Fas Project Orphanages Campaign

Project Overview

Launched in May 2017, this campaign focuses on working with orphanages in Sierra Leone to improve the lives of vulnerable orphans by bringing surfing and skateboard lessons coupled with educational support needs through partnerships with local orphanages. The campaign utilized authentic storytelling to engage donors and supporters. As a result, the FAS Project team improved educational resource access, introduced alternative livelihoods, and established a sustainable community partnership network.

My Role

As the campaign director, I directed logistics and operations, strategic design, brand management, and photography and managed campaign implementation across Sierra Leone.

Project Duration: January- March 2017

Team: Fas Lebbie, Nick Jones

Campaign Background

The FAS Project Campaigns target providing educational needs and bringing surfing and skateboarding as alternative livelihoods targeting mental health challenges in post-conflict Sierra Leone. In a country where nearly 70% of males and 80% of females are illiterate, we saw an opportunity to create brand awareness through authentic storytelling that would engage supporters and donors while making a tangible difference in children’s lives. The devastating realities facing Sierra Leonean youth: 40% suffer from stunting that can permanently damage cognition, 30% resort to begging for survival, and nearly one in two children must work to support their families—often in dangerous conditions. Providing basic educational resources and positive recreational outlets could help children develop resilience and coping skills. The emerging surf community at Bureh Beach offered a unique canvas for our brand narrative: one that combined educational empowerment with the transformative joy of learning to ride waves.

Design Interventions

Through strategic community-driven programming, we identified three schools and five orphanages serving the most vulnerable youth, engaging them in educational support programs and surf training sessions- documenting children’s journeys from initial hesitation to confidence and joy as they learned to surf and skateboard. This authentic content became the centerpiece of our outreach campaign, demonstrating tangible impact through compelling visual narratives that engaged donors. Local surf instructors and volunteers, including campaign manager Fas Lebbie and Nick Jones, taught children how to use surfboards and skateboards as healthy lifestyle tools to confront hardships and social challenges.

FAS Project empowers Sierra Leonean youth through educational support and alternative livelihoods, building confidence beyond vulnerability.

Authentic moments of educational discovery capture the campaign's mission of ending poverty through knowledge and opportunity.

Educational resources reach over 4,000 children, addressing Sierra Leone's 70% illiteracy rate one smile at a time.

Safe spaces create community bonds where vulnerable youth find support and belonging through structured programs

Distributing educational supplies creates tangible impact while documenting transformation stories that engage donors worldwide.

Skateboarding provides both joy and creative outlets for vulnerable youth facing post-conflict challenges.

Local instructors teach skateboarding as a healthy alternative to dangerous behaviors in post-conflict environments.

Surf training transforms hesitation into confidence, creating compelling visual narratives of resilience for authentic campaign storytelling

Teaching 300+ children to surf at Bureh Beach, offering transformative joy and alternative livelihoods beyond poverty

Scroll to next section

My Approach

Community-driven programming pairs educational support with surf therapy, documenting transformation through authentic visual storytelling

Campaign Strategy

At Bureh Beach, we discovered a nascent surf culture that offered the perfect vehicle for both physical and emotional development. Through our research, we identified six key insights that became the foundation of our campaign messaging:

Teaching sports presents unique challenges when children face immediate needs like food and shelter
Local investment is essential for sustainable impact
Hunger remains a constant challenge affecting all interventions
Children desperately need safe spaces for self-expression and protection
Surfing offers a healthy alternative lifestyle to dangerous or destructive behaviors
Skateboarding provides both joy and creative outlets for vulnerable youth

Scroll to next section

Reflections & Impact

The FAS Project Africa Campaigns successfully increased brand awareness and donor engagement while building long-term community partnerships. We provided educational supplies to over 4,000 children across Sierra Leone, taught more than 300 children to surf, and established ongoing programs at the Bureh Beach Surf Club that continue to serve local youth as an alternative lifestyle activity. Our documentation of children experiencing the joy of surfing and skateboarding—many for the first time in their lives—created authentic moments of transformation and resilience that continue to engage donors and supporters in our mission of discovering potential and ending poverty through alternative livelihoods in surfing and skateboarding.

300 children taught to surf; dozens taught to skateboard. 10 schools and 15 orphanages sponsored by Fas Project.

Previous Project

All Projects

Next Project