Maya Jabira, even surfing can save the ocean

“The ocean is my home. It’s magical and powerful. I ride its waves and I’m glad if I can save my surfboard.” Maya Gabeira is the Queen of the Oceans: 36 years old, Brazilian by birth and Portuguese by adoption. Star big wave surfing, The sport is for surfers who face giant waves. She holds the world record for the highest wave ridden by a woman. I, a point attached to a board, managed in 2020 to tame a mountain of water more than 22 meters high, and I caught the largest wave in the world 2020.

An athlete known for her talent and courage, Maya Gabirah decided to intertwine her life with protection by agreeing to become a UNESCO Champion for Oceans and Youth. At the forefront of mobilizing new generations by organizing, among others, Sustainability Summits. She was chosen to be the keynote speaker and face Jane Ocean The new campaignUNESCO To stimulate lifestyle changes among boys and girls. Where will he get inspiration from? of waves and wind.

“I am deeply concerned about the many challenges related to the oceans, from pollution to the loss of marine biodiversity. What motivates me in my role as UNESCO Champion for Oceans and Youth is the opportunity to see it through multiple perspectives. L’UNESCO works to protect biodiversity, support scientific research and cultural values for the oceans. It is an honor to announce her work,” she explained, accepting to become an ambassador. UNESCO is convinced that her history and capabilities will be able to mobilize young people in this global challenge. “I would like to be a source of courage and perseverance for children,” said Jabira. guardian.

Challenges certainly don’t intimidate her. She is a survivor. He has been surfing since he was 14 years old on the beach in Rio de Janeiro. The talent, skill and passion can be seen right away. He is 15 years old and resides in Australia and 17 years old in Hawaii. I’m always looking for the perfect wave. In 2007, he won the Big Waves Award, an award that remained his for the next eight years. In 2008 she was the first woman to surf the waves of Alaska with compatriot Carlos Bong, born in 1967. It will be him in 2013 in Nazare, in that fishing village in Portugal that will later become her home, and who will save her life. While practicing, 26-year-old Maya tries to handle a giant wave, but gets thrown off her board and breaks her ankle. He faints, completely at the mercy of the waves. Carlos, who has been following her, risks his life to snatch her from that whirlpool and bring her back to shoreAnd where it is revived. Maya knows her sport is an extreme sport, and she’s not giving up. She will try again to ride that perfect wave again in Nazare, in that part of the Atlantic Ocean that washes the Portuguese region of Extremadura and seven years later she was crowned as one of the best big surfers in the world. It takes courage, not just training and perseverance in a sport that was only for men until a few years ago, in which women are still vastly outnumbered.

But she became an example for many girls who wanted to go in for giant surfing, because Maya hit a guy in Nazareth that day. Few believed it and now his achievement has been chronicled in a documentary titled Maya and the wave. Made in the USA, it was presented at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Here Gabeira talks about her beginnings, her surfing career, the satisfaction the ocean gave her, as well as the struggles she had to take seriously in a male-dominated sport. The battle for gender equality in surfing – especially on big waves – which she and her teammates fought. They all achieved a victory. there World Surge Association It has already announced that it has given equal pay to women and men in all professional competitions. A result determined by the “historical” mathematicians.

“The strongest, strongest and most dangerous creature on Earth is the Focused Woman.”

But his whole life looks like a novel. His father, Fernando Ghobeira, of Lebanese descent, is a former revolutionary. He fought the Brazilian dictatorship with the “October 8” movement, and after imprisonment and exile, he founded the Green Party. Today he switches between politics and journalism and is an author of books. Mother Yami Reese is a famous fashion designer, and sister Tammy is a psychologist. Living in a family, many challenges formed part of Maya Gabeira’s German school-educated training in Rio. But to become a champion, she had to tame the fear and discrimination in front of the sea giants. him too.

Now the surfing superwoman outshine men has become an inspiration to many girls and boys who are not only committed to surfing, but to promoting positive actions to save the ocean. And if she says that surrounding all the lessons she has taught her is her “university,” she has revealed that she draws inspiration from Sylvia Earl American oceanographer, known as the first woman to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States. Public honors arrived on March 8. “To me, Earl is an inspiring pioneer and leader in ocean advocacy with hope and enthusiasm,” she explained at an event dedicated to ocean conservation.Ocean contracts remittance Organized by UNESCO.

There is certainly no shortage of ideas at Ghubeira to be implemented by the end of the Ocean decade. “Since the sea provides us with half of the oxygen on the planet, maintaining its health is essential for our survival. That is why I am thinking of creating 30% of marine protected areas. It will be my first goal,” he explained on the same occasion, the hero, who was keen to stress the necessity of reliance Scientists today more than ever.

“To address every aspect of ocean conservation, and the decisions that need to be made about dealing with the climate change crisis and the food crisis, we need to be guided by science. So now is the time to listen to what science tells us and change the way we live. Live to find harmony between us and the sea between us and nature as a whole.”

Clear words that leave no room for doubt: each initiative will be agreed upon and will be carried out with the participation of experts.

If his home in Nazare, the giant surf capital north of Lisbon, is the most coveted place in the world for the extreme discipline of surfing, Gabeira divides his life between Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles. She is active on social media, sharing not only sporting events on her Instagram profile, but also her activism for the environment. Like it in favor oceana, The non-profit organization has campaigned in favor of ocean biodiversity. She has just returned from a trip to Patagonia where she and the Oceana team participated in meetings with local institutions to talk about climate change, biodiversity loss, and the food crisis associated with ocean exploitation. From intense fishing to ocean acidification. But how do you change? Especially starting with the new generations. Come on, kids.

Maya and the Beast It is a picture book for young readers. The “monster” is a wave that can reach the height of a seven-story building and crashes against the coast with such force that all the windows in the village shake.

People are afraid of this huge wave, and Maya, a little girl who suffers from asthma, knows that she should not go near the monster. Instead, he decides to learn to surf the big waves in an effort to overcome not only his insecurities, but also the prejudices of people who believe he does not have the same physical abilities as his male peers. Maya Jubirah is the author of the book and wrote the book during the pandemic when she couldn’t train.

She explained that she was inspired by her life, which can help young girls face their fears, fight gender stereotypes in sports, and love the ocean. Yes, because now that “The Beast” has arrived in the library Maya at sea, a book containing many illustrations. It is a sequel to the story. There are plenty of pictures of the ocean and the animals that live there, and the foundations of marine biodiversity and balance that need to be preserved. Before it’s too late. Best surfers? “It’s the dolphins,” says the great athlete who is always looking for where the wind is blowing and for the perfect wave. But the special wave, which the hero who lived twice tells us, is the wave of respect for the sea.