Successful fundraiser for The Surfer Kids

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Surfer Kids NON-Profit held their first annual fund-raiser at The Barn in Mossel Bay on 26 September, to further support their mission of 'Empowering youths in marginalised and rural communities, through surfing, in the Southern Cape.'
The Lyzyrd Kyngs (Piet Botha and Akkedis Band) rocked the stage and played a solid two-hour set, all in support of The Surfer Kids NON-Profit.

"The evening was definitely successful! We're very happy that so many people came to support The Surfer Kids, despite the cold, wet and windy weather," said Jenya Zhivaleva, co-founder of The Surfer Kids NON-Profit.
"We worked very hard to make this evening happen. Prior to this event, The Surfer Kids' funds were depleted, but now we've got something to move forward with."

The Surfer Kids NON-Profit was founded in 2010, in Friemersheim, a rural community outside Great-Brak River. The programme has become a regular sight on Diaz beach, where they work with a group of between 15 and 20 children every weekend.

The Surfer Kids is intimately supported by Unravel Surf Travel, especially in terms of transport, logistics and generating donations. Prior to this fund-raiser, The Surfer Kids' primary source of funding was donations that came from tourists who were on Surf Tour with Unravel Surf Travel in the Garden Route.

"It's good to see locals also supporting The Surfer Kids NON-Profit," said Peter Nilssen, Trustee for The Surfer Kids and tour leader of the Point of Human Origins Experience, at the Pinnacle Point Caves.

"Tickets to The Surfer Kids fund-raiser were sold for R100 and a total of almost 70 people came out to support The Surfer Kids' cause. Financially it's a great push forward to keep The Surfer Kids going!"
"However, one has to remember that, considering the scope of The Surfer Kids' Mission, this isn't a fortune. Really it represents the bare minimum that The Surfer Kids needed to continue functioning for the next few months."

The Surfer Kids also recently launched its own volunteer programme, which gives international volunteers the opportunity to stay in Friemersheim and work with The Surfer Kids NON-Profit.
"We hope that the volunteer programme will generate some funds for The Surfer Kids," said Benjamin Joubert, Trustee for The Surfer Kids and community coordinator in Friemersheim.

"The Surfer Kids Programme has worked wonders for the children of Friemersheim. There's very little for the children to do here. After school and on weekends, most children just walk around aimlessly in the dusty streets. We're keeping these kids busy with a healthy activity and we're keeping them away from drugs and other destructive habits."
"We're also looking at further engaging the local Southern Cape community," said Jenya Zhivaleva, "Especially in Mossel Bay, because we work specifically with rural children from this area."

They've got big plans for the future. The Surfer Kids Centre is currently under construction in Friemersheim. The centre will function as a secure storage space for donated surfing equipment and also as a skills-development workshop. Programme coordinators are working hard to finish The Surfer Kids Centre, and the programme's senior kids are helping with construction work, as part of their Junior Assistant Agreement, as a way of earning their place in the programme, after drawing many benefits.

The Surfer Kids Programme coordinators have also started planning for the construction of a skate-bowl in Friemersheim.
"A skate-bowl will do a lot to alleviate our current transport problem," said Benajmin Joubert.

"Friemersheim is isolated and travelling is an important part of the programme, to show the children to new places. Most of the kids would otherwise never see Diaz beach, where we teach them surfing. But it's difficult without proper transport. The Surfer Kids does not have its own vehicle and is completely reliant on Unravel Surf Travel to provide transport for the kids' surfing lessons. However, a skate-bowl in Friemersheim will keep the kids busy, with a fun surfing-related activity, without having to travel!"

As part of their long-term future plans, they are looking to increase the number of children in their programme and, possibly, expand into other marginalised communities, such as the townships outside Mossel Bay. However, for that to happen, the issue of transport would first have to be solved. It would be impossible for the programme to function in two places at the same time, or with a bigger group of children, without any transport of its own.

The Surfer Kids Programme coordinators' ultimate mission is to truly empower the youths they work with. Since the very beginning, it has been a central focus of the programme to train the children to eventually run the entire programme by themselves. This particular focus has led to the development of The Surfer Kids Junior Assistant Agreement. Those kids that have grown into young adults, while participating in The Surfer Kids Programme over the past four years, are being prepared to eventually run the programme, independently, in their own community.

"But," said Benjamin, "if we want these Junior Assistants to eventually run the programme independently, The Surfer Kids will have to acquire their own suitable vehicle, to safely transport larger groups of children to the beach."
The Surfer Kids is a registered Non-Profit Trust, with registration number 136-987 NPO. For more information, visit the South African Non-Profit Register at: www.npo.gov.za.

Visit The Surfer Kids NON-Profit online at: www.unravelsurftravel.com/thesurferkids and www.facebook.com/thesurferkids or email thesurferkids@unravelsurftravel.com.