The aid efforts continue in the island chains off the west coast of Sumatra. Dr. Ben arrived back in Padang after an amazing effort up north with SurfAid. He reports that the Alafan province, in northernmost Simeulue and the closest province to the epicenter, continues to receive aid and care. Quite a few different groups are working up there in what is becoming a very long-term rebuilding project.

As you travel west and south around the coast of Simeulue you come past the small island of Lekon, and a bit further south is the province of Salang. This has also been badly affected and some of the villages have moved kilometers inland from the coast. Alyssa and Jude were the first to visit there, delivering supplies, love and medical care. Since their first visit, Matt George and the SSRO team, with Alyssa onboard, dropped off additional supplies, medical clinics and rebuilding assistance. A big portion of the supplies we delivered was fishing gear, including canoes that the team bought on Siberut (the northernmost island in the Mentawais) and painted on their way north. They were often greeted with open arms and warm receptions from the villages.

SurfAid has also been running medical clinics in Salang. They have been giving immunizations, treating patients, and even some pro surfers have been seen up there joining their cause lately. Their next move is to visit the Banyak island chain, located southeast of Simeulue. This is a chain of 99 islands and has some dangerous and shallow waterways. Scuzz has been working with Dr. Ben and Barrenjoey's owners John and Byron, who will be bringing the Barrenjoey down to the Banyaks to establish medical clinics there. The contacts Scuzz made on his earlier visits and the information he gathered while surveying the land proved invaluable to SurfAid in terms of what areas to target and the best ways to do get there. In comparison to Nias and Simeulue, the Banyaks weren’t too badly hit, but Scuzz knows that medical help and care is needed throughout the island chain, as it is throughout Indonesia and many parts of Asia.

Yesterday Scuzz met again with a group of Indonesians that are working to develop a 1-hectare fruit and veggie garden on the island of Bawa. The Woodleigh School in Baxter, Victoria, Australia is sponsoring this project, and a percent of their teachers wages are being put aside each pay period to be allocated for Bawa's development. Woodleigh has now made three payments and their sponsorship will change the island in many many ways in the long run. Unlike financial aid plans, this will be sustainable and carry on for generations. Over the next month, with the help from the Woodleigh School, we will be employing more than 30 locals on Bawa, feeding them and giving them something that will in turn improve their health and standard of living. In addition, it will give them an additional source of income, as the will be able to sell the fruits and veggies back to passing surf charter boats. They will also be able to sell their produce to the main town of Hinako and possibly even Sirombu on Nias.

We will keep all informed of this progress through photos and stories. Scuzz cannot thank the Woodleigh School enough. He spent three years at this amazing school, which he describes as one that breeds thinking outside the box and encourages creativity though activities like pottery, horseback riding and skin diving camps, 30-minutes periods for reading or admiring the garden with no talking, and an hour of various other activities each day. Scuzz spent much of his time their diving and learning about aquariums to the point of breeding sea horses and keeping octopi. Scuzz’s dad Hal, who has also been instrumental in this, also teaches at Woodleigh and along with all of their kind teachers gives a share of his wages each pay period to this project.

Today, Ovi, and Ajo have made another journey north to Sibolga. They will travel tonight to Gunung Sitoli by ferry, where they will buy machetes, shovels, hoes and materials to build the fencing for the garden on Bawa. The will be clearing only juvenile trees to create the barrier. Ovi has been amazing. This is his home island and this is his family’s land we have contracted for three years. His whole family came to Padang to celebrate his older brother’s life. His older brother was lost in Banda Aceh, where he was a very respected intelligence policeman. While the whole family was in Padang, we had a chance to meet and discuss the project. They are a smart family and see the huge benefit to the island, and hence there were very happy and eager for this project to begin.

Ovi plans to have a “whole island meeting’ when he returns and invite everyone on the island for coffee, tea and a talk. He will explain the importance of this for Bawa and for the long-term sustenance of its villagers. Scuzz and sister Alyssa spent a few days with these people and they basically explained to everyone that they need to start growing and eating fruit and veggies. Their health is affected greatly by their diet, which mainly consists of fish and rice. Since they tsunami, it’s been tough to even get those items, but they certainly don’t have a good source for fruits and veggies. They replied very calmly that the pigs eat the seedlings, and of course this is why we have to build a very good fence! ;)

Along with Ovi is Ajo, a horticulturalist we have employed to “ajar”, or teach, the locals about what is best needed. He will assess the land and has various measuring sticks for PH levels and quantity of salt in the soil. Certain varieties of fruits and veggies grow better near water, while others like less water. Ajo will be working with us for at least a couple of months doing things such as choosing the seeds, planting them and working with the locals.

The Toorak School in Mt. Eliza (Vicco, Australia) is also looking to do a similar project, and we are in the process of working with UNESCO and some local NGOs on Siberut to set up a hospital, a volleyball court, and soccer field, as well as looking into long-term education and conservation. The cost would be approximately $4000us a year for producing “Laggai” - a term for land, earth, home, village and stone in Siberut's local dialect. This is an amazing publication that will run out of funding at the end of this year. It tells the locals in their language about the importance of their forests, about erosion, about how to catch mud crabs, about the symptoms of malaria and treatments, about how to fish in the best manner, and about the importance of growing fruit and veggies - among many other things. This is one of very few islands left off Sumatra with any primary rainforest and a place that has four species of primates not found anywhere else on earth. It’s also a place with numerous bird, insect and plant species, and it’s a place where its people still live in amazing harmony with nature, using it for food, medicine, shelter - for everything they need.

Another super kind effort has been put forth recently from John Henley, the citizens of Echuca, and Echuca Regional Health. They recently sent a giant container load of hospital furniture and supplies including 35 hospital beds, 32 mattresses, many tables, chairs, wheelchairs, benches and various other pieces of hospital equipment over to Padang. In addition, the container included tons of tools collected by Noel and the folks at tools4tsunami.org. John and the folks at Echuca packed the container, painted it, wrote all the documentation themselves. Here is a brief note from John that shows his passionate views on the place he lives, the people of Echuca that donated, and his feelings on the relief efforts in Indonesia:

Echuca is a fabulous place to live. I am writing because you have helped make this town what it is. Your generosity in both time and money in helping with Echuca Regional Health’s efforts to assist the people in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, devastated by the Tsunami, was done without question, with grace and goodwill.

I am sure the people of Padang will also think very kindly of the people of Echuca, its Hospital and your Organization.

Thank you once again.
John Kenley

The container will be taken out to Siberut's main port and town, Maura Siberut for distribution. We have talked with the local government and the local doctors in Siberut about accepting the contents of this container, and the plans are all set. Matt George and Ulia of SSRO will be working with us in Siberut to develop a long-term plan where medical students can go out into the field and work with the local doctors in treating people and learning. Among other things, we hope of the universities will grant them credit and financial backing to assist in projects such as the rebuilding and education of nutritional crops on Bawa.

Six kilometers north of Maura Siberut is Mailepet and the head quarters for UNESCO, where Dr. Ben and his amazing wife Amanda spent many months working with the locals, putting their vast knowledge of the language, medicine and culture to it’s best use. In addition, Ken Meyers, a Belgian UNESCO employee, has been heading this operation for the past 7 years. Ken, too, is an amazing guy who knows the Siberut people, speaks their language and cares for their future. Lastly Christophe, a primatologist also living on Siberut in the north, is looking to start an eco adventure resort in an attempt to give the locals another source of income besides logging, as well as keeping the rare primate species environment safe for the future. These people are our partners on Siberut, and they will be out there controlling day-to-day events and making sure everything is done to its best. Thanks to all of you.

On April 2nd, Scuzz will make his first trip back up to the northern areas with a special group of surfers and concerned citizens. This will be a month-long journey on SOUTHERN CROSS in which the will travel through the Batu islands chain (also referred to as The Telos), then up along the affected coast of Nias, before heading over to Simeulue and working around the island in ways of support, education and help. They will be distributing goods and love to all. Much of what Scuzz will be talking to villagers about how much their health is affected by their diet, as well as stressing the point that 80% of the problems they complained of during Alyssa’s clinics could have been prevented with better health and diet. This trip will end in Sinabang, the main town of Simeulue, before a new group of guests arrive to do the return leg. The guests on the return leg are all long-time return guests of Sumatran Surfariis, and include firemen from Santa Cruz with paramedic training and good hearts, plus Thierry the French professor (who has a pretty big heart of his own ;) ). It will be a good chance for them to check out our progress and also work with the locals. They will also be putting in some moorings and will be hoping to have a “bakar babi”, or pig bbq night, each trip on this island as a way to celebrate their work and another little way to add to their economy.

