We finished our 6-months surf therapy pilot project and we are beyond happy to share the results with you!
Our surf therapy intervention led to an improvement of overall well-being in our participants. The scores for feeling supported by the mentors when trying something hard and being able to talk to the mentors when having problems have shown a massive increase. Â
"I always said I just need to get out of the village. But then I realized the village is good, but it's the people that are bad. We need more positive adults in the community, who support and encourage us and adults we can trust." explained one of our participants.
What's next? We will continue to offer surf therapy to at-risk youth in under-served communities in Trinidad. We'd also love to open a Waves for Hope site to offer a wider range of support to the young people in the community of Balandra.
Our goal with surf therapy is to help kids and youths in Trinidad develop skills to cope with stress and trauma, and help them develop positive self identities. Our surf therapy programs provide young people with the opportunity to practice new behaviours and coping skills that can improve the way they deal with the impact of stress.
We know we cannot change the situation that the children live in, but we can give
them the tools to cope more effectively with the challenges they face every day.