Meet Senegal's first female pro surfer inspiring girls to take to the waves
Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Khadjou Sambe never saw a Black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal's first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves.
Undeterred by the postponement of the Olympic Games, Sambe trains whenever conditions allow in the powerful surf break near her home in the hardscrabble district of Ngor - the westernmost point of the African continent.
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"I would always see people surfing and I'd say to myself: but where are the girls who surf?" Sambe said. "I thought: why don't I go surfing, represent my country, represent Africa, represent Senegal as a Black girl?"
Boats sit along a port in Ngor.
Sambe carries her board.
Sambe checks a surf board as she talks to Harper.
Beginners learning how to surf prepare to attend a training session.
Sambe coaches young surfers during a fitness training session.
Sambe during a fitness training session.
Sambe sits with beginners learning how to surf.
Young surfers talk to each other at BGS school.
Sambe chats to her mother Koune Ba outside their house.
Sambe adjusts her grandmother Madicke Mbengue's scarf.
Sambe talks to Diadou Ndiaye as a young surfer stands by her.
Sambe coaches beginners learning to surf.
Sambe and Harper during a training session.
Sambe talks to a young surfer.
Sambe waxes her Surfboard.
Sambe surfs with her friend Madicke Mbengue.
Sambe surfs.
Sambe carries her surfboard.