Another key passenger will be Mara Wolford. Mara is an amazing Aussie women who runs her own business in the French alps, and has been instrumental in running some amazing fundraisers and passing the hat around for the people. She has been tireless in working for this cause, it and will be amazing to meet her and be with her to see the islands and the villagers that she’s worked so hard to help firsthand. AK will also be on this voyage and will be making another movie of the area, its people and what is being done. On the past voyage with SSRO, while everyone was taking pictures of death and destruction, AK had kids smiling and playing, and in turn they gave him THE best photo we’ve have seen out of all this. The photo is the first one on our home page, and we extend that message to ALL those that have helped.

One of our long-term goals is to sponsor a village in northern Simeulue and do some reconstruction work there. Our immediate goal in this project is to locate people who have language skills and experience in Indonesia that are willing to live rough and spend a minimum of one month up there. We would also love to work with another school. We would need additional long-term plans like the one Woodleigh came up with to donate sustainable funds to this project. The short term bleeding has been slowed, so this is the key now - the long term. It is easy to build something and have proof for the donors, but the harder thing is to sustain it. Ideally, we’d like to help create new revenue streams for the villages, a way to future earnings and long-term health. As mentioned in earlier updates, the fruit and veggie gardens on Bawa will be the litmus test, and if successful we plan to do the same in Simeulue and other northern regions.

We cannot conclude this update without thanking the folks at Clean Ocean. Peter Smith is the president of the Clean Ocean Foundation, and he came over in February along with the guys who started up the Balin company and Oke Surfboards they to surf and see the islands. Some governments are warning against this and some people are worried. Silk air has cancelled all flights from Singapore to Padang until mid-April. The dollars that tourists and surfers bring over to spend here has an amazing trickle down affect. It goes far and wide and also breeds much stoke and goodwill. These guys coming out now was a big part of that. It spreads the word that it is safe to travel here, and the locals also make an earn. During their trip, the boys cleaned and treated a lady’s foot for an axe wound, treated local boy’s rash, bought local carvings, walked around the villages, surfed with the kids and took lots of photos of them. All of this provides great energy and something this place thrives on.

Along with this, uncle Pete and the Clean Ocean team have been dedicating a massive amount of time to backing Sumatran Surfariis. They have been collecting all monies and transferring them to us in a tax-deductible way, plus sending out receipts to all. They have also organized fundraisers, including BIG ONE this Sunday in Vicco, with over 20 bands, activities for kids, comedians, and more. They have also organized drop off points for goods to be shipped over and are looking at another container load right now.

Pete has an amazing energy and a million ideas. His time is completely dedicated to keeping the local beaches back home in Australia clean. He is very excited about the long-term plans and may come on our month long trip from April 18 - May 18, distributing supplies along the Nias and Simeulue coasts. Please check out www.cleanocean.org - it’s a great site and one of the few we have been linked to for years now.

We also want to thank Michael Robinson-Chavez who was also on the same trip with Peter and the Balin/Oke guys. Michael works as a photographer with the Washington Post and spent a few weeks in Aceh working with a medical team in some of the worst hit areas. The organization he worked for in Calang is called CARDI, which operates under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, or IRC. They are a great crew of people from all over the world: Afghanistan, Ireland, USA, etc. As you will see shortly as soon as Slayer can add the photos to this update, his images are incredible. The pics are beautiful, touching, heart wrenching, amazing. You can see additional photos taken by Michael at www.washingtonpost.com in the photos/video section, which appears at the top of the home page. In addition, you can also view some of Michael’s work at www.northernshortcourse.com. Thanks again for your great work and positive vibes, Michael!!

That’s it for now. We’ll do our best to keep you posted about our relief efforts as we simultaneously continue to deliver world-class surf trips. Take care!

Terima Kasih!