Perched on the corner of West Africa, Sierra Leone has spent most of its tumultuous history outside the global consciousness. For many people, the brutal civil war, child soldiers and blood diamonds are their only association with the country. Yet it is a land full of potential. With its golden, palm-fringed beaches and pristine wildlife sanctuaries, tourism is certain to play a key role in its future.

The Bureh Beach Surf Club, founded in December 2012, is a great example of a community-led initiative using these resources to their best advantage.  Here a determined local effort, along with a little international support, made a huge difference to a small, coastal community. Last year, I travelled to Sierra Leone to find out about the club and meet its Irish founder.

Bureh Beach is one of the prettiest stretches of a star-studded coastline. A long crescent beach curves up the coast until it meets lush jungle spilling down from the rugged hills above. The village is nestled at the south end, by a river which flows into the bay, sculpting the sandbar that produces one of the best waves in Sierra Leone: a long, mellow, left hand point-break.

Sitting outside the surf club at Bureh Beach, with waves lapping up almost to our feet, Shane spoke to me about his role in founding the  club. “Basically I wanted to help my friends and make sure they got the benefits of the natural resources: the waves here in Bureh.”

As a community-based organisation, all revenue earned through lessons, gear rentals and selling food is reinvested locally, with 25% set aside for community-based projects. The surf club members decide what they want to do with these funds including supporting new businesses and promoting events such as the country’s first surfing competition.

Getting the club up and running was far from easy. The village chief had to be consulted and convinced of the club’s merits.  O’Connor says that the support both locally and from abroad was excellent. They also approached some NGOs and businesses. Magicseaweed, a UK-based website and surf shop,  donated a lot of equipment. A German NGO, Welthungerhilfe, who run an eco-tour project in Sierra Leone paid for the building of the surf club and two toilets, the shower, the well and the pump.

The club has been a great success. Charles, one of the young surfing talents of Sierra Leone, told me that now: “the community thinks that surfing is the best thing in Bureh.” He explained that along with being enormous fun itself, surf lessons provide a source of much needed income for local surfers. Of the eleven surf club members, everyone has a role to play. Some give lessons to tourists, mostly expats working at NGOs, who now frequent Bureh Beach on the weekends. Others cook food for visitors or manage the rental equipment. In the future, the club plans to offer beach-side accommodation too. John, a surf club member, told me how his wages from giving surf lessons allowed him to continue his studies.

And it is not just members of the surf club who have benefited. Tourism to the beach has increased and small restaurants and guest houses have sprung up to accommodate the new visitors. These are providing employment in an area people previously had to leave to find work. Jabez,  the senior surf instructor, summed up the community’s feelings: “Now everybody’s in love with surfing, everybody wants to get in the water!”

 Author: Cian Kearns

After obtaining a BA in sociology and psychology from NUI Galway, Cian attended Limerick College of Further Education where he studied Advanced Radio Production. He has travelled extensively in the developing world and has a keen interest in bringing development issues to light. He is currently working on a radio documentary about micro financing in Sierra Leone. Follow Cian on Twitter, @Ciankearns

Photo credit: One of the local surfers, Charles, at Bureh Beach, Cian Kearns

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