Ahava Project
BECAUSE WE CARE
Ahava Project
BECAUSE WE CARE
Unconditional love
Ahava means unconditional love and that is exactly what we stand for. We care about people, about the environment and about the future. By educating and motivating young people we help creating a better environment and future for those persons as well as those around them. We do so through the sport of surfing.
We are not yet a foundation, but we are more than an ordinary company. Our mission is to help young people by educating, inspiring and motivating them through the sport of surfing and we work towards becoming a foundation before this year ends.
What we do
IF YOU BELIEVE IT YOU CAN DO IT
What we do
IF YOU BELIEVE IT YOU CAN DO IT
What we do
Every year we organize surf camps for young people. The camps are typically held at locations where the education level is low and the opportunities for a good future seem small. We invite local kids to the event that except from being a fun and unforgettable experience for the kids is based on three parts:
SURF AND EXERCISE
Our main focus of the camps is surfing. With professional surfer Coco Nogales holding the lessons, the kids are having a good time while they are learing a new sport, or progressing their surfing to the next level. The goal is to show them the sport of surfing and to give them motivation to keep practising the sport even after the camp. The surfing is also complemented by yoga and other exercises.
MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH
The founder Coco Nogales himself comes from a tough background growing up on the street and based on his own experiences his speech gives the kids motivation and inspiration to believe in themselves.
EDUCATION
By teaching the kids about the importance of taking care of themselves as well as the environment we help making a better world for the young people that we meet as well as for all those persons around them. Normally this is all rounded off with us all together cleaning the beach as a fun and educational event.
Our story
THE DREAM BEGAN WHEN FOUNDER COCO NOGALES WAS SURFING THE BEACH OF CHACAHUA, NEAR PUERTO ESCONDIDO. EACH TIME HE ARRIVED THERE WAS A PARTICULAR CHILD WELCOMING HIM WITH A SMILE FROM EAR TO EAR. I WOULD INVITE HIM TO SURF WITH ME BUT HE REPLIED THAT HE DIDN´T HAVE A SURF BOARD. EACH TIME THIS HAPPENED COCO THOUGHT TO HIMSELF THAT HE NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING FOR HIM AND OTHER KIDS IN THIS COMMUNITY.
Our story
THE DREAM BEGAN WHEN FOUNDER COCO NOGALES WAS SURFING THE BEACH OF CHACAHUA, NEAR PUERTO ESCONDIDO. EACH TIME HE ARRIVED THERE WAS A PARTICULAR CHILD WELCOMING HIM WITH A SMILE FROM EAR TO EAR. I WOULD INVITE HIM TO SURF WITH ME BUT HE REPLIED THAT HE DIDN´T HAVE A SURF BOARD. EACH TIME THIS HAPPENED COCO THOUGHT TO HIMSELF THAT HE NEEDED TO DO SOMETHING FOR HIM AND OTHER KIDS IN THIS COMMUNITY.
Our story
From the Chacahua experience the idea of creating a project to give back and to help kids was born. It started off as a project done in collaboration where Coco, together with Dave from Buena Onda Project organized a couple of surf camps for kids together, the first event being held in 2010. The idea was helping the kids to get surf boards and the necessary equipment and tools to be able to achieve their dream of surfing.
The Ahava Project takes form
The idea grew into something bigger and in 2013 the Ahava Project in it´s current form was born. Except from helping the kids with tools and equipment to achieve their dream of surfing Coco realized there was more challenges that the kids of many Mexican coastal towns struggled with. As most of these towns struggles with a poor economy it is difficult for the children to grow up and believe in a good future. You dont see many people succeed and there are not many career opportunities. Also the education level is low, which is a struggle in many ways as this leads to beaches and nature getting polluted, a lot of people struggeling with obesity and economical progress going slowly.
With this background the Ahava Project was founded in Puerto Escondido with the mission to help motivate, inspire and educate children through the sport of surfing, with the main goal to help them believe in their dreams.
During the years the Ahava Project have done many different surf camps, all with the purpose to help kids, and especially kids that for some reason have to work a little bit harder than many other kids to be able to achive their dreams. Many of the camps have been hold at poor coastal towns where the conditions due to the poor economy is difficult for the children, there have been camps exlusively held for children with authism, there have been one surf camp for children living in an orphanate and there have been one surf camp held exlusively for children with cancer. What they all have in commun is the main goal - to make this kids beleive in themselves and their dreams.
The founder
THE FOUNDER, COCO NOGALES, IS A PROFESSIONAL SURFER AND ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST FAMOUS BIG WAVE RIDERS
The founder
THE FOUNDER, COCO NOGALES, IS A PROFESSIONAL SURFER AND ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST FAMOUS BIG WAVE RIDERS
The founder
Coco Nogales surfs for Hurley and Redbull and has surfed some of the most dangerous waves in the world, such as Zicatela, Mavericks, Nazareth, Jaws and Todos Santos, among many others. He has competed on the WSL big wave tour which is the most prestigous competition in its class and he travels the world in search for the biggest and most perfect waves. But his life was not always easy and he fought hard to get where he is today - which probably is one of the main reasons for Coco´s strong will of giving back and helping children.
To start from zero
Coco had a tough childhood and only eight years old he decided to leave his home to live on the streets of Mexico City. It was a rough life and he got by selling roses, bubble gums or cleaning car windows. He slept at bus stations, under cars or wherever he could find a quiet place to rest. The life on the street was dangerous and he saw many things that a child should never have to see. As a child living on the street there is bad people who wants to use you for their winning in businesses with drugs and prostitution and more than that there is alwyas a risk of getting robbed by the other children on the streets. Coco stayed in Mexico City only long enough to save up to a bus ticket, and seven months later he moved to Acapulco.
There he met another child, a bit older than him that also lived on the streets. This boy told him about the small coast town, Puerto Escondido. He told him about a great community of young boys and surfers looking for great waves to surf. At one point in Acapulco Coco came in troubles with the police. They interragated him at a gunpoint and wanted to know details about the drug cartels in the area, which put him in a really dangerous position where either the police or the cartels would come after him. At this moment he still remembered the place that his friend had told him about, that sounded so peaceful and amazing, so he packed the little belongings that he had and moved the next day to Puerto Escondido.
Dreams do come true
Puerto Escondido turned out to be exactly this magical place that Coco had imagined from the stories of his friend. Eleven years old he arrived in Puerto Escondido and for the first time he finally made true friends. They helped him to get his first real job in the kitchen of a restaurant, which also allowed him to get a stable life and to sleep in a home. Through his job he also met more friends that introduced him to the world of surfing. He got a new job repairing surf boards and he started to go surfing with his friends.
The waves in Zicatela are some of the most powerful ones in the world and at the beginning they scared him, but they also fascinated him. Seeing his friends catch those big dangerous waves motivated him to dare and to become a better surfer just like them. At the age of 17, as the first Mexican ever, he got published in the famous Surfer Magazine and this was the breaking point where he decided that he wanted surfing to be his life. From this point he worked hard and dedicated towards where he is today - one of the worlds most famous big wave surfers.