As a child growing up in Vrygrond, Shuan Solomons and his friends would walk 30 minutes along busy roads to Muizenberg beach. More than 20 years later, Solomons and a small group of volunteers run the Local Surf Lounge Academy in Muizenberg.
As a child growing up in Vrygrond, Shuan Solomons and his friends would walk 30 minutes along busy roads to Muizenberg beach. Solomons and his friends would make it through the day by begging or scratching in bins for food at the beach.Solomons says he always longed to learn how to surf but ‘no one wanted to lend us a board’.
Donated surfboards line the walls of the clubhouse, ready for the boys to grab when they want to catch a wave. Picture: Ashraf Hendricksin Muizenberg. Their surf clubhouse is now a surf school and safe haven for young boys from very poor homes or who live on the streets. Shane Lentoor, who runs the organisation’s safety and community outreach, says some of the children on their program have some family support and are still at school, while others have dropped out of school and wander the streets during the day. Picture: Ashraf Hendricks
Children walk to surfer’s corner in Muizenberg from their clubhouse. The Local Surf Lounge Academy currently caters for about 25 children, but sometimes have more come through their doors. Many of them live in Lavender Hill, Steenberg, Capricorn and Vrygrond. Picture: Ashraf HendricksWe spoke to a few of the boys at the Local Surf Lounge Academy. Themba and Enzo are not their real names.
He says he enjoys the feeling of surfing. ‘It’s me and the waves,’ he says. Getting better at the sport makes him happy.Another 17-year-old, Enzo, says he joined the program when he was ten. He says that he used to beg on the streets, steal and sniff glue. He met Solomons who invited him to join the program. ‘Surfing took me away from that…I’m happy with myself,’ he says.
As one of the stronger surfers who has also started participating in competitions, Enzo says that the boys ‘look up to me in my community’. He has won a few competitions and is making some money through small sponsorships. His dream is to ‘work in a surf shop and travel the world’.
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