SURFING SOAPBOX: Following the surfing path in Peru

I’ve always believed that surfing has the ability to change people. I know because it changed me. Surfing gave me something to dream about. Something to keep me walking straight ahead without ever looking back. Surfing has always been the one constant path in my life. It remains the same today.

This week, we passed the torch down to the next generation of surfers here in Lima, Peru, with the help of Lost international clothing and surfboards that sponsored a beach cleanup, in conjunction with several surfing schools whose students participated in cleaning up their beaches.

By 9 a.m. sharp there was already a fleet of children with rubber gloves on, picking up trash.

To see such pride on the faces of these children sent waves of encouragement through me — it shared that same feeling, like catching that perfect wave.

One by one they walked a couple of miles, from one station to the next, picking up trash in the blazing sun with a great sense of ownership and a new understanding of caring for our beaches and oceans.

At the third and final station, all of the trash bags were collected and each participant received Lost posters and stickers. Along the way, I made a new friend, a young surfer named Niso, who walked the last stretch of beach with me picking up trash. It was one of those moments that will always remind me of why surfing is so special, walking and talking with this youngster.

I’m sure he has the same dream I once had when I was his age: the dream of one day becoming a pro surfer, just as those before me — who took time out to talk to me and sign pictures — I followed suit just as I was taught.

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com