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For more information visit www.watermansappliedscience.com and click on the SurfAid Paddle icon located at the bottom of the home page. + For event registration visit http://www.surfaidinternational.org/paddle09. + To register to use a Surftech demo board during the event please contact Pete Stirling at pstirling@tankfarmmfg.com or by phone: 949.596.0082 |
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SurfAid Reaches Major Milestone in Malaria Campaign
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SurfAid runs a malaria clinic in the Mentawai. Since March 2007, SurfAid’s Malaria Free Mentawai program has reached 61,465 villagers - nearly 90 per cent of the 70,000 population - in some extremely remote areas.
Specialised SurfAid teams transported the nets up rivers by dugout canoe and hauled them through dense jungle to reach many of the isolated communities. The teams would sleep in the villages to rollout their education program, distribute the nets to each household and conduct parasite testing.
Since the inception of the SurfAid malaria program in 2000, SurfAid has now delivered 58,517 specially treated mosquito nets and malaria education to more than 300 villages in the Mentawai and Nias islands, which includes emergency relief work after the 2004 tsunami and the 2005 Nias earthquake.
Progress in Combating Malnutrition
A high risk family in Afulu, Nias, that SurfAid is focusing on.
Photo: Declan Hearne
The
SurfAid Community Based Health Programs are continuing to implement
specialised initiatives to combat malnutrition in the Mentawai and Nias
islands.
SurfAid’s research shows that the
rate of moderate/severe malnutrition in children under five years of
age is approximately 40 per cent throughout the Mentawai and Nias
communities that were assessed.
SurfAid’s Hearth nutrition rehabilitation sessions have three objectives to:
1. To quickly rehabilitate malnourished children identified in the community;
2. To enable families to sustain the rehabilitation of these children at home on their own;
3. To prevent future malnutrition among all children born in the
community by changing community norms in childcare, feeding and
health-seeking practices.
+Read the full story
NZAID Review Team Visits SurfAid’s Mentawai
Community Based Health Program
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| The visitors engaged in an animated discussion with the Care Group members and SurfAid staff at the Katiet Centre. |
The main focus was on the relationship with the stakeholders at community level and with the government, and to verify first-hand the working conditions of our staff in those remote locations.
Because of the short time in the field, and the unpredictable weather conditions this time of the year, the Quiksilver Community Health Training Centre at Katiet and the surrounding villages looked like the most appropriate place to visit.
Next to meeting with Care Groups and Representative Village Groups, the high point of the visit was the hand-washing activity organized by the school students and teachers of the Bosua primary school.
After a welcome dance, the students proudly showed their colorful drawings with topics ranging from basic hygiene to living in a healthy environment.
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| Hand-washing at Bosua primary school. |
During their stay, our esteemed guests took shelter in the Katiet Centre and enjoyed its facilities, which greatly contributed to the comfort of their stay. Members from SurfAid’s Marine Department and CBHP staff made sure that nutritious local food kept the visitors healthy.
A final report of this visit, with recommendations, will be presented to the International Board of SurfAid in the months to come. The review team already expressed their admiration to the local team on what has been accomplished by SurfAid in less than four years.
The New Zealand Government, through the KOHA-PICD structure, has directly supported SurfAid’s CBHP and Malaria Free Mentawai (MFM) activities in the Mentawai Islands since 2004.
E-Prep Works on Transfer of Skills
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| SurfAid staff address a Mentawai community. Photo: Kirk Willcox |
SurfAid’s Emergency Preparedness field staff have been conducting
Village Disaster Management Group (Satlinmas) meetings to understand
the knowledge transfer from Satlinmas to the village communities.
SurfAid staff are guiding the Satlinmas on the preparation of the
proposals and training needed to make sure that the community have the
necessary skills in case a disaster strikes.
SurfAid conducted schoolteacher training on emergency preparedness in
Teluk Dalam, Nias. With this training teachers have disaster management
knowledge and a commitment to establish emergency preparedness in
schools, where they will continually conduct simulations and drills.
E-Prep teams also organized the Emergency Preparedness Expo in the
Mentawai, where field activities were presented. The expo was designed
to support the district government to play a big role in emergency
preparedness and emergency response.
