An eager bunch of grommets from Redfern Jarjum College Indigenous school were treated to a surf session with Tracks and Teahupo’o barrel-riding weapon Vahine Fierro in Sydney last month.
Off the back of competing in the Sydney Surf Pro in Manly, Fierro offered to take the kids for a lesson followed by barbeque lunch with snag sandwiches cooked by Tracks. The whole school loaded onto a bus to ride the iconic waves of Bondi on Gadigal Land, in a group lesson hosted by the generous crew from Bondi surf school Let’s Go Surfing.
Deputy Principal Chris Barker said the dose of vitamin sea was a treat that the students had been very much looking forward to.
“It’s awesome, this is a group of kids who would not normally get the opportunity to go surfing, despite living not too far away in Sydney,” Barker said.
“Our kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds for various reasons. A few are living with carers, a few from single-parent families, all living in social housing. There’s not the transport or the cash to get these opportunities.”
Jarjum is a part-community funded, part-government funded school that aims “to educate urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who are not participating or coping in mainstream primary schools as a result of their domestic circumstances”.
As an Indigenous Tahitian woman herself, Fierro said she was keen to give back to First Nations Australians while visiting their lands.
“I felt like the past couple years, I have been traveling around the world, going to all these different places and enjoying their waves, their playgrounds and never really had a chance to connect or give back to the people that are from there,” Fierro told Tracks.
“So, I decided this year to do something to give back to the community I stayed in. Even if it’s a small action. The feeling of giving is so much better than taking! And it happened to be with this Indigenous school. I love to get the experience from people originally from their home.”
The lesson took place on 25 May – the day before National Sorry Day and the start of Reconciliation Week – before Fierro was due to fly home to Tahiti.
Tracks editor and former surf instructor Luke Kennedy even made a charitable return to his previous career, donning a wetsuit and Let’s Go Surfing rashie to help push students onto waves in the knee-high beach break.
Surf instructor and Let’s Go Surfing founder Brenda Miley said her organisation was honoured to support the day and paddle out with kids who may not otherwise get a chance to try surfing.
“Our motto has always been, ‘Changing lives one wave at a time,’” Miley said.
“When I started Let’s Go Surfing, it was about giving anyone who wanted to have a go access to the ocean and surfing. We teach a lot of women, community groups; we’ve worked with Indigenous groups since day one.
“Once you’re in the ocean in a wetsuit, everybody’s equal. The ocean doesn’t discriminate. It’s a challenge, it’s fun, it’s an adventure. But it just makes you feel good.”
