Surf Bunkers X Dreamtown
Story by Nina Storgaard Albertsen
The moment the waves roll in, everyone is the same. The sound of the crashing waves is only topped by the joy and laughter that fills the air during every successful run and suddenly all worries and differences are gone, reduced to a shared moment of presence in the here and now.
Surf Bunkers X Bureh Beach Surf Club at the magnificent paradise of Bureh Beach
Photos taken September 2022
Dreamtown X Surf Bunkers have teamed up to launch a new experimenting communication project that connects a cool group of young Danish surfers with the surf community at Bureh Beach in Sierra Leone. It connects people through a shared love for the big wata (the big sea in the Krio language).
Surf Bunkers went with Dreamtown to visit the surfers at Bureh and to meet more of all the cool, strong, and inspiring young people Dreamtown works with in Sierra Leone. At Bureh Beach, a group of young passionate surfers have come together to create a surf community in Sierra Leone and to spread the love for the sea. Cool and fearless children down to six years are riding the waves while young people and adults are easing their minds, having fun, and practicing tricks at the sea on the boards.
After going to school, all children are allowed to borrow surf boards from Bureh Beach Surf Club to challenge themselves and to learn how to be confident in the water they are growing up next to. The sea is a place where everyone is the same. All worries and differences are gone. It unites people of Bureh and all those who are lucky enough to be welcomed to this small paradise.
Returning to Freetown, we were welcomed by the strong women’s group the Iron Ladies in the slum area Bonga Town. The group works to support and strengthen women in the community. We fetched water from the new well in Dwarzark community with the team that (with their own hands) dug down in the search for the water. We hung out with the coolest and strongest guys of the Jumbo Gym to check who had the real strength - Sierra Leone or Denmark. No reason to say Sierra Leone won that one.
At the end, everyone left with new friends, new perspectives and inspiration and talks on when to meet again.
Joakim from Surf Bunkers competing against the Jumbo Gym guys in the community of Dwarzak, Freetown
What’s up next?
Back in Copenhagen, Surf Bunkers are engaging the Danish surf community on their experiences in Sierra Leone – to tell the stories from the waves and from the city. They tell the cool stories that we don’t see in the media. They will create the most inspiring short film you will see this year, staring young people coming together across borders, but on waters. So, stay tuned!
Thank you to the community on Bureh Beach for sharing your waves and not least your love for the waves with us - you are the true and inspiring heroes of the world!
You can follow Surf Bunkers on Facebook and Instagram, and Bureh Beach Surf Club on Facebook and Instagram.
Our project with Surf Bunkers is supported by CISU – Civil Society in Development.