A Tour of the Gabriel Medina Institute, with Gabriel Medina

At the start of 2017, Gabriel Medina revealed a project he and his family had been working on bringing to life for years – the Gabriel Medina Institute.

Situated in Gabby’s tiny hometown of Maresias, Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Instituto is a non-profit charity organisation that aims to give local kids opportunities in surfing, and in life, that they would not otherwise have.

Gabriel and his parents, Charles and Simone, hand selected 60 of young boys and girls with a need for help, the desire to achieve, and the promise of talent, to become a part of the Instituto. Gabby hoped that by giving these kids this opportunity, their lives would drastically change for the better.

Becoming a part of the Instituto means training, every day. It means having a coach in the water and on the land. It means getting fed every day. It means learning English. It means going to school. It means having the ability to see a dentist. It means having hope – or at least that’s what the Instituto is striving for.

Rip Curl recently had the chance to visit the Gabriel Medina Instituto, when the 2017 International Rip Curl GromSearch Final was selected to be held in Maresias, and thought it was too good of an opportunity not to show the world what huge positive change Gabby and his family have been able to make, in this small part of Brazil.

Join Gabriel, Charlie and Simone, as they show us around the Gabriel Medina Instituto.