JANUARY 15TH UPDATE

Eighteen days have passed since we started our efforts to help the outer islands with relief aid. We at Sumatran Surfariis are so very proud of everyone’s efforts and cannot believe the outpouring of emails and phone calls cheering us on. Thank you all so very, very much. It’s so inspiring to hear from everyone and definitely has kept us pushing forward.

ASIA, the original boat that left December 31 on its survey/relief trip, has gone out again to deliver more supplies to areas affected by the tsunami. The crew, god love them, are the same ones that went up with Scuzz originally. They deserve medals for their efforts. As a result, we’ve had to cancel any charters we had booked in February on ASIA, because we did not have time to put her up on dock for refitting. Anyone that has a charter booked on ASIA for February will get a total refund of any money they paid, or we will switch them to a later charter. It’s not many, but we still want to say sorry. However, we still plan to have a full season with ASIA after February, and a full-season on all of our other boats, despite the tragedy that has taken place.

 

On the evening of the 13th evening, our boat ASIA and the Makumbah left for Nias. AK is aboard ASIA and will be dropping off some helicopter fuel for professor Kerry Sieh of Caltech. Professor Kerry is the geologist that has been studying this subduction zone, and last year while in the hotel he left a poster and brochures predicting an earthquake with tsunami to be very soon. He gathers his information and comes to his conclusions through a variety of instruments set up on the outer island chains. His dedication to this project, as well as his knowledge of this area and plate tectonics, is frightening in an incredibly interesting way. We encourage you to review his findings for yourself on his site http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/sumatra/. What he has learned from this will be invaluable in determining ways to protect ourselves here in Padang, as well as approximate time periods until the next big quake for this area. As far as this most recent quake, his preliminary findings are that the Nicobars have risen 3 meters and Andamans have dropped one meter. He has been out in the Mentawais and Telos for the last few days with the crew from the U.S. news show “60 Minutes”, studying the science of this phenomenon. It is just astounding stuff. He has secured a grant from Caltech for his surveys and we are behind him 100%.

Matt George (of Surfer Magazine), Bill Sharp (of Billabong), Tim Turner, and Dustin Humphries arrived in Padang almost one week ago. They simply had to do something to help with the efforts. They found doctors, as well as a charter boat they could rent (the Makumbah) to fill up with supplies and have since headed off for Nias, the Banyaks, and Simeulue to do what they can. ASIA followed closely behind with more relief supplies funded by Matt and Bill’s group. In addition, AK and his crew brought 5 200-litre barrels of helicopter fuel to aid in the distribution of relief items throughout Nias. Bill stayed behind to coordinate efforts and monies on the ground. They did this all on their own, funded by their own sources. They have been nothing but kind and positive to us at Sumatran Surfariis and Batang Arau Hotel. Well done guys!!!!

Matt, Bill, Dustin, and Timmy stocked their boat with fresh fruit and veggies, school supplies, soccer balls, fishing gear, cloths, water tanks, fresh water, and literally tons of other supplies, as well as live chickens and goats. They first unloaded in eastern Nias in Gunung Sitoli and over-landed the gear to the villages north of Sirombu. They will then move on north to Haloban (also spelled Aloban), the capital of the Banyaks, before moving even further north to concentrating on Simeulue and its west coast and outer islands. We are lucky to have them on board as they can bring things we knew needed to go out, but had not much more funding to supply.

Nias is now fully covered with relief aid and will eventually be just fine. They are very resilient people and even in the best of times we wonder how they survive. Many villagers are still afraid to come back down to their beachside villages, but with the help of IDEP and Sumatran Surfariis, the have received fishing nets, lines, hooks and other equipment to encourage them to get back to their fishing lifestyles. They had their livelihoods destroyed and were ready to start something new. However, now some are beginning to come back to the sea and resume their trade. Many say they can repair some of their small canoes that were damaged, which is so inspiring. They don’t just want the fish; they want to be able to catch it themselves. Just like the saying goes.

With Nias under control, folks like Matt, Bill, Timmmy and Dustin will focus their efforts on the Banyaks and Simeulue, AK and Alyssa will do their best to support their lead as well. Brian Williams (Willy), who owns a land camp on the southwest side of Simeulue, has brought us some photos of the damage to his camp. His small speedboat was sitting on the beach before the tsunami hit; now it is sitting in his front yard. His house has large cracks from the earthquake, the plumbing pipes have been damaged, and the front awning on his porch was nearly pulled off. He says all of this is fortunately repairable, and considers himself lucky to have come out so well. His camp still standing and, with the help of others, it looks good for this year’s operation as usual. You should check out their site at http://www.simeulue.com; it truly is a beautiful little camp and Willy is a great guy. He is now helping Matt George take his fully loaded boat up to the area to help with relief aid there.

We all understand that the biggest aid relief organizations are focusing on Aceh and surrounding areas, so we are just glad we could get to those that would have been missed. Right now, the cargo boat Sumbar Rizeki, which is jointly funded by IDEP and AusAid, is trying to restock supplies to help an area nearly destroyed by the tsunami. The name of the city is Calang, which is just south of Banda Aceh, and volunteers of IDEP are doing all they can to help those deeply affected in this area. Sam from IDEP is on board, and he reported two days ago the city is in dire need of aid and no one has been there. They are getting complete cooperation from the local police and authorities and have not once been asked to show permits or proper papers to allow them into the Aceh province. They are just happy to see any relief. Sam asked us to do anything we could to send another boat to that area, as the prices have gone way up to purchase aid relief in that area and are becoming scarce. The manpower and resources are hard to get at this end.

