In the spring of 2010 I traveled to Lobitos, a small fishing village in the north of Peru which also happens to feature world class point breaks. During my two weeks in Lobitos, I teamed up with an awesome crew of volunteers at WAVEs for Development and worked on photographing their journey, as well as filming Capture a documentary about Lobitos and the WAVEs organization.

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Journal Excerpt from Lobitos :: March 13, 2010

Yesterday after asking around a bit, I found out that today would be Tuesday. With no contact with the outside world, days melt together under a fiery sun, and time seems to take on it's own lazy rhythm; ebbing and flowing with the pounding of the surf. This morning I made the 30 minute moto trip into Talara to use internet and book a bus and flight up to Cuzco on Thursday. It's the first time I've left Lobitos since arriving last week. I'm anxious to get out of the busy, dirty port town of Talara and back to the relaxed comfort of the Waves house and Lobitos. Comfort, I suppose, is a relative term. We ran out of water for showering and washing two days ago, there is only one outlet in our room that powers a fan which does little to combat the heat, everything is covered in sand, the power goes out frequently, and half the house has gotten some form of food poising. Writing all that it sounds bad, when in reality it's quite relaxed and comfortable. The human being is an adaptable creature. We've got a rack of surfboards, an endless supply of waves, Inca Cola, spikeball, plenty of food, a french press, the beach, the camaraderie of a dozen volunteers and staff, and our new friends Sebastion, Matias, Jesus, Aaron, Alejandro and a gang of other local kids who float in and out of the house.

During my orientation, Naomi stated quite simply that the mission of Waves for Development is to "surf and do good". While there is certainly a great deal of overlap between the goals, mornings and evenings are often dedicated to surfing, while the afternoons are usually spent working with the local kids, teaching english, guitar, surfing, swimming, environmental education, photography, and doing our best to"do good". Other larger projects take place too, such as beach cleanups, and the first annual Waves regional surf competition that we hosted for the kids from Negritos, Mancroa and Lobitos on Saturday.

The exchange between volunteers and the local kids is interesting to observe and be a part of. Coming here it was hard to imagine what 'good' we could really do by surfing and teaching kids about things like guitar and photography - things which require tools to which they haven't the means to access except through what we provide at Waves. Being here though it has become apparent that there is something 'good' in the simplest of interactions; the chance for both the kids and the volunteers to be exposed to a different culture, and to see that they can connect through a shared enthusiasm for learning and experiencing new things. It's hard to say what will be accomplished long term from a project like Waves, but the smiles on the kids faces as they learn chords on the guitar or crowd around the back of the camera with excitement over the pictures they just took is, in my mind, confirmation of the beginnings of something good...

If you're interested in volunteering in Peru, or just want to learn more about WAVE's for Development and their mission swing by their site:

http://www.wavesfordevelopment.org/