I'm in Sri Lanka, where the economy is collapsing, and there's an all-female surf club

The following articles are from BIE others, author BIE others

Have you noticed that the number of people going to Bali, Thailand, and Japan in your circle of friends has increased exponentially recently?

You and I are tired of the internal cycle for three years. Although the overall consumption has dropped significantly this year, revenge tourism is still necessary, whether it is vacation mode or special forces mode.

Like many people who have chosen the seaside as their first overseas destination after the epidemic, I couldn’t wait to buy my air tickets and apply for a visa at the beginning of the year, preparing to go to Sri Lanka to surf again after four years.

When it comes to surfing abroad, I really have no interest in Bali, which has long been reduced to a gathering place for white people. On the contrary, Sri Lanka, a small country in the Indian Ocean, has always been here from the first time I went there as an international volunteer ten years ago to the time I set foot here again four years ago to learn to surf. It is an ideal place for traveling on a budget and escaping from the world. As for why the scenery and culture here are so attractive to international tourists, an Iranian photographer who has lived in Sri Lanka for eighteen years explained in a romantic way: because it has the smallest gravity on the earth, everything here is light and airy. , lazy (both humans and stray dogs), and stress-free.

Like many island countries in the world, Sri Lanka has been in troubled times for hundreds of years. After hundreds of years of colonial rule, a civil war that lasted 26 years ended in 2009. Peace continued into its tenth year. On Easter Day 2019, the terrorist organization Islamic State planned a series of bomb attacks in Sri Lanka, severely damaging the local tourism industry, which was just entering its growth period at the time. Then, the COVID-19 epidemic began, which directly triggered the economic crisis in 2022, and the country declared bankruptcy.

But I know that the tragedy of Sri Lanka and the poetry of this land are not contradictory. I anxiously held the question "Has this place changed? Have the people here changed? How should they continue to live now?" and returned to this land of South Asia to find answers.

01 A surfing resort surrounded by colorful bubbles

On the day I left Colombo, the capital, for the eastern surf resort Arugam Bay, my Airbnb host, a senior Sri Lankan journalist with more than 30 years of experience, described it to me: “People there live in a colorful bubble.”

On the third day after arriving at Arugam Bay, every time I think of her metaphor, I sigh that it is too accurate——

The streets are full of shirtless men and women in bikinis; the number of white people on the road far outnumbers the locals; every restaurant is playing indescribable top 100 DJ music; a bowl of fruit smoothie in a snack shop can be sold for 50 yuan, and coffee 35 RMB, which is equivalent to the consumption level of first-tier cities in developed countries; there is no metered tuk tuk (a local means of transportation), and the tourist area has a set of taxi fares that are four to five times higher than those in other cities. ; Since it is the peak season, every local is eager to rent out their home as a hotel. The cheapest non-air-conditioned room costs 120 RMB a night...

The most outrageous thing that happened to me was that I agreed on a ride of 3,000 rupees before getting in the car, but was charged 13,000 rupees when I got off. During the argument, the driver said, "You're happy here, right? It's worth the money."

In this tourist destination that has always used "smile" as its business card, "happiness" has become a commodity - when you come to travel, you should spend money on happiness. But by what standards should we price “happiness”?

According to data from the "Mirror" in 2022, the monthly income of 40% of poor households in Sri Lanka (an average of 3.7 members in a family) is only 26,431 rupees (approximately RMB 500), and 20% of households only have 17,572 rupees (approximately RMB 327). . About 60% of middle-class households have a monthly income of 56,079 rupees (approximately RMB 1,261).

When I first came here 10 years ago, a box of yogurt cost 20 rupees, which was RMB 1 yuan at the exchange rate at that time. Ten years later, a box of yogurt will cost 70 rupees, which is RMB 1.5 at the current exchange rate. It’s just a box of yogurt. The growing lack of food for locals is a very real and current thing, but it’s almost invisible to tourists.

Sri Lanka is not a big country. There are two surfing resorts in the country: Arugam Bay in the east and Weligama in the south. Due to the island's climate, the wave seasons of the two wave spots are exactly staggered. In summer, surfing is on the east coast, and in winter, surfers and merchants migrate to the south coast. This year is the first summer after the outbreak of the economic crisis. Arugam Bay, which is crowded with tourists, is the hot spot that everyone is grabbing for.

