ABOUT US

Established in 2016, Waves of Hope is a nonprofit organization, which helps rehabilitate religious youth at severe risk through surfing therapy. Our eye-opening therapeutic programs take youth, who left their community and educational frameworks, away from their familiar surroundings, into the fold of surfing, and uses the obstacles of the sea to teach them to cope with the barriers and difficulties in their lives.

 

Waves of Hope is much more than a surf training or even surf therapy program. Our educational and therapeutic program provides these youth with a chance for rehabilitation and integration into normative society. Our instructors continue to support and mentor the graduates, steering them back on track while providing them new opportunities for professional training and occupational development. Coming from a world where sports is practically non-existent, the youth grow so attached to the organization that they remain in contact for years after their treatment has concluded.

 

In fact, they become a sort of community which supports one another and continues to meet up on an ongoing basis as they feel safe and secure in their surroundings. Both the process of surfing and the supportive culture created through counseling, mentoring and peer networks lead participants to develop a positive and optimistic outlook on life.  Many of our graduates become surfing instructors or join our surfing related initiatives such as local surfboard workshops. Whether or not they continue in the field of surfing, the skills they acquire in our program enable them to continue their lives as positive and productive individuals.