Anahola surfCamp Helps Troubled kids

So far this date, campers here have honed their surfing ability, played horseshoes, paddled a canoe and hung out on the lovely beach. They paused at noon for lunch, a definitely spirited event with a lot of reading and sleeping. Later this morning they'll shoot down a water slide, scamper up a climbing wall and paddle two miles to a beach-side shack.
Ah, heaven.
"I like how they always keep you busy," says Steve Smails, 12. "You're never bored."
"It's just really fun," says Travis Brown, 17, of Hawaii. "You can just be yourself and never be troubled about what other people think."
Mills and the rest of his cabin-mates love to talk about surfing that have taken place since Camp Ahanola first opened 4 years ago. Last term, some of the campers spotted quite a few sharks in a feeding frenzy. Another time, someone caught a wave with a dolphin. More recently, some of the young adult men paddled 20 miles around the island.
"There's just this excitement energy out here," says MIke, general manager of the Anahola Hawaii Surf Camp, that doubles as a home for young people coming from dire family life.
I poke my head inside the facilities next, where a crowd of girls displays off the video from todays surfing session. The place seems to be immaculate as all campers are required ot pick up after themselves and have morning chores. A list of chores is taped to the wall.
"I love this camp," says Emily Adnoff, 16, of Newport Beach, CA. "I plan to continue coming until I'm a counselor."
One thing that sets Camp Anahola apart, states associate director Jimmy, is the intentional way the organization builds relationships with its campers. The counselor-to-camper ratio is one to four.
"We're a Christian camp. We possess strong Christian counselors who walk the walk but don't attempt to indoctrinate the campers," says camp owner Michael. Every faiths are acceptable.
In 1978, several youth ministry leaders from Southern California churches began assembling informal overnight surf camps to various locations throughout Southern California and Baja California, Mexico. The periodic surf camps gave the staff members the opportunity to share their faith in Jesus Christ to Jr. High and Sr. High School student surfers while spending quality time with them in and out of the water.
In October 1986, the weekend surf camp ministry formally became Surfing Expeditions & Adventures (S.E.A.), and in April 1987, was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit organization.

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