“Surf Therapy” in Sierra Leone

Context

In the aftermath of both the civil war and the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, youngsters have been facing several daily life challenges. Social and family structures have compelled them to take up adults’ roles at a very early age. A situation that is not only harmful to their emotional development but that also increases their risk of developing mental health problems, a phenomenon that further impacts on the well-being of the most vulnerable. The use of sport as a means of intervention in health care is getting more and more popular with local communities who have acknowledged sport’s cost-effectiveness in filling the gaps in the overcrowded social services. With local The Messeh Leone Trust NGO’s coordination, the initiative enjoys support for complementary training supplied by Wave for Change and an evaluation assistance from Napier University at Edinburg.

Objectives

• Training 20 young Sierra Leonean in the skills necessary to act as “Surf Therapy” session facilitators
• Improving vulnerable youngsters’ health and well-being through weekly sessions for 12 months
• Guaranteeing the continued sustainability of the programme along with local public authorities’ participation
• Converting 5 beaches into safe areas and helping create jobs in the targeted localities

Activities

• Training and coaching vulnerable youngsters in five targeted beaches of Freetown
• Awareness raising programmes in partnership with local media groups
• Weekly surfing introduction and coaching sessions for youngsters based on a curriculum drawn in partnership with Wave for Change
• Rolling out an online course platform destined to the trainers

Impacts                                                                         

• 20 (twenty) 18- to 30-year-old young mentors shall be trained to implement the programme
• 500 (five hundred) 12- and 18-year-old vulnerable youngsters (half of whom female) living on the urban and rural beaches of Freetown shall be directly impacted by the initiative
• 1,000 additional indirect beneficiaries consisting of parents, classmates and inhabitants of the 5 targeted beaches

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