If you have watched Stacker News Live over the past few months or regularly read in this territory, you have seen a series of posts from @jasonb that documented his expedition in South Africa to work with the team at Bitcoin Ekasi. If you haven't read these articles, check them out here: #1242262 #1243668 #1249664 #1256706 #1270356 #1272936 #1275151 #1285448 #1330448

I have read each of these posts with great attention, because @jasonb asked me to proofread them as part of my wonderfully exciting role as his wife. While my adventurous and passionate husband was helping in any way he was asked at the Bitcoin Ekasi center and thrift shop, I spent my mornings homeschooling our kids and exploring the awesome city that we called home for a few months.

The kids and I spent our afternoons at the sister-organization to Bitcoin Ekasi: the Surfer Kids. I was not there volunteering. I actually spent most of my time at the surf center helping my preschooler learn his letters and numbers while his older siblings were participating, but we certainly were welcomed into the community and I was absolutely inspired by what they are doing. It is this organization that I want to highlight with this post.

The Surfer Kids ExperienceThe Surfer Kids Experience

For over 15 years, Surfer Kids has been an afterschool option for the youth of the Mossel Bay township. These kids live lives of incredible poverty and marginalization. They often lack family support and are at increased risk for drug-use, gang-involvement, and violence. Knowing that they come from these kind of circumstances, it was beautiful to see these children and teens spending six days of the week in a program that models and teaches character qualities like perseverance, discipline, and team work through the challenging sports of surfing and skateboarding. Yet, perhaps more than the programming and instruction (which are excellent!), the staff provides vision, encouragement, and love that can truly change the lives and futures of these young people.

Riding Waves, Working Hard, and Having FunRiding Waves, Working Hard, and Having Fun

Surfing has classically been a sport for privileged, mostly white people who can afford the board and time to spend their free time riding waves at beaches around the world, but in Mossel Bay there are ~50 kids from ages six to teenagers coming to the beach from the township to work hard and have fun. The sport takes training (my kids developed serious core strength and balance in the short time they participated in the program!), discipline, and perseverance. In a world where attention spans are decreasing dramatically, I watched as 30-50 kids bobbed patiently on their surfboards, waiting for the right wave. These kids would paddle out over and over (I mentioned strength training, right?) to hone their skills and stretch their abilities each day. On days when the surf was too rough or the winds too high, the participants would don skateboarding gear and work on a similar skill set, but on the halfpipe or bowl for the more advanced skaters. It was beautiful to see groups of young people cheering each other on as their friends demonstrated new skills. I will remember always the moment my daughter hit the halfpipe bar for the first time and the whole line of kids erupted with cheers- her face lit up with pride and joy!

Beyond just practicing these sports afterschool and on Saturday mornings, the Surfer Kids have sent teams to compete in local and regional surf competitions- earning medals as their proof-of-work. The program also hosts skate competitions inviting anyone to come show their chops in the amazing Bitcoin Bowl and rewarding the top skaters with sats. Participating in and hosting events like these get the NPO noticed in the community and greater region and opens up the world a bit more for the participants who sometimes haven't traveled beyond their neighborhood.

In addition to the actual surfing and skating, the kids are also being trained to be responsible for taking care of the equipment they used from the wetsuits to the boards. As a parent, I have had limited success training my children to pick up after themselves much less truly help around the house with our life-gear like the broom or dishwasher, so it was inspirational for me to see the way the staff instilled a sense of responsibility and willingness in these kids to truly participate in both the fun and less-fun parts of the program. In fact, I was corrected once or twice by a staff member when I tried to jump in and help a participant with their assigned task. He told me, "He knows what to do- you must let him." I filed that lesson away for the next time my daughter says putting her clothing away is too hard...

Vision for Someone's FutureVision for Someone's Future

As I mentioned, the character traits of responsibility, perseverance, and team work are qualities that can dramatically improve the lives of these kids and their communities; yet the love and encouragement they receive was truly inspirational.