Tourists are being squeezed like cows, while their counterparts are locals who skip one meal a day to cut costs. Looking at the bills with various premiums, I felt a heavy sense of powerlessness for the first time on the journey. In the words of the reporter's landlord: "As a tourist, even if you know that you are being ripped off, you will still choose to give money to them, because tourists who come here feel sad about the living conditions of the locals, and giving charity can make you feel better."

In Arugam Bay, whether in hotels, restaurants or surf clubs, it is rare to see female employees. Women from low-income families in Sri Lanka rarely have the opportunity to continue working after entering marriage. One is due to the lack of work skills, and the other is the need for life and childcare. They stay at home for a long time and rely on their husbands to work outside the home to earn money to support the family.

Women's employment becomes even more problematic during the economic crisis. The tourism industry has recently recovered and international tourists have increased. More and more locals choose to work as tuk tuk drivers in tourist areas. However, due to lack of foreign exchange, Sri Lanka stopped importing tuk tuk vehicles from India and other countries in May this year. It is not necessary to apply for vehicles and license plates. The cost is far beyond what ordinary residents can afford, making this job category, which was originally dominated by men, even more difficult for women.

Just when I was feeling disheartened, a group of local women were holding their flag high to enter another job category that was originally dominated by men: surfing instructors.

02 Local women from outside to outside

Global data shows that only 15% of women in low-income countries can swim without assistance. Although Sri Lanka is surrounded by sea, it has one of the highest drowning mortality rates in the world. "The sea is dangerous." This internalized fear escalated after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The tsunami caused by the earthquake killed more than 30,000 people in Sri Lanka. Many local friends I knew lost their lives as children. Parents, orphaned.

For many women, surfing is not a choice for them. What they face are obstacles at various levels such as race, culture, economy, social system, and even religion. These obstacles are often caused by the imbalance of the underlying power structure. of. Patriarchy extends from Sri Lankan society to the family, and women’s subordinate position prevents them from making decisions on important matters. From childhood to adolescence, to adulthood, and becoming a mother, women face different social expectations, gender disciplines and traditional constraints at each stage of life, and others determine their life events.

Women's identities and barriers change throughout their lives. Rural women in Sri Lanka become "big girls" after menarche. During adolescence, they are expected to stay at home and take care of their families instead of participating in public entertainment activities, and their interactions with men are also limited. Surfing is often associated with partying, sex, alcohol, and the so-called "beach boy" culture. In rural areas, surfing is believed to darken women's skin and make them bulky, which can harm their marriages and reputations, not to mention the high cost of surfing lessons and equipment that makes them unaffordable. After becoming a mother, I spend more time with my family. In addition to paid social work, I also need to do a lot of unpaid housework and have no time to go out and surf. For reasons of safety and reputation, Sri Lankan families often protect their wives and daughters by not allowing them to surf.

According to records, since the 1960s, surfers from the West have come to Sri Lanka one after another to develop wave spots and teach the sport of surfing to the locals. From the late 1960s, local men slowly started surfing in southern Sri Lanka. The entry of local women into surfing has only slowly occurred in the past decade.

Shamali Sanjaya, who comes from the fishing village around Arugam Bay, started surfing in 2011. She is one of the earliest local women to surf, and is also the current president and one of the founders of Sri Lanka's first women's surf club, Arugam Bay Girls Surf Club (hereinafter referred to as ABGSC).

Despite having a father who is a surfing instructor and an older brother who has won a national surfing championship, Shamali was not encouraged to become a surfer from an early age. In 2011, Tiffany Carothers, from California, moved to Arugam Bay with her husband and two children and became Shamali's neighbor. By chance, she lent her board to Shamali and took her surfing. Since then, surfing has become an integral part of Shamali's life. She competed in Sri Lanka's first women's surfing competition in 2020, still competing weekly even though she was four months pregnant. In October 2022, after the onset of the economic crisis, she and eight other members of the club created a With the funding of sustainable employment opportunities, increased income and business), we collectively obtained the ISA Level 1 Instructor Qualification Certificate and Ocean Rescue (one of the internationally recognized and most authoritative surfing qualification certificates). This means they can work as surfing instructors to create local livelihoods for themselves.

