"No matter your age or the timing. If you feel the pull, follow it. I promise it will change you"

This time last year, I came across SOMA Surf, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing social exclusion among young women in Africa. Volunteering in a former Portuguese ultramarine province had long been a dream I postponed because it “wasn’t the right time.” I now recognize that that was probably an excuse to avoid leaving the comfort of my home: my friends and family, my familiar routines, and even my beloved skincare ritual.

What drew me towards SOMA Surf was that not only they used sports as a way of impacting the community, but the fact that they work solely with girls. It's no secret that in some societies, gender inequality is more evident than in others. In São Tomé e Príncipe, it starts at a young age as girls are heavily burdened with domestic tasks, which, combined with school duties, leaves little time for play and discovering what they really like to do or who they want to be. Soma Surf creates a space for that to happen and I wanted to be a part of it.

I quickly realized that they were in need of people in Príncipe, a smaller, more secluded island than São Tomé, with 9 thousand habitants. Something sang in my heart as I said yes.
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Besides Príncipe being one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, it also calls to you differently. Suddenly, it's like more minutes fit into the hours, and the days stretch with each task being given undivided presence.

The island demands both your body and your imagination. You make do with what is available and celebrate every outcome because you've earned it. Living in Príncipe means leaving your house with a destination in mind but no idea how you’ll get there. And sure enough it provides. It’s being invited to your neighbours’ home for Easter as if you were family. It’s watching the most beautiful sunset as thunder cracks the pink clouds and roars through the ground beneath you. Is being permanently in awe at nature's grandeur as it swallows you, humbling your problems in the insignificant timeline that represents a human life.

I’ll forever cherish swimming through glowing bioluminescence at night, watching baby turtles hatch and race towards the sea, and being fully immersed in a school of fish whose bright colors created a living tunnel surrounding me.

But the most special part? Watching the girls smile as they stand on a board, their eyes lighting up with the thought, “I can do this,”; guiding them through their first meditation with breathwork, and witnessing fearlessness quietly grow in their minds, a little more each day.

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Of course, social impact comes with its challenges. Change can’t be introduced too abruptly, too naively, or too slowly either. As you respectfully enter a community, it’s vital to remember that it will remain long after you leave, and its social and historical complexities were there way before you arrived. You may sometimes feel overwhelmed when the impact you’re creating doesn’t feel like enough. The challenge is to show up regardless, doing the best you can, honoring the girls you’re fortunate enough to meet along the way.

I thought I was too late. I almost didn’t apply because volunteering abroad is often something people do right after uni, and indeed my fellow volunteers were much younger. Contrary to what I feared, that made the experience even more interesting. Their joyful outlook of the world reawakened that side of me, my experience lent them a more grounded approach to setbacks.

Coming back is an adjustment. You feel like you spend too many hours under a roof, as if a day isn’t properly earned unless you’re outside. Everything feels overly lit, overstocked, and too easily accessible. People are in a hurry, and no one looks each other in the eyes. I wanted to grab my friends and shout, “Look! Do you realize how lucky you are?” Now, as I catch up with the frenzy and return to my (not as many!) serums, I vow to hold on to what a simpler, happier life taught me.

The bottom line is this: go. No matter your age or the timing. If you feel the pull, follow it. I promise it will change you. And the best part is you’ll get to change others too, even if only a little. I’ll consider myself lucky if any of the girls studies a bit harder, dares more, and slowly but surely defines what it means to be an African woman on her own terms.