Waves for Change
This project's parent organization is Isiqalo Foundation
It operates in South Africa
It uses Surfing
Shortlisted for the Best New Project
More about Waves for Change
Waves for Change is a surfing and community building project based in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa, where surfing and surf culture has never previously existed. Life in Cape Town’s poorest communities is hard, and it’s these communities that are targeted by the Waves for Change programme. In areas where HIV infection is over 25%, where youth unemployment exceeds 50%, and where gang crime and substance abuse are tearing down old community values, Waves for Change is working hard to bring change 1 wave at a time.
In communities where surfing has never previously existed, Waves for Change uses surfing as a tool to engage with hard to reach youth and young adults and uses the draw of the ocean to run skills training, community building, HIV education and feeding programmes.
The programme seeks to create local solutions to national problems and invests in the training of local unemployed youth to run and implement programmes. Early successes include a significant boost in HIV testing amongst participants, strong gang drop out rates, participants entering rehab for drug addiction and a huge uptake of surfing in the townships, altering the make-up and dynamic of surfing in the Western Cape for good.