
diving programmes.
The special programme, which is a
collaboration with the Department of
Corrective Spinal Rehabilitation Unit of
University of Malaya Medical Centre
(UMMC) saw Syed teaching diving skills
as part of the patients' rehabilitation
which includes water therapy.
In much recent times, the well-known
non-profit American organisation called
Diveheart International, collaborated
with Syed in assisting polio and blind
participants for an in pool Scuba Diving
Experience tryout in learning
commercial diving.
On those with impaired hearing, he said:
"Our objective is to assist people with
impaired hearing to do commercial
Aren't these hard corals a pretty sight?
diving that would eventually lead to
employment. When we go underwater,
we can't talk but instead we rely on
hand signals. But since commercial
diving leads to good income, it is
encouraged to have more people
banking on this opportunity."
Did you know that all clownfishes are born as males? When the dominant female of a group dies, the largest male will turn itself into a female, this
change cannot be reversed.
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