Surfing for a Cause

International Surfing Day is being celebrated this week with surf events, beach cleanups, tree plantings and other activities. In its fifth year, it's become an increasingly successful event, with a global reach. There are several individuals, organizations and businesses in the surf world doing good stuff on behalf of the world’s coasts and oceans. One surfer-led group, Waves for Development, is also doing something for poor children through surfing.

In 2004, a group of international surfers came up with the idea while in Peru. In an interview with Phoresia.org, which itself is a great resource on environmentally and socially responsible surfing products and lifestyles, David Aabo, executive director of the group and a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru, explained: “For years, there have been many surfers who have visited impoverished communities and wanted to do something to create positive change but have rarely found an outlet for their desire to help other than sending money or leaving a used surfboard for the local kids. We’ve created a structure for those good intentions.”

Waves for Development initially is focusing on at-risk youth in Lobitos, a small community on the northern coast of Peru that is also home to world-class surfing. In 2007, an Australian surfboard manufacturer, Global Surf Industries, donated 400 surfboards to the cause. Now, the first weekend of each month, the group offers regular classes involving volunteer instructors from around the world. So far, Waves for Development says it has involved 40 volunteers who have educated 150 youth — about half the young population of Lobitos. The group’s experiential Educational Surf program combines the teaching of English, environmental conservation, surfing and swimming. One other concrete output of the program directly contributes to community development, some youths learn business skills needed for starting up small, surf or tourism related businesses.

Surf's up, bro.