Travelogue by Leigh Miller

A lot of you know I had been overseas for the last few weeks, and I wanted to share my experience and the reasons I had decided to take a trip to a little known island called Siargao.

Siargao is a small, tear-shaped island located on the most eastern Pacific edge of the Philippines. What sets Siargao apart from the other 7100 islands in the country is that it is the only one to have a world class surf break, called Cloud 9 (although, there are probably others that are kept secret or yet to be discovered).

A friend of mine from San Francisco, Lynn Bryant, created a non-profit organization called "Balikbayod" (The Returning Wave). Their main goal is to promote education through surfing in various parts of the world, with Siargao being the first location. Lynn and volunteers collect donated surfboards, ships them to location, and then creates a library system with the boards. The kids stay in school, get decent grades, and then an instructor signs off on a given card that allows them to check out the surfboards.

I had donated a board to Balikbayod back in July and Lynn had asked if I wanted to join them in receiving the current shipment of boards in Siargao. I thought it would a great experience to see the program in action and surf some foreign waves, so I jump on board.

We were greeted with open arms from the local Siargao community and the kids were stoked to see 40+ surfboards make it over. There were about 8 of us there to help setup the program and help film the documentary being made about Balikbayod.

Also on the trip, was Dionne Ybarra, founder of the Wahine Project, a non-profit organization based out of Pacific Grove/ Monterey Area. It was great to talk with her, and Lynn, to get a sense of how they run their non-profits, and to exchange ideas on fund-raising and possible future projects together with the SCLU.

It was absolutely priceless to see the stoke that all the donations and the program brought. Personally, I got to network and bring back new ideas, and new friends. Not only did we surf some fun waves, but we helped to create and further define a growing surf community on the other side of the Pacific.

More informational links:

http://balikbayod.wordpress.com

http://www.thewahineproject.org

 

Have you gone on a trip or had an awesome experience abroad? Please share! santacruzlongboardunion@gmail.com