Support Our Surf Camp for Local Kids in Madagascar

Please help support Surf School Lenda in Madagascar hold its 2nd Annual Surf Camp Intensive for the children on its Junior team.

Surf School Lenda was the first surf school in Madagascar, celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. For the past 20 years, they have been teaching the children of the local community, mostly poor children of fishermen, to surf for free. Last year, as part of the 1st annual Surf Camp for Juniors, they started the first ever girls´ surf team in Fort Dauphin, holding free group surf lessons just for girls. Over the past year, this girls´ team has continued to train and now surf independently and impressively on bigger waves.

The event last year was a huge success for the community. All of the students´ families came out to watch and it was the first time many of them were able to see the impressive skills of their children and to understand how hard they have been training. One of the best moments was seeing fathers and uncles lift their daughters on their shoulders because they were so proud of their girls - a rare sight in Madagascar, where girls are often left behind and overlooked. 50 children participated (30 boys and 20 girls).

Now, one year later, Surf School Lenda will be holding the 2nd edition of their annual Surf Camp Intensive for kids! It will take place on January 25th-26th 2025 at the school at Ampotatra Beach in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar. This is a program for youth students of Surf School Lenda only, to learn how to compete at the level of professional surfers. It also serves as their yearly exam to create internal rankings for the boys’ and girls’ team so they will be ready to send junior teams when they receive international invitations like the ones they received directly this year from Reunion Island and South Africa - which they did not yet have the logistics to send their kids. The program will be for juniors, with three categories: Boys Under 18, Boys under 14, and Girls, to give everyone a chance to do their best and learn. Like last year, there will be prizes for our top ranking students in each category! As always, there will be equal prize money for boys and girls. We welcome you to come out and see how much our students have progressed in the past year - especially our girls’ team! It is so important to motivate them to continue push their limits and for their families to see how hard they are working.

As of now, there are almost no events or opportunities for surfing in Fort Dauphin or the rest Madagascar, and the few that exist are targeted towards adult men. This is why it is so important to have programs to support the development of young children in the sport, with a special focus on promoting participation and empowerment of girls.

There will be a virtual participant lesson with Toky Joe Kennedy Ravelomanantsoa, head coach and lifeguard (certified by Lifesaving South Africa) at Surf School Lenda. Joe Kennedy is the first ever professional Malagasy surfer and has competed in the World Surf League in Asia, Africa, and America (ranked 19th in Africa for ´23-´24). He will also be holding a virtual information session on judging for older members of the school (as the only currently certified ISA Judge in Madagascar). This is an important way to pass on the skills and training he has been able to gain overseas with the next generation and the youth of Madagascar.

As mentioned above, there will be prize money for the top performing students in each category, equal for boys and girls, along with a new under 14 category for the boys as the littlest ones at 10 and 11 struggled last year to compete alongside 16 year olds. First prize will be 200,000 Ariary (about $40) - which does not sound like much but it is actually a monthly salary in Madagascar and a huge help to families who survive day to day on what they catch fishing.

Below, you will find the itemized budget. It is a priority to keep the budget low - as this shows that great events can be done for the kids without requiring large amounts of funding. All of the staff are volunteering their time and effort so that the majority of the funds go directly to the children. There will be food provided to participants each morning and afternoon over the 2 days, as many of the students often do not have food at home. In this way, we can make sure that each kid has an equal chance to learn and do their best in our program, without going hungry.

Prize money:

Boys Under 18:

1st: 200,000 Ar (about 42 USD)

2nd: 150,000 Ar (about 32 USD)

3rd: 70,000 Ar (about 15 USD)

Girls Under 18:

1st: 200,000 Ar

2nd: 150,000 Ar

3rd: 70,000 Ar

Boys Under 14:

1st: 70,000 Ar (about 15 USD)

2nd: 50,000 Ar (about 11 USD)

3rd: 30,000 Ar (about 6 USD)

Total for Kids´ Prizes: 990,000 Ar (about 208 USD)

Bluetooth Speaker (for commentator, which helps to motivate the kids and for the spectators to follow): 50,000 x 2 days = 100,000 Ar

Breakfast (tea and bread): 30,000 x 2 days = 60,000 Ar

Lunch (rice and beans): 60,000 x 2 days = 120,000 Ar

Flyers (to inform the community): 30,000 Ar

Printed judging forms: 30,000 Ar

Colored jerseys (Red, Yellow, Blue, White): 20,000 x 4 jerseys = 80,000 Ar

Total for Materials and Food: 420,000 Ar (about 88 USD)

TOTAL FOR EVENT: 1,410,000 Ar (about 297 USD)

Extra for unexpected expenses and exchange fees: 20 USD

TOTAL BUDGET: 320 USD

Surf School Lenda will document all prize money distribution and material purchases and will provide a detailed report after the event.

Thank you for supporting the next generation of Malagasy surfing! If you cannot donate money, please come to watch and cheer on the kids!