By Naadiya Adams-@Miss_Naadiya

A passion for aviation and a burning need to give back to the community breathed life into the Plane Project. In 2014, South African Pilot Kelly Slingers headed up a project that would drive interest in aviation among young underprivileged girls.

While speaking to Radio Islam, Slingers said her interest in aviation sparked in 2011 when she was introduced to a pilot who gave her, her first introductory flight – the rest she says is history.

“You are sitting at the controls of a machine and as you take off the earth below you gets smaller and smaller and its magic, its magic!”

Slingers began the project by visiting schools and youth centres and engaging with kids who had an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education and more specifically aviation. She would then together with the school identify students who excelled in STEM education and take them to the airport for their first introductory flight.

Beyond supporting young women, the Plane Project has expanded its reach to also supplying basic health supplies to various areas in need in South Africa.

On the 28th of August 2020, in collaboration with a charity organization in South Africa, called SHOUT SA, The Plane Project successfully completed their inaugural flight delivery of 17500 surgical masks to 7 clinics in rural Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.

Their second flight was to Montshiwa Clinic in Mafikeng province. With support from The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International, The Plane Project delivered 6000 masks and sanitizer to a community in dire need of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

This week they will be delivering 900 CPAP Oxygen Tanks to the Eastern Cape, in partnership with the Gift of the Givers Foundation.

While the cost of becoming a pilot is expensive, Slingers says there are many opportunities out there.

“The South African Civil Aviation Authority has a scholarship that they hand out to students every year, there are companies that give bursaries every year. There are many options but it is important for high school students who want to pursue this career to have subjects like Maths and Science so they can apply for these bursaries.”

Slingers believes young women can achieve anything they set their mind to.

Amelia Earhart once said, ““Everyone has ocean’s to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?”

Listen to the interview here: