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HOW SANCCOB BEGAN: THE
STORY OF OUR FOUNDER
Information supplied by: Bruce Coultas and Elizabeth Cridland
If you are looking for motivation, you might find it in the remarkable and
colourful life-story of Mrs. Althea Louise Burman Westphal, co-founder of
SANCCOB.
Althea was born on 17 February 1931 in London, and first came to Africa at
the age of 7 after the death of her father, Major Brownhill. Althea
traveled with her mom and sister from Cape Town to Cairo and, after
reaching Egypt, took herself to Dartington College in England which
included a year’s practical in Agriculture. After graduating, she met
her first husband and gave birth to her daughter Jane. The family was
farming successfully in Wiltshire England, and at the time their life
seemed set, but her husband accepted a commission in the army and they
moved to Nigeria for a period of two years. It is here that Althea
developed a talent and interest in cooking! Nigeria proved to be
strenuous, so Althea parted company from her husband and returned to
England. Her next venture was running a successful restaurant in Mayfair
London, where she met Ernst Westphal. They married and moved to Cape Town
where Ernst took the chair in African Languages at UCT. Ernst’s
particular interest was in the San (Bushmen) people and he and Althea
spent many months actually living with the San in Botswana. Althea’s
skills were put to the test in various trips to the bush where she
organised and catered at the camps where her husband did his research.
Ongoing trips through Africa taught Althea about poverty and she was
generous and caring for the sick and impoverished people they met along
the way. Back in Cape Town, she even assisted those who were detained
without trial for 90 to 180 days.
One day, Althea sent Jane off to assist the SPCA in treating oiled
penguins, and became motivated to improve the inadequate conditions the
birds were faced with there. From the Westphal’s house in Claremont, the
birth of SANCCOB occurred in the late 1960s. The Esso Eseen spill was the
first of the major recognised spills and Althea set up a temporary station
at her home where she began rehabilitating 60 badly oiled penguins. In
those days, the birds were scrubbed with Sunlight soap and fed long strips
of hake which had been dipped in fish or sunflower seed oil. The birds
were given a 50/50 chance of survival. Althea’s birds were washed in her
bathroom, three at a time, and then rinsed with a hose. The first swimming
pool was a wooden trailer in Althea’s garden, after which she obtained a
huge stainless steel dye vat. Two or three times a week the birds were
driven to Blaauwberg in Althea’s station wagon, marched down the beach
to the tidal pool and allowed to swim for an hour. The first flipper rings
were coloured bias binding, and then dymotape and finally G rings which
were supplied by the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute (PFPI) of UCT. During
this time, Althea carried out extensive research on the “Jackass
penguin” to help her understand its lifestyle and dietary requirements.
Early in 1968 Althea started enquiries into establishing a rescue
operation, and eventually she persuaded Dr Roy Siegfried of PFPI to help
her launch SANCCOB - a task they believed would cost about R150 000.
Eventually a group of concerned individuals rallied together, including
members of PFPI and the SA Army, and created an informal SANCCOB.
To obtain official recognition for the African Penguin, proof that the
species was declining had to be provided. This proof was supplied with
photographic evidence of the islands from 1914 and the 1930s. This proof
gained Althea a permit to operate by the Department of Guano Islands, and
a grant of R10 000 from the SA Wildlife Foundation (now the WWF) for a
three year Population Dynamics Study on Dassen Island. SANCCOB achieved
its first milestone in December of 1969 at a conference in the Kruger
National Park when the collection of penguin eggs on the islands was
banned!
Althea’s efforts in seabird conservation continued for decades, and she
was recognised by several conservation organisations such as: SA Nature
Foundation, World Wide Fund for Nature and Conservation, to mention but a few.
Althea believed in the maintenance of standards and traditions which to
many seemed outdated and inappropriate. She never swayed in her approach
in life or in her support of family and friends. Althea nourished and
drove SANCCOB from its modest early stages to become an international
leader in coastal bird rehabilitation, and she was eventually made
Honorary Life President. Althea was a dynamic, determined, self-motivated,
dedicated and committed philanthropist and environmental conservationist
– the likes of which South Africa may not see again in the near future.
At this busy time, SANCCOB has not forgotten its humble but essential
beginnings, and thinks fondly of and remembers its remarkable founder and
friend Althea Westphal who passed away on the 7th of August 2002. Althea
is survived by her daughter Jane and her husband Bruce, her grandchildren
Melanie and Andrew and her loyal housekeeper and companion Elthina.
Information supplied by
Bruce Coultas and Elizabeth Cridland
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