The volunteers from IDEP unloaded 20 tons of tents, mosquito nets, cooking sets, tools, jerry cans, water, rice, salted fish, milk and sugar from the Sumbar Rizeki to the devastated town of Calang. They were also carrying 30 tons of rice provided by WFP and high protein food donated by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A doctor, nurse, and two operations staff also traveled with the crew to provided medical assistance to those in need. Calang, which had a population of 14,000 before the tsunami, has reported 6,000 people dead and 4,000 missing. They were just completely devastated. The town is located half way between Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, so it’s been completely cut off since the tsunami swept away road access. Without the help of volunteers such as IDEP, they would be completely stranded – they are true heroes.

Surf Aid continues to work hard as well, primarily in the area of Nias. They’ve begun a project to vaccinate villagers and have sent all their doctors and supplies there. Their team of doctors and nurses has immunized more than 100 children in the Mandrehe district of Nias, and they have treated 35 patients for a range of illnesses, including malaria, respiratory problems and diarrhea. In addition, measles is their primary first response in any emergency situation because it is highly contagious and life threatening for children. If you catch measles, your immune system is lowered and then you are susceptible to other diseases. Their goal is to immunize all children between the ages of three months and 15 years. They are also working with the surf charter boat Huey which is due to carry more emergency rations for Hinako, Asu and Bawa islands, plus a further 8,000 mosquito nets, medical staff and supplies. Scuzz has also been talking with Andy here in Padang and they are really putting in long hours and hard work

The unselfish efforts do not stop in the Indian Ocean areas, however. For example, our friend Bayliss in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina printed up 15,000 business cards for us. They say "participate & follow Indonesia's outer island TSUMANI RELIEF with Sumatran Surfariis", and on the back it lists our recommended ways to make contributions. Bayliss also gave a presentation to the Surfrider Foundation a few nights ago and they agreed to help out. They are having a benefit on the 19th of February to help support our cause, and are asking all the donations be made out to the "Sumatran Surfariis Relief Effort". It’s just a really, really extraordinary effort on his part, and we can’t thank Bayliss enough. Other star on the fundraising effort has been Dr. Michael Vann (as well as many other concerned members of the Santa Cruz surfing community). Mike has set up TWO fundraising efforts to support Doctors Without Borders, Sumatran Surfariis, and other NGOs involved in the tsunami relief effort. One fundraiser is related to his jiu-jitsu school, Claudio Franca Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is happening this Sunday the 16th. The other is a benefit at the Rio in Santa Cruz on February 3rd, where they will be showing Thomas Campbell’s film “Sprout”, as well as donating at least 10 surfboards and tons of schwag. There is more information about this on our January 9th update.

Back at the hotel, Christina says Scuzz goes through sad moments where he feels like he should be back out there doing what he started, and understandably so. He did not want to come back, but because he understood our local aid organization would continue on because of his efforts, he returned, but now he feels he could have done more (this editor thoroughly disagrees). I think if he had seen our local aid organization in action doing what he intended them to do, relief aid, he would not feel this way.

It’s all still continuing, however, and it will keep going on until all areas affected have been charted and relief has been sent. Scuzz has some other long term plans for the islands and will continue to do all he can to educate the villagers about what actually happened, as well as working out new ways to make their lives more productive. Some of his plans include getting canoes to villages that lost so many, and building protected garden areas to grow fresh fruits and vegetables that will be safe from animals (mostly the pigs) that ravage through everything. He has additional thoughts about how to educate the villagers about basic sanitation and nutrition.

Sam Green’s parents have sent very nice emails to Scuzz and Christina, and hold nothing against us for reporting he had been found before he actually had. The media hounded them and their family for days and we kept up the warnings to them to stay away from our hotel for fear of photographers and harassment. Sam is now safe at home with his family in Australia. We are all glad he made it back unhurt and we hope to meet him someday. We’ve left our report of Sam being lost, then found, then lost again, then found again up on the site for historical purposes, as it’s a perfect example of the ups and downs we encounter frequently in this relief effort.

The city of Padang and all the locals that have helped with our efforts deserve a standing ovation. We have all worked long hard hours every day, glued to our hand phones taking information and sending supplies where they are needed most. Efforts are still going on and more boats are still needed at the coastal villages of Aceh and Simeulue. Scuzz and Christina are always there to support anyone that would like to do anything to help. They are doing all they can and support anyone going out of Padang, whether its an organization, or just concerned people like Matt George, Bill Sharp, and their group. Martin Daly continues to be a star as well. It’s because of his excellent charts of the area that we were able to target the villages we have so efficiently. They are very helpful, and we are taking very good care of them.

We have learned so much, and we have gained so much. We have used everything we have to help this effort and we have never been so proud and thankful to do it as we are when we hear that so many are behind what we started. Thank you all so very, very much. You and your donations have definitely made a difference. YOU have saved peoples lives and returned their livelihoods to them. We could not have done this to this extent without YOUR support.

Our eyes are wide open and we encourage any ideas from anyone that might be able to help fund or be willing to do ground work. It’s not an easy job, but it’s a very rewarding one. Our original sign, painted on a bed sheet, still proudly hangs outside the hotel telling everyone we are still accepting donations for relief aid. No one has torn it down, not even Mother Nature.

Thank you all once again, and again, and again. We could not have done as much as we havce without your help.

Terima Kasih!