Gabi Del Rosario - Cabangan, Zambales, Philippines

Dropping In to Power: Personal stories of the transformational power of surfing from women of all levels, all ages, all over.

Gabi Del Rosario entered the sea in a shroud of grief and emerged like the proverbial butterfly from her chrysalis! This Manila city girl unexpectedly found herself in Covid lockdown on the Philippine coast, where everything about her life transformed. At first, surfing was not even in her consciousness, but the sudden death of her father drew her into the ocean, and ultimately, the waves. She caught the stoke, and surfed with appropriate newbie passion, meaning a LOT! She and her partner began to feel guilty - surfing day and night, all by themselves in the lineup, until they noticed the gleeful kids riding the shorebreak on scraps of wood from their fathers’ fishing boats. Soon, they were divvying up their extra boards for the village kids, and a vision began to take hold. Recognizing a serious environmental issue, they started a program where they swapped boards with the kids in exchange for beach cleanup. It caught on fast! As they drew closer to the kids and community, they realized the children in this humble fishing village needed more than just surfboards. They needed protection from calamity when nature disrupted their fishing livelihood, and support for education lost in the lockdown. Gabi and her partner founded Alon and Araw (Waves and Sun), an amazing grassroots program that encourages personal development through surf, educates kids in protecting and enjoying the ocean, and helps families with emergency food and educational support. Gabi’s passion was always to focus on girls, who are often overlooked, especially in sports. After one year, their program is 80% female! Gabi’s dream is to make Zambales a hotspot for women surfers, empowering these young girls to see all that is possible for them in life. She's ready to welcome you with open arms! Find more about Alon and Araw at https://alonandaraw.org/, on IG at @alon.and.araw, FB at alon & araw club zambales.

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