3 minute read
For over five decades, the Ballito Pro has been fuelling the dreams of surfers from South Africa and beyond. This year, with the help of Surfers Not Street Children, a group of young surfers from Mozambique travelled to this legendary WSL competition, met their surfing heroes and even competed (and won) on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast.
Through the power of surfing, Surfers Not Street Children (SNSC) has transformed the lives of vulnerable children in South Africa, protecting them from the unforgiving and brutal reality of street life and supporting them in creating and maintaining independent and self-sustaining lifestyles.
What began in 1998 as the Durban Street Team, SNSC has had an incredible journey to the life-changing charity it is today. The organisation has dedicated local teams that include social workers, carers, lifeguards, surf coaches, and administrators who identify at-risk children and empower them to successfully reintegrate into society by providing them with a safe space to develop this.
The charity expanded its area in 2018, with the introduction of the Tofo Surf Club, in Mozambique, run by Mozamique’s first professional surfer, dryrobe® Ambassador, and Tofo’s local legend, Mini Cho.
We’re proud to support SNSC through the dryrobe® Warmth Project.
Tom Hewitt, founder and CEO of SNSC, describes the trip and what it meant to those involved…
“In June/July of 2024, a crew of children and staff from Surfers Not Street Children’s Mozambique program travelled to Ballito in South Africa for a Winter Adventure with the support of dryrobe®.
They attended the WSL Ballito Pro alongside the children from Surfers Not Street Children’s Durban program and it was the first time the children from each program had met each other!
It was also the first time a crew of Mozambican surfers had been present at a WSL event and indeed competing in a special tag team event as part of the contest.”
“The crew was welcomed by the Durban kids, the WSL, sponsors O’Neill, and the WSL Challenger surfers competing in the event. Having never before left Mozambique, this was their first experience of 'winter' surfing on the KZN coast. It was an incredible and moving experience that saw many new friendships forged and a whole lot of stoke.”
“The Mozambique crew lived at SNSC's Surfhouse in Durban and travelled up to the event each day in a luxury people carrier loaned to the organisation for the visit.
Mozambique barely gets a winter so coming to South Africa for winter was an adventure and their dryrobe gear kept them warm.”
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Published on December 30, 2024