SurfAid Updates

By Judd Handler

In the aftermath of the December 26 quake and tsunami, it wasn't the International Red Cross that was the most effective relief organization. It wasn't Doctors Without Borders or International Medical Corps.

SurfAid International has arguably become the most effective hands-on catastrophic relief organization, judging by the widespread media coverage it garnered on CNN, BBC, and other major outlets in the wake of the tsunami.

The non-profit organization's original mission of malaria prevention and treatment in Indonesia's Mentawais has expanded to include logistically challenging natural-disaster rescue missions.

Using their contacts with captains of surf charters, local village authorities and Indonesian civic health personnel, Surf Aid has reached island villages that no other relief organizations could get to. Not even the Red Cross could reach many of the villages that Surf Aid has, with roads and bridges having been wiped away by the catastrophes that have killed well over 300,000 and annihilated many villages' infrastructures.

Prior to December's tsunami, SurfAid expanded their malaria control program to more than 13,000 people in over 17 Menatawai villages.

On March 17, SurfAid held a barbeque at their Encinitas, CA office. Rob Machado and Brad Gerlach were there. It was a lighthearted affair. Nobody seemed to be asking SurfAid founder Dr. Dave Jenkins (enjoying a brief U.S. stopover before heading back to Indonesia) and CEO Andrew Griffiths hard-pressing questions, such as talking about their fears of aftershocks and more tsunamis.

Perhaps those who attended the party wanted to help Jenkins and Griffiths unwind after working marathon hours coordinating post-tsunami operations. Maybe they wanted to celebrate SurfAid's celebrity status as the premier relief organization.

Eleven days after the SurfAid party, an 8.7 quake centered on Sumatra demolished much of the infrastructure of Nias-killing several hundred there-and damaged other Indonesian surf destinations such as Sinabang on Simeulue Island and the Banyak Islands.

The more than 40 SurfAid staff, most of them in Padang in West Sumatra had little time to unwind after the tsunami relief operations were beginning to scale down.

"It's hard to digest where we exist as an organization right now," said Griffiths a few days after the March 28 quake from SurfAid's U.S. headquarters in Encinitas.

"Just when we were settling back into a routine of normalcy, we were back in full crisis after the earthquake, full-scale operation mode. There's no time to just sit and assess how much SurfAid has evolved right now," added Griffiths.

SurfAid's relief arsenal includes a fleet of surf charter boats and their skilled captains as well as indigenous Indonesian staff. That's why this non-profit, which has raised over $2 million since the tsunami (over $500,000 from the surf industry) was best suited to reach remote islanders in need of medicine, mosquito nets, immunizations, food, fishing nets and other essentials.

But SurfAid can't control how the reefs are affecting the waves, which in turn affects the economy of those islands and villages that depend on surf tourism to survive.

"We don't know yet for certain the impact of the changing reefs," said Griffiths. "Maybe it's made waves better or worse. We'll know soon, but we do know for sure that in the short term, there won't be as much surf tourism."

The Baneng Island Resort on Simeulue Island reported that the reef has risen in the southern side of the island but has not affected the waves.

"We actually have newly formed waves and most of the old spots are still fine," says the resort's website.

The tectonic rumblings have not been as kind to Nias' northwest surf spot, Afulu. "A couple of Kiwis I know recently left there after the quake," said Griffiths. "The wave they've been surfing there for 10 years is no longer surfable."

With amazing luck, no surfers are known to have been killed as a result of the tsunami or quake, according to Griffiths. "There were a lot of surfers who initially after the tsunami were unaccounted for. The latest news is that there are now only two surfers who are still missing."

Griffiths said one of the missing was a female cook on one of the surf charters.

The Menatawaiis received minor flooding as a result of the tsunami and little damage was done there as a result of the March 28 quake.

Although the Mentawais didn't feel the wrath of the Sumatran fault rupture, Griffiths claims the civil authorities there are putting a lot of pressure on SurfAid not to abandon the islands that have been made famous by the break, Lance's Right.

"They are worried that what has happened on Nias can happen here," the New Zealand-born Griffiths said.

The earthquakes didn't cause the shocking number of deaths that the tsunami did. Perhaps that's why the media has relaxed their coverage of the scene in Indonesia. Still, on Sumatra, the scene is bleak.

"The word I'm getting from the ground is there's an amazing amount of social trauma," said Griffiths.

"Villages are ghost towns, there's no food or water and the masses have retreated to the hills and are sleeping in limited and primitive shelter. The threat of disease is still extremely high."

SurfAid has provided relief assistance to approximately 50 villages since the tsunami. Over 11,000 children have been immunized; 12,000 mosquito nets have been distributed, 7,000 have been treated for injuries and doctors have performed 10 surgeries.

The figures for the post-March 28 quake are similar to that of the tsunami relief efforts with the exception that doctors have been treating a lot more severe injuries as a result of the quake.

Donations from the surf and action sports community - Quicksilver, Billabong, and Burton are SurfAid Diamond donors, each giving $100,000 - as well as private donors have kept the spirits up of the hardworking SurfAid staff in Padang.

These donations have caught the attention of the Australian and New Zealand governments, which both contributed financially to the SurfAid cause.

Still, the intensity of the workload cannot be denied. "Dr. Jenkins feels wrecked," Griffiths said. "The staff has been working from 5 a.m. to midnight every day. We can't hire enough people."

The staff won't have time to rest. Neither will Griffiths, who had to postpone a surf holiday to Zihuatanejo. On April 10th, 5:29 p.m. Indonesian time, a 6.4 quake struck. Its epicenter was 70 miles from the Padang SurfAid headquarters. No injuries to the staff were reported, however the office received enough structural damage to require a temporary relocation of staff.

We will continue updating SurfAid's operations in Indonesia. In the meantime, keep those donations pouring in: www.surfaidinternational.org.

Judd Handler can be reached at info@divinesurfdesign.com.