US visitor fosters Kiwi kids’ sailing spirit
Sailor Elana Connor was supposed to be sailing around the world, instead she’s raising money for Kiwi kids in foster care to get into sailing too.
The American citizen arrived in New Plymouth on Saturday on her
34-foot yacht Windfola and will be staying for a week.
During her stay she plans to meet foster children in the region, as well as the organisations that help them, and raise money to send Kiwi kids on the Spirit of Adventure sailing boat.
The solo sailor has a childhood living with foster families, Covid-19, and her grandmother to ‘‘thank’’ for the initiative.
From San Francisco, Connor was placed into foster care as a
15-year-old and jumped between homes.
She remembers feeling like she was treated as if she wasn’t the same as other kids her age and was always told to do the ‘‘suitable thing’’ rather than dream big.
But she didn’t stop those big dreams and arrived in New Zealand in December 2019 on the first leg of a solo round the world trip. She expected to be here five months. Then lockdown hit, and Connor was stuck.
When her America-based grandmother got sick she couldn’t head back to care for her.
Instead she organised a facility for her grandmother to stay at and decided she wanted to do something to make her only living biological relative proud.
Connor teamed up with Voyce – Whakarongo Mai, which acts as an advocacy group and gives children in the foster system a voice. Through them, she’s raising money for scholarships to send foster children on the Spirit of Adventure, which empowers youngsters to reach their full potential through the challenge of the sea.
Connor has raised more than $26,000 so far, which is enough for 11 children to go on the ship.
‘‘This is the first time in my life coming out about my experience in care,’’ Connor said.
Before her voyage, she hadn’t met other children who had been in care. Now she has met many.
‘‘I see myself reflected in them.’’ Connor is classed as a solo sailor, but she’s never been alone at sea – her dog Zia has done as many nautical miles as her.
‘‘We’re a team,’’ she said. ‘‘But she’s the star of the show.’’