As I mentioned, I wasn't actually volunteering and I have absolutely zero experience on skate/surfboards (confession: I didn't actually go beyond my knees into the ocean once on our whole trip!); however, the kids seemed very eager for me to watch them. In particular there was one young teen who truly seemed starved for adult approval and affirmation. He was brand new to the program and I was told that his home life was less than supportive... He is exactly who these amazing staff members are so gifted to impact. I saw him ushered into this community with excitement when he succeeded and encouragement to try again when he didn't. I am gratified to know that this boy and all the other participants can have confidence in the affection and commitment of the staff.

Beyond the daily encouragement and direction, the leaders of this program truly have and communicate vision for each of the participants' future. Shortly before we finished our time in Mossel Bay, I was chatting with the program's director about some of the older participants. He proceeded to lay out specific plans for how they are helping each of them move into adulthood from assisting them toward further education at a college to transitioning some of them into paid positions within the organization as it grows. I remember starting to feel teary as he cast vision for these young men who had played such positive roles in my and my children's lives while we were there. May my children have non-parental adults in their lives who care so much for them and their future!

I titled this post suggesting that programs like Surfer Kids "fixes" something. I am not in anyway suggesting that the poverty and injustice facing the townships of South Africa are "fixed" by a single NPO. However, on an individual-life level, I know that the commitment and investment by the Surfer Kids program is fixing something because most of the young adults who are coaching the program today are actually former participants. These are not volunteers coming in from affluent communities- no, these young men (no female coaches- yet!) have grown up spending their afternoons being influenced by the Surfer Kids experience and they are now turning around and investing their time and efforts to continue the cycle of growth.

Why Bitcoin?Why Bitcoin?

One might ask, "This is all well-and-good, but what does this have to do with bitcoin?" Beyond the fact that Surfer Kids is the sister-organization to Bitcoin Ekasi, bitcoin girds the character and community work that is being done by giving it longevity, security, and protection. The participants in the Surfer Kids are provided with sat rewards each month if they attend regularly. The staff then takes them on "shopping days" to various bitcoin-accepting shops in the township. Consequently this program is also building a future in the greater township community by infusing a hard money into a financially oppressed system due to the inflating rand. Many of the older kids are also saving their bitcoin for the future (low time preference- another quality I hope my kids have learned by their age).

Beyond learning solid character qualities, they are learning solid financial skills that will serve them, their families, and their community in the future.

What's Next for Surfer Kids and Bitcoin EkasiWhat's Next for Surfer Kids and Bitcoin Ekasi

While hanging out at the surf center I began to notice that on many days almost all of the center's wetsuits were being used. Often the helmets and pads for skating days were shared as kids took turns on the halfpipe... This program is growing and the leaders may need to start talking about either limiting enrollment (I really hope not!) or expanding. The director has ideas for the neighboring space, but it is currently occupied. My hope is that it becomes available and the program has the funds to expand.

Bitcoin Ekasi has already started raising funds and plans to break ground in the new year on an amazing new center which will serve many functions from a community meeting and event space, housing the bitcoin and financial education classes, and potentially a builders space. Beyond the local impact, this center has the aims to become one of the premier spaces for international bitcoin events fueling adoption and education as visitors see bitcoin changing lives in the growing circular economy of Mossel Bay and South Africa as a whole.

Final ThoughtsFinal Thoughts

A isiXhosa phrase used often at the surf center is hamba ngothando which means walk/go with love. The sentiment is that all the hard work and investment (emotional, financial, time, etc.) is motivated and undergirded by love. I saw this in action; I witnessed the power of this motivation.

While I truly hope to be back in Mossel Bay sometime soon, if that doesn't end up part of our path, I am deeply grateful for the time that we spent with the Surfer Kids and Bitcoin Ekasi programs.

To the program staff, our family felt welcomed and included in your community while we were far from home- thank you, from my heart. You are making an impact. You are changing lives. You are an inspiration. Thank you.

To the SN community, most of this post was my limited perspective. For more information about the scope of both these NPOs, check out their sites at: https://www.thesurferkids.com/ https://bitcoinekasi.com/

If you are one who looks for worthy causes to support this time of year, please consider supporting the new Bitcoin Ekasi Center by donating at: https://support.bitcoinekasi.com/

If you are interested in visiting Mossel Bay and the growing bitcoin circular economy, check out Unravel Surf Travel for surfing tours: https://unravelsurftravel.com/

Have a fantastic holiday season and a festive New Year wherever you are and hamba ngothando.