Girls learn to Surf the Waves of Life.
In São Tomé and Príncipe, girls are at the heart of an initiative that aims to promote gender equality and awareness of individual rights. The NGO Proud Surfers in Women of Africa (SOMA), founded by Portuguese Francisca Sequeira, introduced a surfing therapy program four years ago, specifically aimed at girls between 10 and 17 years old.
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This program aims to strengthen the self-confidence of young girls who face challenges such as overload of domestic tasks, the risk of dropping out of school, early pregnancy and physical and psychological abuse. Through surfing, these girls gain self-confidence, learn to express themselves and have the opportunity to dream of a different future.
Furthermore, through an innovative collaboration between SOMA, Betclic Portugal and Shutterstock, the lack of black surfers in the main image banks around the world is being addressed, with 120 photographs and 30 videos of surfers from the town of Santana, in São Tomé.
These photos and videos, which are now available on Shutterstock, are creating a movement to promote diversity in surfing and inspire women from different backgrounds to embrace this sport. In this way, these actions are launching a new wave of equality and skills that transcend the waters of São Tomé and reach the entire global surfing community and beyond.
Proud Surfers in Women of Africa (SOMA)
In the city of Santana, in São Tomé, light rain accompanies volunteers who walk the muddy streets to ensure that the city's girls participate in the new surf season that also prepares them to face the “difficult waves" of life.
It's Wednesday, the day generally dedicated to visiting families as part of the weekly monitoring of girls, aged between 10 and 17, who participate in the therapeutic surfing program brought to São Tomé and Príncipe four years ago, by the Portuguese Francisca Sequeira, founder of the NGO SOMA.
Burdened from a young age with domestic tasks, at risk of dropping out of school, facing early pregnancy and often victims of physical and psychological abuse, the program's mission is to enlighten these girls about their rights, support them at school and promote education in mental health.
After a break of a few months to redefine the project, it is now necessary to ensure that authorizations are signed by parents in time for the girls to participate in the socialization week.
Therefore, Francisca Sequeira, accompanied by the young surfers' mentors, visits door to door in an arduous task of encouragement, sometimes the father, sometimes the mother and sometimes even the child herself.
The Case of Minda
14-year-old Minda is one of those challenging cases. She participated in the first SOMA course that lasted just six months, now Francisca wants to bring her back, but the girl takes refuge in real or imaginary headaches, in the rain or the intense sun to avoid returning.
“It's one of those cases where we can't understand what the trauma is, or even if there is a trauma. She doesn't open up, and when we try in a group and give her space to share, she doesn't want to,” says Francisca.
It is a silence that worries Helena, Minda's mother, who turned to SOMA in the hope of finding some light on what is happening to her daughter.
“She says very little, she is very shy. She needs to talk and help with her schoolwork, and I can’t read.”
Helena says, while stirring the pot of kisaca, a typical dish that she cooks every day to sell in the city and which is the livelihood of the family, where 10 children lived, now only Minda and a younger brother remaining.
With cases like Minda's in mind, Francisca hopes to be able to organize a partnership with the University of São Tomé and Príncipe which, for the first time, has trained psychologists on the island who will help SOMA. Her mother assures her that Minda is free from household chores and insists that she goes to surf classes and concentrates on her 7th year studies at the Mestre António school, in Santana.
But even though the school year has started, she is still at home because she is missing some materials. These days, Minda also walks barefoot through the muddy streets of Santana to save the only pair of sandals she has to take to school and to the center of SOMA when the surf season starts.
Jessica's Case
School support is one of the areas of the program that has been improved since this season with SOMA, taking responsibility for paying school fees and school materials for the girls who attend the club, an additional bonus that can make a difference in negotiations with the most inflexible parents, as in the case of Jéssica.
At 17 years old, Jéssica is in 11th grade and is still at home due to a lack of school supplies. When the SOMA team arrives to collect her father's permission so she can attend surfing lessons, they find her washing the dishes and cleaning the land around the house.
Sitting on a plastic chair, the father is unhappy; for him, what he sees is his daughter's negligence in relation to domestic tasks. Caíque, the father, admits that when he arrives home and sees that the tasks have not been done, “you have to get angry” with his daughter and ends up hitting her.
Without criticizing him directly, Francisca Sequeira points out that this behavior is not acceptable and suggests a compromise in which Jéssica does some tasks before going to surf lessons and finishes the rest when she returns. Her father grudgingly gives permission and she invites him to participate in the positive parenting course that is scheduled to begin in January.
“Jessica’s father could be a success story because at no point did he say she couldn’t go.”
“Deep down, he knows he’s important, but he can’t give in too much because it calls into question his role as a man.”
“We have to find a balance, but there is openness.”
