Vanderful / Seeds of Hope ODV
2019 - 2024
Week 4 – Take action, surfing and the new shapers
The themes voted for the ‘play’ were revealed and the children began to ‘take action’ by implementing a beach clean up! The boys took their boards for their maiden surf… Jorge even closed a 360! Also, Craftsmanship welcomed 3 new shapers; Gimildo, Candido and Antonio.
Vanderful Surfing
The day had finally arrived for Jorge, Rafito and Tony to ride their Alaias and Paipo in the waves. Unfortunately, Rafito had an injury, so he was unable to surf, but joined them on the beach to observe his board in action.
Jorge rode Rafito’s board like a ‘pro’, he even managed to close a 360 turn! Remember, this was the first time these young surfers have used wooden surfboards; and these ones were made with their own hands!
Frankie and Gibbo were able to join them in the water, to celebrate with them doing what they all love doing the most; surfing!
Vanderful – Take Action – Beach Clean Up!
After the community mapping exercise last week, the children all voted for their favourite topics (the list is in the last blog post). Below are the results from these votes…
People – ‘Keep Tofo’s beaches clean!’
Animals – ‘Protect the green spaces of Tofo!’
Environment – ‘Plant more trees!’
For the play’s props, costumes and scenery; we took the morning session children for a beach clean up at ‘Back Door Beach’, one of the more secluded beaches in this area.
The children collected plastic of all varieties; we managed to fill 15 large bags with rubbish! At the end we were even blessed to see a pod of humpback whales; no more than 20 metres from the shore!
Vanderful Surf Craftsmanship
The workshop welcomed 3 new members this week; Gimildo, Candido and Antonio. These 3 boys joined Frankie, Gibbo and Manuel and began crafting Alaia boards.
This time round they have started experimenting with Coconut wood for the boards. This wood is locally sourced, cheap, flexible and most importantly of all; very light. The only downside to using this wood is that it splinters easily. However, Frankie researched a method of sealing the wood with beeswax.
Manuel’s board has been coming along very nicely. More and more each day, you see the glitter in Manu’s eyes when he shapes it. The passion for working with natural materials has grown in him throughout the past 4 weeks.
Give children the chance to play.
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Seeds of Hope ODV is an Italian registered
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IT94 S087 1512 3000 0000 0727 402