Nias E-Prep staff, together with other NGOs and UN agencies, are
involved in managing the International Day for Disaster Risk Reductions
activity.
SurfAid Continues to Raise Funding For Watsan in Nias
SurfAid continues to raise the US$240,000 required to improve the
health of the Alasa and Afulu communities in Nias as part of its Watsan
(water and sanitation) program.
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| A new SurfAid water tank in a Nias village. |
The funding will provide 104 facilities to deliver safe, clean water and sanitation via wells, springs, rainwater tanks, public latrines and hygiene education in Afulu and Alasa sub-districts, Nias, that have a population of 10,435. The average cost per community resident will be US$29.
The project objectives are:
- To provide clean water to communities affected by preventable diseases caused by a lack of access to clean water supplies
- To reduce child mortality through the improvement of access to water and healthier sanitation practices
- To provide a model for encouraging communities to take responsibility for their own hygiene practices
- To foster community participation and ownership of the project to ensure the long-term maintenance of the facilities.
SurfAid and Billabong Team Up to Bring the Schools Program to Local Groms
Billabong hosted the World Junior Championships at North Narrabeen Beach, NSW, Australia in early January. This event is the biggest competition in the ASP Junior series each year and draws a large local and international crowd. Billabong generously donated space for a SurfAid stall for the week of the event, allowing us to raise the profile of the SurfAid International Schools Program with local and international teachers and students.Courtney Conlogue, a Billabong-sponsored junior surfer from the US and Schools Program Ambassador, took time out from her gruelling competition schedule to meet with the SurfAid team and other Narrabeen locals to talk about the Schools Program. We are stoked to have Courtney as an Ambassador for the Schools Program.
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| Courtney Conlogue at the Billabong World Juniors in January. | The Muso's: SurfAid's Milton Brown, Mitch Connelly of The Beautiful Girls, and Angus Stone at the Billabong World Juniors. |
SurfAid Music Ambassador, Angus Stone, also dropped by the SurfAid stand with his band mate Mitch Connelly, from The Beautiful Girls.
Steve Blanchard, a local North Narrabeen Public School teacher, was our raffle grand prize winner and he walked away with a brand new 7S board signed by event winner Kai Barger. Over $650 was raised from the raffle with all proceeds going to support the work of SurfAid in the Mentawai Islands.
Billabong Pro Junior, NZ
Billabong continued their support of SurfAid International and the Schools Program by hosting our SurfAid New Zealand team at the Billabong Pro Junior, Mt. Maunganui, NZ, during the last weekend in January. SurfAid power couple, Viv and Harry Hill, volunteered their time to represent the organisation and talk to the local surf community about the work of SurfAid International, as well as to encourage local teachers and students to get involved with the Schools Program in New Zealand. The guys from Billabong NZ organised two Billabong gear packs to be raffled at the event, which helped raise $510 to support our work.
Jedidiah Clothing Launches Website to Promote Humanitarian Organizations
Jedidiah
Clothing, a humanitarian-based clothing company, launched a new
community based website that
raises money and awareness for non-profit organizations. As Jedidiah’s
featured partner for March, SurfAid will use all proceeds from this
month’s Community Project Series t-shirt toward its Watsan (Water and
Sanitation) Program.
Swim 4 Life 2009: Coming Soon to A Pool Near You!
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SurfAid’s core fundraiser, Swim 4 Life, is your opportunity to support SurfAid International and reach out to friends and family who care about the plight of the people in the Mentawai
and Nias.
Teams and individuals register in advance and in the days and weeks before the event get sponsored by friends and family for a 30-minute swim at one of the venues. Prizes are awarded to top fundraisers, top swimmers and top fundraising teams.
Dates:
San Diego - Saturday, March 21st 2009
Los Angeles - Sunday, March 29th 2009
San Francisco - Saturday, April 4th 2009
To register, and for more information on Swim 4 Life, go to www.surfaidinternational.org/swim4life09
Sponsors & interested committee volunteers should get in touch now by emailing Elizabeth Ritter at usa@surfaidinternational.org