Self Educated

This young man from Nusa Lembongan finished his formal education at the end of junior high school and did not get the chance to go to senior high school.     “I couldn’t go onto senior high school because my father had an accident at work. He fell off a roof and broke his leg and the medical bills were so high that I didn’t want to burden him further by asking for money for school” said Lahirun, who is now 21.

He still had his will to be successful and with his surfing ability behind him he decided to move to Sanur, where he started his career as a surf guide. At first he just went with his friend who was already a guide but after he had learned enough about being a guide and which were the best beaches for surfing, he learned how to drive so that he could take the tourists who used his service. Before his first year was finished he already had a reputation in the Sanur area.

Lahirun also taught himself to speak English. Although he did an English course he thinks he learned more by speaking directly with tourists. Now he is learning Japanese without a course. “I am learning Japanese by myself by reading books and talking to friends. I’m not fluent yet but can already speak a bit” he said.

Lahirun also has a lot of funny stories from when he was learning to surf. Because he didn’t have a surfboard he had to help his friend tie up seaweed so that he could borrow his board. “I had to tie up so much seaweed before I could borrow the board. I just wanted to surf” remembered Lahirun, who loves surfing at Lacerations on Lembongan.

He was also saved once by a fisherman when he got carried away by the current. “I was surfing with my friend and he got caught by the current, I tried to help him and I got pulled in as well. Luckily a fisherman was passing by and picked us up in his boat” he remembered, laughing.

Lahirun, the youngest child of Made Buna and Ni Wayan Sutriya, can also repair surf boards. “On Lembongan my father sometimes repairs surfboards and I have learned a lot from him about how to repair boards” he said. His father doesn’t have a special place for repairing boards like they do in Kuta, just a board and a sign which is enough as quite a few people use his father’s service.