• SeaSisters Programme and Community Manager Udani Hewamadduma on changing perceptions about surfing

For as long as Udani Hewamadduma can remember, she has been an ocean lover. Coming from the coastal town of Weligama, Hewamadduma would often go to the beach and watch the surfers. However, the surfers she saw most often were foreigners. And yet, the waves called out to her, surfing looking both interesting and challenging, and Hewamadduma began looking for a place where she could learn to surf.

At the time, the instructors were male and surfing was a very expensive sport. However, she eventually got to know about the SeaSisters through a friend and reached out to the organisation via Instagram. When they said she could join them, Hewamadduma’s first task was translation. “Our instructors were foreign volunteers and most of the participants were from that area, but after sometime, because I’m reading for a bachelor’s degree in marine science, they asked if I would like to share my knowledge with the girls,” she shared.

One of the main focus areas of the SeaSisters is ocean education and environmental awareness, and Hewamadduma eventually became a SeaSisters ocean educator and more recently, their Programme and Community Manager. “I’m also now helping our head swim coach with swimming for beginners,” she added.

As a SeaSister, Hewamadduma is part of a photography showcase by Munira Mutaher that is currently on display at Alliance Française de Colombo. The showcase is Sri Lanka’s submission for the ‘Sport Friendly: The Field of Diversity’ project by French photographer Emilien Buffard.

At the opening of the Alliance Française de Colombo exhibition, Hewamadduma shared with The Daily Morning her experience with the SeaSisters and the changing perceptions people have towards women who surf.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

What kind of areas does the SeaSisters focus on in terms of ocean education? What kind of programmes do you carry out?

In a very basic sense, we initially let our participants know why we should protect our ocean and what simple things we were doing in our day-to-day life that were ruining the health of the ocean and why we should reduce plastic pollution, etc. In terms of our programmes, we do beach cleanups and recycling and upcycling events, and we are planning visits to lagoons to make our participants more aware of why we should protect mangroves.

What does it feel like to be part of an organisation like this that is doing something different?

It is such a pleasure to be a part of the SeaSisters because when I started studying marine science, I wanted to be an ocean educator and make people more aware of the ocean and the environment. So, I feel like the universe sent what I was looking for close to my feet, which is why I love it.

Going forward, what kind of work would you like to do? And how would you like to change the perception people have of what women can do in Sri Lanka?

Moving forward, we have many plans to go around Weligama town and raise awareness about our work. Even though it is closely linked with tourism and surf tourism, many people in the area are not really familiar with women surfing so we are planning on doing some awareness sessions. We plan on going to schools around Weligama and letting them know that women can go into the water, they can enjoy their lives, and they can surf. It is not a male dominated sport.

Sometimes we will get a participant from a particular area and then after a few months, her friends and family want to join us, so we really see the impact of these efforts.

Since joining SeaSisters in 2021, have you seen a shift in people’s perception, even in the community around you?

Yes, of course. An example I can give you is that we were not so comfortable at the beginning to go to the main surf point in Weligama, but last year, we started to go with a few of our girls just to have a trial and see how people react to it.

At the beginning, people were afraid to even give us surfboards because we couldn’t afford to pay them back if something happened to the boards, but this time when we went to the main surf point, there were some surf schools that offered us free boards. They were really happy to see us and said that whenever we come to surf, it need not even be for our lessons, they would be there to help us if we faced any difficulties when surfing. That itself was a very big achievement.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

We offer free swimming and surfing lessons for Sri Lankan girls. We would love to see many more girls in the water, changing the idea people have in their minds about women’s power and strength.