Surfers Not Street Children: Surf Therapy for South Africa's Street Kids

Founded in Durban in 1998 by surfer and activist Tom Hewitt, Surfers Not Street Children fuses surfing, structured mentorship and social work to move children off the streets and into stable, independent lives. Children join surf clubs where trained social workers and mentors combine time in the water with education, family reunification support and life-skills training, and the model has helped some graduates become coffee baristas, lifeguards, surf shop staff and professional surfers. In 2018, the charity expanded into Mozambique with the Tofo Surf Club, a diversion and empowerment program for vulnerable children in Tofo Village, delivered in partnership with Pope Francis's Scholas Occurrentes network. The organization has also pushed for policy change, successfully challenging abusive police round-ups and forced removals of street children in South Africa.