Says Francisca, believing that Caíque may have the profile to become a country delegate, a figure that SOMA wants to add to the program.
the new season
The new season of SOMA in Santana will welcome 40 girls who will have surfing lessons, school support and psycho-education, in a project born in 2020 and which in 2024 intends to be extended to Cape Verde.
“We are eliminating gender stereotypes and the narrative that is so ingrained in the country’s culture.”
“They must be very proud to continue surfing, despite the difficult waves at sea and in life.”
Says the founder of SOMA who helped train the first generation of female surfers in São Tomé.
The Girls of São Tomé
Photographs and videos of girls from the village of Santana, in São Tomé, will be part of the collection of one of the largest image banks in the world, in an initiative to promote the representation of black surfers in this photo base.
The initiative is the result of a partnership between the NGO Proud Surfers in Women of Africa (SOMA), based in Cascais, Lisbon, the online betting platform Betclic Portugal and the North American global image bank Shutterstock.
The project will place 120 photographs and 30 videos of surfers from the village of Santana, capital of the Cantagalo district in São Tomé and Príncipe, on the Shutterstock website, which has more than 400 million images. The idea came up during the process of creating a film to raise donations for SOMA, when it was realized that there were no images of black surfers in the main image banks in the world.
“You need money to surf and to participate in championships. It’s a privileged sport and there is no representation of black female surfers.”
Said Ricardo Malaquias, project manager at Betclic Portugal, who challenged Shutterstock to join the initiative.
The project also includes a documentary, filmed by Shutterstock and available from today on YouTube, about the work of SOMA, which brought its surf therapy program to the small city of São Tomé four years ago.
Surfing Through the Odds
The film “Surfing Through the Odds | The SOMA surf Story” summarizes in just over 18 minutes the reality of the girls in Santana, which is parallel to many other places in São Tomé and Príncipe and Africa.
Burdened from a young age with domestic tasks, at risk of dropping out of school, facing early pregnancy and often victims of physical and psychological abuse, the film wants to reinforce the message that women's place is not in the kitchen or taking care of the house and children. men, but wherever they want, including surfing.
Filmed in June, the documentary was shown in preview last week at the Santana Social Center and was enthusiastically received by the girls, who occupied the majority of the room.
Zézinha, 19 years old, one of the protagonists of the documentary, arrived at the premiere with a bucket on her head, taking the opportunity to sell coconut cookies that support a family with an absent father and a 73-year-old mother who is unable to work due to a disability.
“Surfing taught me to believe that anything is possible. When I’m in the water or looking at the sea, I only think about myself.”
“When I'm surfing, all my problems stay at home, and when I come back, my problems come back too.”
She said, before heading home to make a new batch of cookies to sell the next day.
Francisca Sequeira, founder of SOMA, emphasized at the end of the exhibition the importance of the pioneering role of these girls in representing black women in surfing and in inspiring other women to surf.
“You are the first generation of São Tomé women to surf”.
“You should be very proud to continue surfing, despite the difficult waves in the sea and in life,” she said.
There are 122 Million Girls Without Access to Education
The problems of girls' schooling in São Tomé and Príncipe are not unique; unfortunately, according to UNESCO, there are still 122 million girls without access to basic education, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
In this region, the proportion of girls integrated into the education system continues to be much lower than that of boys and it is also where more than half of children worldwide do not attend school, reveals a UNESCO report.
Globally, progress in girls' access to education since 2015 currently sees 22,5 million more girls in primary education, 14,6 million in the first phase of secondary education and 13 million in the second phase.
During the period under review, the percentage of girls completing primary education increased from 86% to 89%; from 74% to 79% in the first phase of secondary education and from 54% to 61% in the second. Currently, five million more girls complete each of these three levels of education per year compared to 2015.
UNESCO welcomes this progress, but calls for “double your efforts” by 2030 to reach the level of total schooling and urges governments to invest urgently in the areas it considers essential to achieve this.
Governments, the report further recommends, should also create gender-sensitive legal frameworks and opt for gender-sensitive teaching and learning materials, which ensure equitable representation of women and girls in curricula and textbooks, free from prejudice, stereotypes and norms. of gender.
Conclusion
Surfing is being used as a powerful tool to help girls in São Tomé and Príncipe, giving them skills and self-confidence to face life's challenges.
Furthermore, it shows how the partnership between SOMA, Betclic Portugal and Shutterstock is contributing to diversity and representation in the world of surfing, challenging cultural and gender stereotypes.
Through these initiatives, a new wave of equality is being launched that extends beyond the beaches of São Tomé and influences the global community.
What do you think of this project? Are you willing to help SOMA help these girls? If yes, go to the website SOMA and knows how to help. We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
Picture: © SOMA
