Growing our family

Surfpop started 2020 with a bang! After months of planning and preparation, we introduced 24 new young smiling faces to the Surfpop family, 16 girls and 8 boys from Masiphumelele township.

It’s been incredible to witness the children’s excitement of becoming waterpeople, for many of them the first time in the ocean. They are proud to belong to a tribe, as new friendships unfold and our long time Surfpop children welcome them into our family. Asenako, our long time girl beneficiaries gladly welcomed the new girls and I think she secretly rejoiced in the fact that finally she was not the only girl anymore, and girl power might be taking over!

We are also stoked to welcome 6 new part-time staff members from the township community into our family, providing jobs to those who need it the most.

Ayanda, long time Surfpop beneficiary, joined our team of staff and is currently in training to become one of our qualified surf instructors. This is a big milestone for us and Ayanda, as it is our dream and goal to provide jobs to all Surfpop children who graduate from school, within Surfpop or through our network of friends.

But there is more! Our new monitoring and evaluation data shows that the children are stoked to be surfing, “surfing makes me feel free,” “surfing makes me feel happier and safe,” and “I like surfing, because it helps me to be healthy and strong.” Surfing, combined with highly nutritious meals and nutrition education, has a positive impact on their physical health. A message that our kids proudly bring home too, as their parents say “my child tells me about the healthy food and veggies I must cook at home.” When asked what our children like about Surfpop? “I like Surfpop, because I feel safe in the group and I can share my stories.”

Surfing is fun, but Surfpop makes learning fun too and we are proud to say that 91% of the children enjoy the education classes. “The education classes make me smarter at school.” Surfpop children outperform other school children in South Africa by 9.7% in Maths and 6.5% in English!

Read our full story in our NEW annual report!

We’re stoked to have amazing long time friends and partners who have continued their journey with us, while sparking many new relationships around the globe.

We were lucky to meet a local organization Dream Higher, sharing our love for surfing and climbing with each other through an epic exchange. Another local friend, AfriOceans, shared their knowledge of the ocean, sharks and conservation with us, through interactive swimming lessons in the sea, together inspiring a new generation of waterpeople.

The local brand Derm Africa has been a constant support, the global brand Esprit helped us realize the launch of our girls program, and Importers Coffee kept the stoke alive by providing all the necessary surf gear. Partners that joined Surfpop in 2019 are American Tower Corporation, Rotary Claremont, VML, AC Lowe Trust, Tivoli Fund, Janssens Fund and Truworths.

Hi, my name is Fanny and I’m from Sweden. Volunteering with Surfpop is an experience that will without any doubt last a lifetime. I had some amazing weeks, full of laughing, seeing the most breathtaking places and learning how to surf with the most funny and charismatic children. I got up every morning with a smile on my face.

Knowing that I would first have a productive surf lesson with probably Muizenberg’s best surfer and then to seeing the Surfpop children, super stoked on surfing, improving on the board. After some fantastic weeks with Surfpop it was quite clear to see where the children’s joy comes from. Bongi (Daniel), the director of the program, puts his whole soul into this project and the wellbeing of these children. I am just grateful to have been a little part of it all.

Ayanda Magwaza, once a shy young boy from Masiphumelele Township, joined Surfpop in 2015.

He would meet his friends after school to play outside in the streets, but one day his friends were nowhere to be seen. It happened time after time and so he started to wonder where they could be. When he asked them, they told him about surfing and the rest is history.

He was immediately hooked on the feeling of riding waves and the stoke he shared with the other children. He was determined to overcome his fears and challenges in the surf, to go deeper and catch bigger waves every time.

“Surfing has helped me in my daily life too, to be brave and keep my head up, to always keep going.”

Fast forward almost 6 years and Ayanda is a kind and honest young man, but also a confident, reliable and hard working employee at Surfpop.

When Ayanda joined Surfpop, he was the oldest child in the program, and as he grew older and more confident, he naturally became more of a leader to the younger Surfpop children. He enjoyed being in a position where he could guide the younger ones and lend a helping hand to the Surfpop team. This is when he realized that he wanted to work for Surfpop one day.

Today Ayanda is a surf coach, spending his time helping children in the surf and sharing the stoke. He loves to see the children experience the excitement of catching waves and is constantly reminded of his own journey too.

Ayanda is so much more than a surf coach, helping with every aspect of the program, as he’s been through it all and understands the challenges faced by children in his community. He is now learning more about Surfpop on a higher level, while furthering his education, having completed a short course in tourism and doing ongoing English classes.

Ayanda is dreaming about a bright future, seeing many opportunities to grow within Surfpop and to venture out into the world.

“I see my future growing with Surfpop to open other surf schools in Africa to teach more children, that will be good to me”