Schhols Program Fundraising competition:

The SurfAid International Schools Program, supported by Billabong, recently wrapped up its first year of fundraising in Australia and New Zealand. The top fundraising schools from each country chose their highest fundraising student to receive a one week trip to the Mentawai Islands, which will take place in July of this year. 

Each student, along with one parent, will spend a week in the Mentawai Islands with the SurfAid team visiting the communities we work in, participating in local village activities such as “gotong royong” (community clean up day), learning about the Mentawai culture, experiencing the work SurfAid does first hand while also having the opportunity to surf some of the most famous surf breaks in the world. 

We would like to thank these outstanding young individuals on behalf of SurfAid and the Mentawai people for their amazing effort! The winners for this year are:

Australia competition winner Alana Pearce.

Give us a brief background on yourself:
I am from Avalon, on the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia. I am 17 years of age, and my main interest is sport, specifically netball and touch footy, and I am planning to become a physiotherapist. I have always lived in Avalon, so have always lived a ‘beachy’ lifestyle, so a lot of my time in summer is spent at the beach with my friends. I have always loved the ocean, and my family holidays have never been far away from the surf. My mum and dad called me ‘Alana’ because it means ‘princess of the sea’. My school, Barrenjoey High, is right on the beach, so we are fortunate enough to be able to choose surfing as a school sport in summer, an option which I have taken advantage of. I am not a regular surfer, like my dad and brother, and many others in our community. I just have fun with my friends, treating surfing as a social affair rather than a sport; I prefer riding tandem down the face of a wave with a friend rather than cutbacks and snaps!

What was the most interesting thing you learned about SurfAid International and the Mentawai Islands?
I think it is motivational that SurfAid was started by a group of ordinary people – showing that anyone has the potential to make a difference. I find it inspirational that a group of surfers recognised the issue of poverty in the Mentawai’s and did something to address it. Instead of merely taking advantage of the great surfing spots, this group of surfers decided to give something back to the community.

It is because of the above reasons that I wanted to raise money for SurfAid, as I think it is awesome that a group of surfers decided to make a difference, especially in a community like in the Mentawai’s, who before SurfAid were completely depleted in resources, and lacked the funds to acquire the skills, training, education and supplies in order to improve the health status of the community. SurfAid has been able to improve this situation, and continues to make a marked difference to the quality of life of the Mentawai people.

I think I am drawn to this particular charity as through living so close to the beach all my life, I have learned to appreciate and respect surfers for their understanding and connection with the water, especially my dad. I also have an added incentive to raise money: My dad went to Nias (an island north of the Mentawai’s in Indonesia) and got very sick with malaria. This was 20 years ago, and my dad was sick for several years after that. To me this demonstrates the aggressive and chronic nature of the disease, with the effects being particularly severe when in the position of the Mentawai people who are in a much worse situation than us, and as a result, morbidity and fatality rates from malaria are significantly higher. If I, and my school, can make even the smallest difference to the quality of life of the Mentawai people, the work of fundraising seems a very small and easy task, which is definitely worthwhile.

Describe your fundraising effort
We as a school raised money by having an entire day dedicated to fundraising for SurfAid. Everyone was encouraged to wear board shorts or sarongs to school and give a donation, and we had a sausage sizzle worked by the students. We also had a run-swim-run and a surfing competition held at Avalon Beach in the morning, which prior to the date I went around to all the classes handing out sponsor forms, while explaining SurfAid’s goals and the situation of the Mentawai people. Each individual who completed the run-swim-run or surfing competition, including myself, collected sponsors for the completion of these events, I went door knocking to raise money, as well as getting support from family and friends.

We got the community police force involved in the surfing competition, and Avalon lifesaving club volunteers helped to set up equipment and ensure safety on the beach and in the water throughout the events.

In the afternoon the students gathered on the oval to listen to some live music from fellow students and donations were collected.

I really enjoyed the day, and I felt a sense of unification with both peers and teachers, through working together towards a worthwhile cause, while having fun, in a true ‘Avalon’ fashion.

What are you most excited about seeing and/or experiencing in the Mentawai Islands?
I am really excited to get the opportunity to see how SurfAid runs, and being able to directly help out at the source. I am really looking forward to visiting the villages and communities of the Mentawai people, as well as meeting the SurfAid staff. Through this trip I will be able to better my understanding of the quality of life in the Mentawai’s, how SurfAid is making a difference, and how individuals can make a difference. I am looking forward to being able to document this trip on video in order to bring something back to my school. In turn I will be able to increase awareness amongst my community, so we can help further towards this great cause.

Nick Evermy, Tauranga Boys College, New Zealand     

NZ competition winner Nick Evermy.

Give us a brief background on yourself:
My name is Nick Evermy, I am 16 years old and go to school at Tauranga Boys College - it is a great school! I have lived in Tauranga all my life and I started surfing when I was 6 years old. I am into nearly all sports, including surfing, but I also represent the College at Rugby(1st XV) and cricket (1st IX).

What was the most interesting thing you learned about SurfAid International and the Mentawai Islands?
I learnt about the Mentawi Islands through pictures of the perfect waves in surf mags and movies. It is always portrayed as a Disneyland for surfers, and I’ve always wanted to visit them. It wasn’t until I read an article on Dr Dave and SurfAid that I found out how things weren’t so good for the local people of the Mentawai Islands. I found it hard to believe that in our modern world there were people who had to survive without so many things we take for granted and was shocked to hear the stats about infant mortality resulting for a disease such as malaria. I have total admiration and respect for Dr Dave and the SurfAid team who selflessly made it their goal to give something back to a place which has given surfers so much. I really wanted to do something to help out and when I heard about the competition I thought this could be the chance.

Describe your fundraising effort
I did my fundraising by selling the SurfAid wrist bands at Surf contests and also by getting people to donate items to me which I could on sell. We have a surf team here at the school and the teacher in charge, Mr Galvin, got them all to have a contest to see who could get the most people to text in a donation. This was really effective! My mum and Dad were a great help and so was Mr Galvin and Mr Cook from school.

I really enjoyed the experience as I knew that all the money I was raising was going to a good cause-but also because I learned about what SurfAid's projects and ongoing commitments are and I got the chance to tell others about it.

Mr Cook has begun teaching a unit on SurfAid in Social Studies and we have made a lot more people aware of what the issues are over there and also how we can help.

What are you most excited about seeing and/or experiencing in the Mentawai Islands?
I am so stoked to have the opportunity to go to the Mentawais and see firsthand their culture, how they live in circumstances so vastly different to what I am used to, and to see how SurfAid has made a difference. Hopefully I can get some hands on opportunities to help out and come back with some more ideas for fundraising and raising other people’s awareness. I’m also looking forward to sampling the world class waves! It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and I feel privileged to be part of it.