Connecting the dots
Sometimes in life we just have to connect the dots. A while ago, something happened in Spain that would change the way I looked at Angola. I am referring to the meeting with Linzi Hawkin, the creator of SUPKids program. I met Linzi at the annual Starboard dealers meeting last year in Costa Brava and was inspired to such a large extent that eventually my life as a stand up paddler and photographer, was changed. After meeting Linzi, I started to look at all my surf trip plans as something pretty vain. I suddenly began to rethink my life, trying to incorporate some of the inspiration I got from Linzi into my work. For those of you who’ve not come across it, SUPKids is a program designed to teach children the basics of water safety and environmental education through stand up paddling.
The idea is that along with games, didactic activities and SUP sessions, young kids can develop abilities and skills that will stay with them throughout their whole lives and that will help them to become more resilient, more curious and more conscious humans.
For me the most interesting part was that Linzi had already started a series of SUPKids Give Back Programs, as she called them. These were basically didactic programs given pro bono to kids from socially impaired communities around the world.