In 2015, Tiffany Carothers started weekly "Girls Make Waves (hereinafter referred to as GMW)" surfing instruction for local women on the East Coast. In October 2018, a group of local women established Sri Lanka's first women's surf club "Arugam Bay Girls Surf Club" with the help of Tiffany and two other international surfers, Martina Burtscher and Amanda Prifti. In order to expand their influence to the south coast, in November 2018, Martina Burtscher and Amanda Prifti founded "SeaSisters". This movement started by surfing and hailed by The Guardian as “a quiet revolution led by Sri Lankan women” is changing the social status of local women bit by bit.

At a swinger party four years ago, a surfing friend said: "You must meet Martina." So this time I contacted the co-founder of SeaSisters, hoping to learn more about their launch of this "movement" "Experience.

BIE: Hello Martina, can you briefly introduce yourself to everyone?

Martina: My name is Martina Burtscher, from Austria. I am the co-founder of SeaSisters, a social enterprise located on the south coast of Sri Lanka that focuses on women’s empowerment, ocean safety and environmental protection, using swimming and surfing as a tool to drive social change. tools to create a safe space for local Sri Lankan girls and women to enjoy the ocean.

BIE: As a white woman, when and how did you discover the plight of women in Sri Lanka? Why do you think surfing can be a tool for change?

Martina: I came to Sri Lanka for the first time in 2017. I was conducting a global academic study for my master’s thesis titled Women Making Waves, which was a study of the relationship between surfing and female empowerment in the Global South, Sri Lanka. Female surfers were the focus of this study.

On that trip, I met a group of female surfing pioneers in Arugam Bay who were learning to surf through GMW’s program. I conducted on-the-ground research for three months to understand the lives of local women and realize the multiple barriers they face in surfing. I came back here in 2018 and helped them establish ABGSC and SeaSisters. Both organizations are currently run by and for local women, and continue to have women from around the world come to learn about and volunteer.

While doing research, I kept observing and thinking about “what it means to be a woman.” Before surfing, we need to let women know that surfing is an option for them. Through surfing, the ocean, an unsafe space that was originally resistant and scary, is transformed into a safe space that is inclusive, healing and empowering. In this safe space, they can learn new life skills, make new friends and social networks, enjoy freedom of expression and action, establish new relationships and social rules, and interact with each other to allow female leadership to occur naturally. So you can see that surfing can be a vehicle for change on an individual, collective and social structural level.

BIE: Sri Lanka is a conservative country. As an outsider, you have different skin colors and backgrounds. How did you gain the trust of these local women and their families along the way?

Martina: When I arrived in Arugam Bay, thanks to the years of hard work of Tiffany and her family, the GMW project had already established a certain foundation of trust in the local area. Because I’m a female surfer myself, there’s always a connection between women through passion. As a white scholar from Europe, I am well aware that I am a privileged outsider here. When conducting research, in order to avoid "othering", I will also constantly reflect on my own position and class.

From the perspective of the participants themselves, many members were encouraged to try surfing by external promoters such as friends and family at the beginning. It was these external promoters who opened up a new space for them. For example, member Ayomi is interested in surfing, but feels that she cannot surf independently. After the GMW course started, she finally had the opportunity to study with another girl. Another member, Susanthika, said: "When I saw everyone surfing, I thought I should go too." After the launch of SeaSisters, word quickly spread in the small fishing village, and there were many girls and women People come in asking how they can learn to swim and surf, so much so that we have a waiting list. These examples all tell us that they are all waiting for a "possibility". Once this possibility appears, people will be interested in such things and participate. On the other hand, this is actually a "change in consciousness" in the process of female empowerment, through which women reshape their imagination of "who they can be and what they can do."

