Tom Chadwick Volunteer Blog: Begin at the Beginning.

A word from WAVES’ Executive Director Dave Aabo:

It’s my pleasure to welcome Tom Chadwick to the WAVES family. Over the next few months leading up to his time in Peru, Tom will be sharing his experiences during the fundraising and preparation process. While he is in Lobitos, we will continue to follow his journey. Then, after being there, we hope to gain some insight into how the experience affected him and his contribution to the programs in Lobitos. I feel lucky that Tom has agreed to share this adventure not only with his friends and family, but the entire WAVES community, where you, too, can follow along. Thanks Tom and take it away!

My family and I all learned to surf at the same time back in 2004, with a

surf school in Cornwall, UK. On the recommendation of our instructor – who liked to be called by his full name: Bodacious Ned – we bought a copy of the surf film, Endless Summer II so that we could, in his words, “get a feel for the surfer’s lifestyle, man”.

Having all only just learned to surf unbroken waves we were completely mesmerised by that video and the things people could do with a surfboard and a wave. One classic moment which has gone down in history in my family to this day comes when Wingnut catches a barrel that peels neatly to the right for what seems like an age. Eventually he emerges from deep within the wave, fist punching the air, and the voice-over announces: “Wingnut comin’ outta the end of the barrel, stoked!” To the ears of us grommets, born and bred in the North of England, the language of surfing, especially words like ‘stoked’, were hilarious and delightful. “People actually say that!?” we proclaimed, “brilliant!”

My family on Polzeath beach, summer 2004.

It’s hard to explain why this was such a source of joy to us. I actually think it’s because the word perfectly summarised the way we were all coming to feel about surfing, and at the same time confirmed that it could only get better – “this sport has had to invent its own language to describe the exhilaration it brings” we thought, “it must be good”.

So when I emailed WAVES for Development a week before Christmas and received a reply from the executive director beginning “Tom, we’re stoked to be in touch!” I knew I was on to a winner.

I’m Tom Chadwick, 23 Years old and just graduated from University where I studied Politics and Sociology. I’m heading to Lobitos in April to voluntour with WAVES for Development. This blog will document my journey before, during and after my time in Peru. Hopefully those who are considering a trip with WAVES will find it helpful to read this blog and get a first-hand insight into the whole experience.

Discovering the website of WAVES for Development was a little like a dream-come-true. For a while I had had a hunch that there might be potential in surfing beyond just riding waves. That pure exhilaration that surfing brings to every single person that I have seen dropping-in on their first wave? There must be something in that, some way of using that to (excuse the cliché) make the world a better place. It had crossed my mind, too, that perhaps surfing and youth work were compatible and maybe even surfing and international development, but I had no idea where to begin. I cast the thought aside as a pipe-dream.

My local break, Cayton Bay, UK, on a frosty evening sunset surf.

And that was when I came across the WAVES website. It was a bit like discovering the grown-up version of my own vague hunch that surfing might be a force for good in the world. A real, practical project doing youth work, environmental education, sustainable development, entrepreneurship classes, micro-loan funds – all centred around the idea that surfing can be a force for good. If I was once stoked by what people could do with a wave and a surfboard in Endless Summer II, then we need to invent yet another word to describe what WAVES is doing with those same tools.

But finding the website was also a little terrifying because after a little research on the organisation I knew that I had to go. No more “maybe I’ll go travelling” or “ideally I’ll get a job doing something useful for other people”. This was it. I was going to Peru (provided they accepted my application) and I was going for a few months at that. Also, I was going to get as involved as possible with WAVES before, during and after my stay with them.

So I emailed WAVES with my CV, covering letter and application form and I waited a week. And then I waited another week. Then another. And it was Christmas time so I wasn’t really expecting a reply for a while. And then, just as I began getting impatient I received the email: an infectiously enthusiastic welcome from Dave Aabo saying that they’d love to have me on board and that of course there were ways I could get involved even before I get to Lobitos, and sorry for the delay but Christmas time had been hectic.

So we arranged to meet on Skype and that has really brought the whole thing to life. So I’ll be fundraising, blogging and, providing that it is given the go-ahead from the relevant people, I’ll be doing some volunteer work for WAVES – looking over research data recently gathered from Lobitos and writing up the findings and their implications for some of WAVES’s current projects. In the meantime I have found a job teaching swimming and I plan to enrol on a Spanish course pronto.

It’s early days right now, and so far I only have two pieces of advice to give:

First, for those who do not speak Spanish already but are interested in voluntouring with WAVES, there is an excellent free online audiobook class called ‘saysomethinginspanish’. It teaches Spain Spanish (as opposed to Latin American Spanish), but I have still found it to be a helpful way to get going and to practice for my paid course.

Second, if you’re scared, like I was, of sending optimistic emails asking to do work that you love to organisations that you like the sound of, throw caution to the waves and give it a go. Sometimes it works out.

Thanks WAVES, it’s great to be on board.

Posted in: News

Tags: finding WAVES, learning Spanish, surf UK, Tom Chadwick, UK, volunteer, WAVES Family

About the author: WAVES Volunteer

WAVES is only possible because of volunteers who come from all walks of life. Here, they share experiences and perspective from their time as volunteers.

• View all posts by: WAVES Volunteer
• Send an email to: WAVES Volunteer