Surf With Amigas Donates Books to Remote Indigenous Schools

As part of our dedication to give back and improve the lives of local people wherever we host retreats, Surf With Amigas supports educational opportunities whenever we can. In Nicaragua we work with Waves of Hope to rehabilitate (and in some cases build from scratch) local schools. In Costa Rica that means supporting a woman who has made it her goal to assure that all children have access to the materials that they need to learn, even if they are indigenous children living in areas so remote that there are not roads suitable to reach them.

Maryanne Aspinal (white shirt in photo above) is from a small town in the far South of Costa Rica located at the very end of a dirt road very close to where we host our Southern Costa Rican retreats. She has made it her mission to travel to the most remote schools in the country and assure that the children there are equipped with books. In some cases the schools she visits are only accessible by horseback or helicopter.

Delivering books by horseback.
A remote indigenous school.

For every guest who attends one of our Costa Rican retreats, we sponsor one child with school books for the year.

She can always use more help. Contact Maryanne Aspinal if you’d like to contribute! [email protected]

Support Surfer Girls Breaking Down Gender Barriers in Bangladesh

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An amiga who joined us on a retreat last year shared this amazing story of a handful of young women breaking down traditional gender roles to follow their passions of having fun in the ocean while riding waves. In a place racked with poverty, where child marriages are all too common and young girls are forced into the streets to scrounge a living for themselves and their families, these girls have reconnected with having fun, have built confidence, and begun forming new dreams.

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Read the article from the LATimes here. The inspired amiga Angie Christides who shared this with us has formed a non-profit called Pelican Crew (website in development) to bring surfing and other beach activities to underprivileged kids locally and internationally. She is holding a fundraiser in Los Angeles, Sunday May 22nd for the girls surf club in Bangladesh.  Click here for the full flyer with more information on the event in .pdf form. Help young girls follow their dreams and connect with other awesome surfing women in the LA area by attending this event!

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Amigas Give Back with Waves of Hope

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It’s natural to want to give back and help people. Travel experiences are so much more meaningful when you get a chance to interact with the local community and impact their lives in a positive way. When I was looking for a place to run the women’s surf and yoga retreats I wanted to partner with someone who was making a positive impact on the community. Coco Loco is the perfect place. They run a non-profit called Waves of Hope that is investing in education to teach the people how to help themselves. Those are the sorts of businesses that I want to support and you can feel good about doing the same.
For more information about Waves Of Hope, click here!