Last night, we put some protective packing on the rails of our donated surfboards. Seven were recently repaired by volunteers in preparation of opening a new after school surf program in Sorsogon, Gubat Bay, Philippines. Special thanks to Michael Dayao and Cristine Blanco for packing and the Wahine Project and Sunshine in the Fog for … Continue reading Surfboard Packing Goes Faster with Three People
What’s the big surprise? What does a bunch of fearless kids and world class waves equal? A bunch of banged up surfboards! We can’t get too upset. Jinan lost a fin that got loose off a longboard. Mercy did as well. We joked with the kids that we were subject to suspension as well! Well, … Continue reading Siargao Balikbayod Needs Surf Repair Supplies!
WAYAY SURFING ON A HALFBOARD Balkbayod would like to thank all of those who supported us during our trip to the Philippines in November 2011. The three weeks on Siargao Island was a memorable experience. We had a Balikbayod unit traveling strong with us, and with everyone’s hands in the mix, we were able to … Continue reading Marajao na Bayod! Good Waves!
We had quite a good time at our last fundraiser at No Worries restaurant on August 5th, 2011. We had an amazing turnout and raised over $450! We want to thank a few of our friends and supporters below: Orlando Lacro: Artist and Surfboard Shaper Tonet Jose: President of the Manila Surfer’s association Drama One: … Continue reading Getting Close to Our Fundraising Goal!
We have just received a program update from one of the school teachers, Mam Pitang, on Siargao Island. Four of our Balikbayod participants passed the ALS Accreditation and Equivalency test, and they have now been promoted to the secondary or high school level! Congratulations! The ALS, which stands for the Alternative Learning System, is a … Continue reading Program Update: What the kids are up to!
General Luna, Siargao Island Our first trip to meet the kids was from September 19th-29th, 2008. We travelled from San Francisco, California with 9 donated surfboards. There were 4 of us on the trip: Victoria, myself (Lynn), Tracy, and my cousin Boyet from Cebu City. We met the kids in the Balikbayod group for the first … Continue reading First Balikbayod Trip from California to Siargao
Siargao, Philippines. Special thank you to our donors for the first donated batch of boards in use: 11 year old, Noah Cooper of San Francisco, California Dina El Dessouky and Robert Kirkpatrick of Santa Cruz, California
We collected the first 4 surf board donations: 1 from San Francisco and 3 from Santa Cruz, California. They made it to Cloud 9 in Siargao, and the kids have started surfing under Jing’s instruction! We are still collecting more surfboards from YOU!
Siargao Island, Philippines. Two point people have emerged as program developers, they are Christy Ochampaugh and Jing Gurrobat backed by the LGU (Local Government Unit) to help kids through education in a fun way. The surf/educational center headed by Jing will teach local Cloud 9 youth surfing, art and trade skills as well as english … Continue reading Program Development
