- Title: Senegal's first female pro surfer draws others in her wake
- Date: 27th August 2020
- Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (AUGUST 13, 2020) (REUTERS) FIRST FEMALE PRO-SURFER IN SENEGAL KHADJOU SAMBE ON SURF BOARD IN THE SEA (SLOW MOTION)
- Embargoed: 10th September 2020 11:33
- Keywords: Dakar Khadjou Sambe Senegal surfing
- Location: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- City: DAKAR, SENEGAL
- Country: Senegal
- Topics: Sport,Surfing,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001CT0ZRYX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Khadjou Sambe never saw a black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal's first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves.
Undeterred by the postponement of the Olympic Games due to the pandemic, Sambe, 24, trains whenever conditions allow in the powerful surf break near her home in the working-class district of Ngor - the westernmost point of the African continent.
"When I am in the water I feel something extraordinary, something special in my heart," Sambe said, wearing a t-shirt of the 'Black Girls Surf' project (BGS), which helps Black girls and women around the world break into professional surfing.
Sambe also coaches girls from her community, encouraging them to develop the physical and mental strength needed to ride waves and break the mould in a society where many expect them to stick to traditional roles: cooking, cleaning, and marrying young.
"I tell them that if you want to progress in your surfing and go forward, don't listen to those who tell you to stop or to stay at home because that is backward-looking," she said.
Under Sambe's tutelage, the girls perform surfing drills at a BGS surf camp on the wide sandy beaches of Yoff beach, whose gentler waves are more suitable for beginners.
Residents of Ngor have become used to the sight of Sambe carrying her board through the maze of narrow alleyways that lead to the fishing boat-hemmed shore. In recent months, she has used a house overlooking the ocean there as a base during a visit by mentor and 'Black Girls Surf' founder Rhonda Harper.
"I would always see people surfing and I'd say to myself: but where are the girls who surf?," Sambe said. "I thought: why don't I go surfing, represent my country, represent Africa, represent Senegal as a Black girl."
(Production: Christophe Van Der Perre and Yvonne Bell) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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