Meet Senegal's first female professional surfer

 

Khadjou Sambe, Senegal's first female professional surfer, trains near her home in the district of Ngor - the westernmost point of the African continent.

"I would always see people surfing and I'd say to myself: 'But where are the girls who surf?'" says the 25-year-old."I thought: 'Why don't I go surfing, represent my country, represent Africa, represent Senegal, as a black girl?'"

The surfer is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves.

Sambe trains beginners at Black Girls Surf (BGS), a training school for girls and women who want to compete in professional surfing.

Image: ZOHRA BENSEMRA / REUTERS

She encourages her students to develop the physical and mental strength to ride waves and break the mould in a society which generally expects them to stay at home, cook, clean, and marry young.

Sambe is a proud Lebou - an ethnic group that traditionally lives by the sea.Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Sambe never saw a black woman surfing the Atlantic swells.

As a teenager, her parents refused to allow her to surf for two-and-a-half years, saying it brought shame on the family.

Sambe started surfing when she was 14 years old.