Se7en + 1 Go Surfing with Waves for Change….

Our kids have all been dying to go surfing for the longest time – we live in Cape Town, after all. Cape Town is one of the most sought after surf spots in the world. Everyone should at least have one chance to try surfing. But to be honest even if we live in one of the surfing capitals of the world… the idea of taking eight kids surfing was a little overwhelming. Last week a good friend of ours, that works for Waves for Change, asked if I would mind if he treated our kids to a morning of surfing… Would I mind!!! Not even slightly, tell us when and where and we will be there…

We headed for the LifeStyle Surf Shop in Muizenburg… They very kindly sponsored the rental of our wetsuits and boards…

There was a scramble into wetsuits…

And I think we need a sign like this at the front door… we do live at the beach after all!!!

And on to the beach… kids and boards and beach… and our two fabulous instructors, Bongani and Apish, from Waves for Change.

And some warming up…

And let the lessons begin…

There were a few daunted surfers… before they hit the water

And a little boy and a big sea…

Some one on one…

Some last minute tips…

Into the water they went…

Everybody, undaunted…

Hood #8 actually spent most of the time finding new friends on the beach… as one does…

And together they cheered the surfers on…

This looked like chaos to me… but our experienced instructors didn’t bat an eye… at eight kids wielding great big boards in the ocean…

I have to say that the instructors were so enthusiastic and looked like they were having just as much fun as their students… helping them up again and again and again…

And out of chaos came art…

Despite dozens of epic spills…

Slowly but surely everybody had their chance to figure it out and get up on that board…

The only thing that got all these guys out of the water was… fatigue!!! Surfing can do that to a soul…

They were just a little satisfied with their day out!!!

They loved every second of it…

A quick rinse off…

I do believe that the smile says it all…

A huge thank you to The Lifestyle Surf Shop for sponsoring our suits and boards…

And of course thank you to Waves for Change – for the fantastic coaches. Waves for Change is a fabulous local initiative that provides youngsters, from vulnerable communities, with a chance to do something worthwhile. Communities where substance abuse and criminal gang behaviour is a way of life… they show young people that there is more to life… teaching them to surf in a safe environment, providing a healthy and holistic approach to uplifting them and enabling them to face the many challenges that they encounter everyday. Really this is leadership training for the next generation and they are doing a fantastic job. You can read about their work here… on the Waves for Change Website.

Our two coaches, Bongani and Apish, that took a morning off to give our kids a surf lessons, and really they took our kids from being totally unable to surf to surfing… will be providing lessons to the public next year in order to raise funds for the Waves for Change Program. If you are keen to know more about their work or for lessons then you can contact them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wavesforchange or email them at info@isiqalo.org

While our kids were gifted with a mornings free surfing and we are very grateful to the Lifestyle Surf Shop and Waves for Change for the fabulous coaches and equipment, we were not paid or asked to write this post. I blogged about it because we had the most fabulous time, literally a dream came true for my kids and because I believe that surfing is an amazing and creative way to change lives of young marginalised South Africans… one wave at a time.