Growing up in a small fishing village on ungoverned land along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast, there are a few options to explore beyond your circumstances. One of the most popular choices is becoming a lookout for a military group, mafia, drug cartel, or any other dicey business in their area. Their job is to keep an eye on their neighbors and be vigilant toward any unexpected visitors making suspicions moves that would indicate another party encroaching on their territory. Increasingly, the option is surfing.
In San Bernardo del Viento, a tiny community situated at the mouth of one of Colombia’s most important river systems, Foundation Sinumar offers local kids an alternative to being wrapped up in any illicit behavior. The foundation’s after-school program is a safe space that promotes creativity and alternative ways of thinking through storytelling, photography, and surfing. After decades of violence, Colombia is entering time of reparations, and surfing is being looked at as a method of peace building and youth empowerment.
The idea to bring surfing into the community of San Bernardo del Viento as a tool for the local youth wasn’t too far fetched, as these resilient, young souls grow up already playing in the sea, many of whom often grab pieces of wood that wash to shore to use as bodyboards. Kids from Fundación Sinumar learn about ocean safety, marine conservation, plastic pollution, mangrove protection, and how to use the positive teachings of surfing in their daily lives.
With our project, Coast 2 Coast, we facilitated surf classes with the local groms and organized a surf contest. Judges evaluated the participants on their values, sportsmanship, and surfing abilities. Each participant paid the registration fee of 100 pieces of garbage found on the beach. Additionally, we facilitated photography workshops, animation classes, and together painted a mural, exploring the children’s creativity, celebrating their coastal culture, and promoting ocean conservation.
See how you can get involved by visiting coast2coastproject.org.
