Senegalese surfer offers Dakar's children free lessons and a sense of freedom
Ibra Samb's Anda surf school in Ngor teaches children aged seven to 14 every week, as Senegal hosts Africa's first Olympic event.
As a boy in the fishing village of Ngor, on the outskirts of Dakar, Ibra Samb would slip away with friends to watch the surfers. Unable to afford boards, they improvised with plywood taken from the brightly painted pirogues of the local fishing fleet.
Today Mr Samb runs the Anda surf school, which offers free weekly lessons to children aged between seven and 14 with the help of local volunteers. "Surfing, it brought me a lot of peace. I feel very happy when I am in the water," he said.
His niece, Katy Samb, 13, hopes to become a professional surfer. "I feel free," she said, recalling her uncle's advice: look not at the board, but in the direction you are going.
Despite Senegal's long coastline and favourable waves, surfing remains out of reach for many young West Africans because of the cost of equipment, training and travel, and African surfers are under-represented at the highest level. At Anda, demand outstrips supply: children share boards, and many lack wetsuits.
Surf schools and camps are nonetheless multiplying along the Senegalese coast. Mr Samb's ambition is to see one of his pupils qualify for the World Tour.