Got an old log, mini-mal or foamy sitting in the back shed gathering dust? Perhaps a wetsuit from last season, a coupl’a extra blocks of wax or a leggie you no longer use? This is your chance to pass on some of that unwanted gear to those in need.
The not-for-profit organisation, Settlement Services International (SSI) is running a program in conjunction with the Sydney surf school, Let’s Go Surfing, giving asylum seekers the chance to try surfing at Bondi Beach. A group of 10 refugees currently on bridging visas participated in the first rollout of the program, now called Surfing Without Borders. With the first course having run late last year, the organisers have called out for donations of hand-me-down surf gear so that the guys can continue to surf on their own. The program will continue in 2016, with a fresh group of learners, and as such ongoing donations would be much appreciated.
If you’re a surfer, then you’re already well aware of the healing qualities of salt water. There’s nothing that clears the head more readily than sitting in the ebb and sway of the rolling sea, or riding a wave from start to finish. For us, it helps to clear our minds of many first world problems: the rat race, as they say, that is city living perhaps, or a stressful day in the office. For asylum seekers, the surf can offer an opportunity to be, for short while, free of the worries and anxieties of an uncertain future, and the feelings of loneliness that go hand in hand with displacement.
An Iranian asylum seeker named Reza, who participated in the program, was elated after his first surf, his troubles momentarily forgotten. “No thinking about nothing. No family, no nothing. No visa, no war, nothing, no problem,” he said. “Maybe after this, thinking, but today, this time, nothing. Just care about today, this time. I love it.” Indeed, the in-the-moment nature of surfing really is second to none, and therefore the emotional and psychological benefits of the activity are just as significant as the physical. Reza later cleared up what he meant when he said he did not think about his family while surfing. He said, for that time, he was able to forget how much he missed them.
Not only do participants gain an insight into Australia’s surf culture, but they establish a common sense of purpose with other recent migrants and refugees. Get on board Sydney-siders. If you’ve got some gear to offload, get in touch with SSI case manager Sandra Oehman at [email protected]