Building trust also requires the efforts of local women. A successful local role model can become a "catalyst" for this change. The story of Shamali Sanjaya is well known locally. At first, her family did not support her learning to surf, but she proved with her actions that there is nothing wrong with surfing. While surfing, she also maintained her cultural values ​​as a Sri Lankan and won the respect of others. It all paved the way for aspiring female surfers, and her story is especially meaningful to women in rural areas, where we all grew up.

BIE: These three organizations have been established for a long time. Can you share with us a typical success story?

Martina: Mona, a member of GMW, lost her mother in the 2004 tsunami. She was left with deep psychological trauma and was unable to go near the seaside for many years. In 2017, she was persuaded by a friend to try surfing lessons. Although she was very nervous and uneasy throughout the whole process, she did not give up. I was with her at the time and she knew I would take care of her, so she trusted me a lot. She tried her best to lie down on the board and catch a few waves, feeling the pleasure of riding on the top of the waves. "I felt a surge of power inside me," she said. After that, she continued surfing and tried to stand up on her feet on the board.

31-year-old Mona said in an interview: Surfing made me forget the trauma caused by the tsunami. In the past, I only felt sad when facing the sea. Now I hope to be happy, I want more, and I want to learn more. , I want to ride more waves. This desire makes me forget the things that make me sad. Now I want to catch that wave of my own.

To this day, Mona joins us in our daily surf sessions, sometimes bringing her two daughters with her. She never wanted to stop. I believe that the reason why she was able to overcome the fear deep in her heart was because when she was with the members of the organization, she felt an unprecedented sense of security, which inspired her to trust herself and do things she never thought she could do in the past. something accomplished.

In fact, I just had a phone call with her (before the interview) and she told me very proudly that she passed the ISA exam and that she would soon be a surfing instructor.

BIE: The reorganization of the gender structure cannot rely solely on the efforts of one gender. What kind of role do local men play in an all-female surf club? How can they get involved?

Martina: In order to create a safe space for women only, men are not allowed to participate in our surfing program. However, we will conduct a lot of communication with local men to try to influence their views on gender norms and gain their support for the surfing project. Likewise, the members' increasingly open minds will also affect the attitudes of the men around them.

Recalling an episode, the head of the local tourism bureau (male) once told us: "If you want to help Sri Lankan women, you should buy them sewing machines instead of taking them surfing." Later, they realized that women can become surfing coaches. After generating revenue for the local tourism industry, these leaders also began to actively support local women in their surfing careers.

This proves that reshaping men's views on women's role in society is crucial in this change, because men still influence women's mobility and participation in public affairs in the public and private spheres.

BIE: Finally, a very important question, how have organizations managed to survive the epidemic for several years? After the economic crisis, have any members given up surfing due to family reasons?

Martina: During the epidemic, like other places in the world, we experienced regional blockades, traffic restrictions, etc. International volunteers returned to their countries one after another. There were insufficient female swimming coaches. People’s survival needs far took precedence over entertainment needs, so we had to suspend SeaSisters activities. In February 2022, classes resume.

From last year to now, people's lives in Sri Lanka have been very difficult and they are facing multiple crises. It is impossible to predict what will happen next and what impact it will have on surfing here. At this time last year, there were no tourists in Arugam Bay and there was a shortage of fuel. Surfers could not even go to the wave spots and even had to use horse-drawn carriages to travel. However, the Sri Lankan people have proven their strong national vitality in many crises in the past. I don’t think the SeaSisters will give up surfing completely. Maybe one day, they can pick up the surfboard again and pursue their inner passion. By then, they will be happy again.

For those who can surf, every minute and second of being one with the sea and riding on the waves is a brief moment of separation from reality. There are too many factors in this society that make people unfree, but at least when surfing, you can forget these unfreedoms.

In the last few days in Arugam Bay, I rented a motorcycle and took my surfboard to a wave spot with few people. I caught a very long wave under the sunset. When I paddled back to the waiting area, the girl next to me looked at each other and smiled. We didn’t know each other, but surfing was enough for us to be in the same ocean and celebrate the joy of this moment, which can’t be put a price on.

The world is getting worse, but you have to believe in the power of life.

/Author: Fat Cow

//Edit: Fat Cow

//Typesetting: Buzhuanxi

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