In the early light of Cox’s Bazar, where the waves kiss the shore, Sadia Moni pursues her passions with a tenacious spirit. A 5th grader by day, her evenings resonate with the rhythm of the surf and the remnants of folk songs once sung on the sands. “The sea is my calling,” she affirms, her four years of surfing shaping her resolve. Her brother’s guidance led her to steward the shores of Saymon Hotel, dovetailing with her quest for education and athletic acclaim. With her family’s support as her anchor, Sadia sets her sights on global surf contests, ready to navigate the tides of her unfolding story.
Young girls break through societal waves as burgeoning surfers in the vibrant backdrop of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Where monsoon-kissed fields meet bustling markets, these daughters of fishermen turn the Bay of Bengal’s rhythms into classrooms, their surfboards into tools of emancipation. Anzuma Akter, only twelve, speaks of the ocean as her mentor, her dreams not confined to shell curtains but expanding towards global surf stages.
At the same tender age, Bibi Jahan swaps textbooks for the tumultuous surf, her surfboard funding family needs, challenging the notion that the sea is no place for a girl. Hosne Ara Parvin, with eleven monsoons behind her, defies whispers that doubt her right to ride the waves. Jesmin Akter, another young surfer, uses the ocean to fill the void of her father’s absence, her mother’s toil her guiding light.
In the embrace of Cox’s Bazar, young Safa Marwa, surrounded by family and the sea’s vast canvas, is a surfer and scholar in equal measure. At twelve, she balances the rigors of fifth grade with the thrill of surfing, a passion she’s pursued for three years. “The ocean is both my challenge and cheer,” she says, drawing other girls to the waves, kindling dreams of surf and success. Despite her father’s challenges, their shop—a beacon of warmth—fuels her ambition to excel academically and athletically, shaping a future where she rides the crest of achievement and camaraderie.Amidst the whispers of Cox’s Bazar, young Jesmin Akter, at twelve, rides the tides as both challenge and testament. Fatherless yet anchored by a mother crafting oyster curtains and surrounded by siblings, she defies the sea’s gendered expectations. “I surf to prove girls’ might,” she states, undeterred by threats and slander. Her defiance is her armor, her skill a rebuke to doubt. Jesmin’s dreams crest beyond the waves: to patrol as law’s sentinel. Each wave she conquers is a surge towards her dual ambition: mastery of the surf and a future where she safeguards others with the resolve she’s shown on the sea.At twelve, Bibi Jahan, dwelling near the whispering waves of Kolatoli, Cox’s Bazar, forsook studies to navigate her family’s economic tempests. Her father, a mason, and her mother, the hearth keeper, anchor their humble life. Amidst this, Bibi discovered freedom on a surfboard, her spirit soaring with the ocean’s rhythm. “Surfing is my heart’s pursuit,” she says, her eyes mirroring the sea’s vastness. Embracing the surf for a year, she dreams not of what is but what could be. Bibi’s aspiration is clear in embracing the waves: to crest life’s challenges as a surfer, defining her horizon.
These trailblazing surfers navigate the physical waves and the tides of gender norms. Each triumph over a wave is a triumph for equality, their sport a nascent yet defiant field in their homeland. They do not surf alone; they carry the hopes of their kin, the pride of their villages, and the silent support of countless others.
These vanguards herald a new era, leaving imprints on the sands of time, weaving narratives of resilience, joy, and unyielding ambition.
As day yields to dusk, these mermaids of Cox’s Bazar etch their tales on the beaches and in the heart of a nation, championing the right to education, sports, and dreams.
They are the tide riders scripting a new chapter in history, affirming the ocean’s promise of nurturing potential and heralding change.
In the coastal hamlet of Cox’s Bazar, twelve-year-old Tamanna Akter Rumi finds solace and strength in the surf. Amidst a family of seven, her life oscillates between schoolwork and the rhythmic tides she has ridden for three years. “The waves whisper my future,” says Tamanna, whose zeal for surfing was kindled by a friend and nurtured by the JAGO Foundation’s support. Even as her father recovers and her mother toils, she dreams of international championships, her ambitions as vast as the sea. Tamanna, a beacon of her family’s hopes, is determined to ride the crests to academic and surfing excellence.Amidst the whispers of Cox’s Bazar, young Jesmin Akter, at twelve, rides the tides as both challenge and testament. Fatherless yet anchored by a mother crafting oyster curtains and surrounded by siblings, she defies the sea’s gendered expectations. “I surf to prove girls’ might,” she states, undeterred by threats and slander. Her defiance is her armor, her skill a rebuke to doubt. Jesmin’s dreams crest beyond the waves: to patrol as law’s sentinel. Each wave she conquers is a surge towards her dual ambition: mastery of the surf and a future where she safeguards others with the resolve she’s shown on the sea.Kohinoor Akter, eleven, of Daria Nagar, Cox’s Bazar, dreams amidst waves and schoolbooks. A surfer for seven years, she’s the family’s beacon, once a seller of trinkets, now aspiring to global surf triumphs. “The ocean is my stage,” she says, her ambition as vast as the sea. Kohinoor’s days weave education with tidying Saymon Hotel’s sands, all while eyeing international waters. Inspired by peers who’ve surfed foreign tides, she yearns to make her country proud. With a surfboard as her chosen tool and the beach as her classroom, Kohinoor is poised to carve her legacy on the world’s oceans.These young surfers, with salt in their hair and hope in their hearts, are rewriting their narratives in a society where the currents of change are often slow, and the waves of tradition run deep. They are pioneers in a land where sports for girls are a burgeoning field, where each victory in the water is a victory for gender equality.In Bangladesh, these young girls, these warriors of the waves, are not just carving paths on the sea; they are carving paths through history, riding the tides of transformation and emerging as beacons of a future where every girl has the right to education, to sport, and the boundless pursuit of her dreams. With every wave they catch, with every dawn they greet, they reaffirm the promise of the ocean – vast, untamed, and brimming with the potential to nurture, challenge, and change.Sadia’s ambition is not just to compete but to transcend, to continue riding the dual waves of academic pursuit and athletic prowess. In the quiet before the world awakes, she commits to the ocean’s lessons and the promise of the day. Her spirit is unwavering, her trajectory clear: to carve her narrative not just upon the waters of her homeland but in the hearts and minds of those who dare to dream alongside her.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan is a Dhaka, Bangladesh-based documentary photographer, filmmaker, visual artist, and art educator. His work explores human rights, social development, politics, the… More »
