Since January 2014, American – Bengali couple, Venessa Rude and Rashed Alam, are offering surf and English lessons to poor girls in difficult situations, on the beach of Cox’s Bazar, in the deep south of Bangladesh, near the border with Myanmar, through their Life saving and Surfing Club. Despite the opposition of the traditionally closed and men-centered Bengali community and society, they have managed to create this great space for these girls to learn and develop their surfing skills and passions. In a country where just forty percent of girls pass secondary exams, and approximately five million children ages between five and fifteen are engaged in child labour, the Life saving and Surfing Club provides the girls with education and freedom to realize their potential and maybe, one day, being able to leave Bangladesh in order to look for a better life and be able to provide for their families.
For these girls, surf is not just a sport, but also a way of living and emancipate themselves