Ship of good will
Couple dedicate their lives to helping others
Gudrun Nienaber writes about a couple who use a sailing vessel to perform their humanitarian work.
DAVID and I met Capt Shane Granger and his partner Meggi Macoun for the first time at the Boat Asia expo in Singapore in May 2011, on their 120-year-old historical cargo vessel called Vega.
Vega immediately grabbed our attention. She is not a modern wooden fishing boat converted to sail, but the real thing straight from the annals of history. She is hundreds of metres of sail, graceful lines, gleaming brass, rich hand rubbed woodwork and fine craftsmanship.
Shane was an advertising photographer and bush pilot in East Africa and Meggi was an art and creative director for major advertising agencies. During their time in Kenya in 1991, they started to use their extensive collective skills for the benefit of communicating health and environmental messages to the rural population of East Africa. Soon, they were sent all over the world by WHO, Unicef, BBC World Service Trust, and WWFTO develop and produce behavioural change and educational materials.
In 2002, Shane and Meggi found Vega abandoned and in a sad condition in the Canary Islands where they purchased her. After sailing her from the Canaries to Durban, a long and intensive refit began.
When they decided to refurbish the interiors of their Norwegianbuilt historical sailing vessel, two things were considered paramount: the materials and workmanship had to be first class, and not a single new tree should be sacrificed for this work. The use of plywood, a material not available when Vega was built, would be held to an absolute minimum. Restoration was carried out using recycled hard-wood from broken up Indonesian sailing ships and traditional Balinese houses, many of which were well over 100 years old.
Vega’s restoration was finished in 2009 when Shane and Meggi initiated a new phase in their lives, employing Vega as a platform from which to continue their humanitarian work while expanding its scope to include providing direct assistance to community educational and medical services on isolated islands in South-east Asia.
Now Vega, Shane and Meggi are dedicated to a cargo of hope, a cargo of donated medical and educational supplies, and whenever possible local medical teams to East Timor and the isolated island communities of Eastern Indonesia such as the Inner Molukkas. Some of these islands have not seen a nurse, much less a doctor for over 30 years.
“Many of the places we go to do not even know what a tourist is,” commented Shane. “These are unspoiled island paradises so far off the beaten path that travel agents are unaware they exist. These are the forgotten people and places bypassed by our hectic fast-paced world. These are people whose dreams are of simple things like better tools to farm with, better schools for their children, or better healthcare from the local health post.”
“Imagine a farm family so poor they do not have the most basic tools to work their farm, or imagine a school with one teacher and 50 students — no chalk, no pencils, no exercise books, and few if any text books or imagine a community health post that has no medications at all, not even aspirin, one where midwives deliver babies by candlelight. For many people these are the sad realities of their daily existence.”
Shane and Meggi explained to us that Vega can only accomplish her missions with the help of a wide spectrum of people and companies all dedicated to assisting.
There are three main types of assistance they receive from their supporters.
Firstly, there is corporate sponsorship in the form of educational materials, medical supplies or funding. In return, companies benefit from Vega’s image and participation in regattas and other high-profile events in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. “We dedicate the entire N.E. Monsoon to enhancing our sponsors’ goals and objectives providing exceptional exposure and ROI for our sponsors.”
Vega also offers the perfect platform for corporate teambuilding programmes.
Secondly, private sponsorship is welcomed in the form of educational materials, medical supplies, or funding for specific objectives or actively crewing or both. By participating directly in a mission and sharing the expenses involved, crew members help make these missions possible.
And thirdly, an active group of friends and supporters who assist with everything from raising funds to sponsoring a medical team, or some special piece of medical equipment, to finding parts for the autopilot. These are our “Ground Support Team”. They are the people who make it possible for us to stay at sea.
Meggi also pointed out that “due to our low operational costs, we were able to convert about 94% of donations to actual, deliverable aid last year — a much higher rate than many international aid organisations are able to do.”
Vega and its team are constantly looking for support and sponsorship to continue their extraordinary mission. They need medications and medical equipment, school supply and hands-on volunteer crew members to help delivering 10-12 tonnes of equipment to the remote places. They also need cash donations for running the boat, living expenses, spare parts and diesel fuel.
If you are interested to become a sponsor, supporter or volunteer crew member, contact Shane and Meggi through their website www. sailvega.com or contact me on gn.educat@gmail.com
Gudrun’s love for Malaysia brought her back from Germany three years ago, after a nine-year absence when she resided in KL holding a senior corporate position. She and her husband are serial entrepreneurs and are passionate about staying fit and healthy, and promoting an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.