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Padang Earthquake Relief Appeal
Video:
National TV reports with SurfAid staff from ABC’s 7.30 Report in Australia:
Relief Fundraisers:
Australia:
- Sun
22 Nov. Surfers for Padang. Café Le Monde Kirra Gold Coast, Qld.
4-10pm. ($50 tickets avail. at World Surfaris Kirra office from 9 Nov.)
SurfAid Surfing Suits Party - presented by Corona
- 7pm Wednesday, 25 Nov 2009
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The Supper Club at Kit and Kaboodle, Kings Cross, Sydney
- FREE CORONAS TIL 10PM
!
- For an official invite sign up to donate $50 or $10+/month to SurfAid International at http://surfaid.kintera.org/surfingsuits
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SurfAid has launched an Emergency Response Appeal to help the people of Padang who were hit by a huge earthquake (7.9 on the Richter scale) on Wednesday 30 September.
Donations may be spent on recovery and development work in the disaster affected areas. Any donations you can make are greatly appreciated.
Please donate here.
Thank you
The SurfAid Team
A Community Celebrates Life and the Future
Padang. Friday 20 November:
Set against a backdrop of fallen walls, collapsed roofs and destroyed homes, the SurfAid Tampek Mangadu program’s special event for the community of Cendana Banuaran provided a welcome relief from the continued struggle of sifting through the countless mounds of rubble that now constitute the small village in Padang, West Sumatra.
Tampek Mangadu translates as “a shoulder to lean on” or, more officially, Strengthening Resilience in Communities.
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| Photo: Hannon/SurfAid |
The event was designed so that the groups within the community could come together and lend their skills towards a fun and cultural event that would reinforce cultural values, social networks, community identity and of course result in a fun and happy day. The men of the village worked into the prior night and early morning of the event day to help erect tents and prepare logistics, the local women’s group lent their cooking skills and provided a delicious spread of traditional food for hundreds of people, while the young men’s group provided the arms and hands required to move tables, chairs and a small mountain of gear.
Many of the logistics were sourced locally from the village, and owners were happy to loan their belongings that weren’t lost in the earthquake. These included: a big sound system; wedding tents; plates, cups and cutlery; electricity and more.
Officially opened by the heads of region, village and zone, the day kicked off with a traditional dance from Padang’s own Sanggar Sofyani dance group. Three beautiful women wearing golden head-dresses and flowing sashes cast their captivating eyes at the audience, while three men dressed in all their traditional finery synchronized their dance to the flute and gong music of the mini orchestra set behind them.
Although it is the region’s traditional style of dance, this sort of display is rarely seen in public, which meant there were many barefoot, spellbound children on the road, alongside the women and men, contemplating their first encounter with the dances of long-gone ages.
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Photo: Hannon/SurfAid
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However, soon enough the children were rounded up and 200-plus energetic bodies were squeezed into the new Tampek Mangadu tent to begin the drawing competition. Although a rowdy and excited affair, the competition went smoothly, with prizes available for first, second and third places for three different age divisions.
Fretlin Zandra, the first prize winner from the 5-12 years of age division, said: “I’ve never won anything before, I’m so happy – I can’t wait to show my dad.”
As the day progressed, different activities were held on the makeshift stage including a great little duet from two of University Andalas’s psychology student volunteers, and some more dances from Sanggar Sofyani, as well as a national radio broadcast with interviews and speeches from everyone via RRI Radio Station. RRI and SurfAid are currently working together to create awareness of the Tampek Mangadu program, as well as disseminate educational information in regard to the stresses and traumas of post-disaster life.
Although when the food was presented all else stopped and the hundreds present came together for a ‘makan bersama’ or communal meal cooked by the women of the village. SurfAid’s Stacey Howe said: “It was some of the nicest Padang food I’ve had – so spicy – real Padang food!”
Overall, the day was a great success showing that when communities pull together and each contribute their individual efforts within support groups and associations, the greater community benefits – this is the idea that SurfAid aims to translate into the recovery and reconstruction phase of the West Sumatran Earthquake.
- Matt Hannon
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SurfAid Delivers School Tents to Siberut
Tuepejat, Mentawai Islands. Monday 9 November, 2009:
SurfAid International has completed the delivery of 11 school tents to five schools affected by the 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Siberut Selatan (South Siberut), the northernmost Mentawai island. The tents will provide temporary classrooms for nearly 1500 students.
Siberut Island was 100km from the epicentre of the 30 September earthquake and the structural damage was less severe than that on the Western Sumatran mainland - Padang City was 45 km from the epicentre.
The tents were distributed in coordination with the Mentawai District Government, the Camat (head) of Siberut Selatan, and the local department of education. Community volunteers joined the SurfAid field team in the site selection and erection of the school tents.
The locations included three schools in Muara Siberut and two in Madobag village. One tent had been previously delivered by the American Air Force and is being used as a emergency response post by the sub-district government.
Madobag is a four-hour trip up river in dugout canoes. A team of four SurfAid staff, assisted by local community members, delivered the tents to the communities. At Madobag the team was greeted by the village leader, local school teacher and Sikeireis (shaman), the elders of the village. The tents were erected by SurfAid staff with a team of community volunteers and SurfAid gave the local schoolteacher school emergency preparedness booklets and games.
After erecting the first of three tents, the SurfAid team sat down with the village leader in the evening to hear how they had coped after the earthquake. The village leader confirmed that not much damage had been done to their homes; however he said that many of the community had spent five days sleeping outside as they were afraid of further earthquakes. “This exposed people to malaria and exasperated common colds, which particularly affected the village elders,” he said.
The village leader said that after the earthquake the sub districts received a letter from the Camat instructing all villages to create village disaster teams - “Though we were somewhat unclear of the structure or roles of the disaster teams,” he said. SurfAid has been addressing this issue.
“Earthquakes and illness are our biggest fears,” the village leader said. “Floods, landslides or tsunami do not really threaten us here in the jungle.” The leader thanked SurfAid but also emphasized that emergency and health systems need to have roles for Sikeireis as they are still widely respected and community members seek them for advice on many issues.
While setting up the other two tents the next morning, two elder Sikeireis returned from collecting herbal medicines from the jungle. They were impressed with the tents and thanked SurfAid. One said that in his village after the 2007 earthquakes many homes had been damaged and there was much illness as people had no shelter. “Once the school is fixed we will keep these tents so that after the next earthquake our people will have some where to sleep and stay dry,” he said.
Back in Tuapejat, the district capital of the Mentawai, the Vice Bupati (Regent) Yudas Sabaggalet said that for future disasters each village must expect that communications will collapse so every village must be able to act and react.
“Each village must be able to manage local emergency responses themselves and not just wait for external assistance,” he said.
Since 2006 SurfAid, supported by AusAID, has been working with 22 hamlets across the four Mentawai Islands to build local capacities so that they are able to respond in case of disaster. While this work is ongoing, SurfAid is also working with the Mentawai Government on defining a road map for the development of a district level Disaster Management Plan so that they can be prepared both at district and village levels.
SurfAid Earthquake Response and Recovery
Padang, Thursday 22 October 2009:
SurfAid Program Manager Tom Plummer went to Agam earlier in the week and reported that more than 80 per cent of houses have collapsed or been severely damaged.
The SurfAid team has distributed approximately 200 family tents to displaced communities at Kubu Anau, a sub-village of the village of Manggopoh, Lubuk Basung sub-district. Seven staff coordinated the distribution with the local government.
SurfAid’s Psychosocial Program started their first “Tampek Mangadu” - which translates as “a shoulder to lean on” in local Minang dialect - with a focus on giving children space to interact through games, songs and storytelling.
Parents gathered to watch their children play and engage in laughter and joy to help let them forget the trauma and give hope for the future.
The first “Tampek Mangadu” was commenced at one of worst hit areas in Padang, Cendana Mata Air. About 50 children gathered and interacted, facilitated by SurfAid volunteers and staff members.
Two SurfAid distribution teams who were working in Pasaman Barat and Agam returned to Padang last night (Wednesday 21 October). They will be doing reporting over the next couple of days. The SurfAid Community Facilitators will then head to the Mentawai Islands on Sunday night 25 October so they can resume normal program activities on Monday.
Our Community Based Health Program Senior Community Facilitators will return to areas in Agam where we have been distributing to do further assessments to see what we can do over a six-month recovery period. Activities may involve an Emergency Preparedness roadshow and our Psychosocial and Watsan (water and sanitation) programs.
A third SurfAid team lead by Wawan, a field coordinator with our E-Prep program, is still in the field distributing tents which were given to us by Trocaire. It is expected that distribution will finish by tomorrow (Friday 23 October).
SurfAid E-Prep manager Declan Hearne and Widya Trocaire will do a monitoring trip to the Maninjau area on Friday 23 October.
Establishing Crisis Communications Posts for the Mentawai Islands
SurfAid has delivered a three-day training program for establishing a Crisis Communication Post with a multi-stakeholder group from the Mentawai Islands. The 22 participants represented social, army and police departments, along with students from IT, economic and forestry backgrounds. The participants had traveled from all four of the main Mentawai islands and the training took place at the Mentawai Government Posko in Padang.
The training was in response to a call from the Mentawai Government to provide reliable and clear communication channels between the Mentawai Islands and Padang as a matter of urgency. It was decided that a Crisis Communication Post in both Tuapejat, the regional capital of the Mentawai Islands, and Padang should be established.
This training has provided basic capacity in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for effective communication systems between the two Crisis Communication Posts, the Posts’ team members, and the wider community and general public.
Program topics included disaster response mechanisms, coordinated disaster response, key elements of a disaster crisis centre, rapid need assessment and crisis centre management.
The training was hands on. Mr Rahadio Dio, from the Publicity and Human Relations Office, and who represented the local Mentawai radio station Sasaraina Radio, said: “Considering the short timeframe of the training, the process was effective in transferring skills. The real challenge now is for the policy makers to put in place the appropriate structures and rules to support the crisis communication posts.”
The training finished with an action plan and sought recommendations from the participants for follow-up actions and commitments to implement and share the learnings with their organizations upon return to the Mentawai.
Daudi Silvanus, who was representing FORMA SUMBAR, a student group from the Mentawai, said that they had been seeking training like this since the 2007 earthquakes that struck the Mentawai Islands.
“With this training FORMA are in a much better position to respond and assist in any future emergencies that affect the Mentawai people,” he said.
SurfAid will replicate the training with additional stakeholders in Tuapejat in the first week of November. Following the trainings, a memorandum of understanding will be sought with the local government defining roles and responsibilities of the various sectors to ensure effective management of the Crisis Communication Posts.
Once the memorandum of understanding is in place, SurfAid has committed to provide satellite internet connection and other equipment to enable basic functions.
Ibu Seminar Siritoifet, from the Office of the Mentawai Bupati (district governor), said that this was the first time she understood the real cause of earthquakes and the first time any of them really understood how severe the risk of further earthquakes is for the Mentawai people.
“This information needs to be shared with the wider community,” she said. “I will start by sharing it with my neighboring households and then through women and religious groups - not to make them afraid but to allow them to be prepared.”
A Shoulder To Lean On
Twelve-year-old Shindy Octaviani was sound asleep when the 7.9 earthquake began to wreak havoc in her hometown of Cendana Banuaran, Padang, West Sumatra, late in the afternoon on Wednesday 30 September.
Fortunately Shindy, like all her Year Six classmates, was well trained in the event of an earthquake. She woke with a start and made a dash for the backdoor. Unfortunately the door was locked, and while she struggled to unlock it amongst the commotion, the house came crashing down on top of her.
Her family, who had made it out of the house safely, were forced to watch the scene in petrified horror as the building enveloped Shindy.
“The walls just caved in on top of her,” Shindy’s father said. “After the dust settled, all we could see were her little feet sticking out of the rubble – I thought she was dead.”
Shindy said: “The weight of all the bricks on top of my back made it hard to breathe, I was so scared.”
It was Shindy’s older sister who snapped into action, calling everyone to start digging frantically. “It was 10 minutes before we managed to pull her out, and when we did we realized how lucky she had been,” her sister said. Remarkably, Shindy was pulled from the carnage with barely a scratch on her body.
While the dramatic experience of the earthquake itself has gone, the memories remain and many people in the region are faced with the difficulty of rebuilding and reshaping their shattered lives.
For days Shindy insisted on sleeping outside instead of inside her relatives’ house, and even now she sleeps next to the door which remains wide open all night.
“The psychological effects derived from a natural disaster of this scale are harder to see than the physical devastation, but are equally as important in the recovery period,” says SurfAid’s Matt Hannon.
Surfaid International has built four Psychosocial Support posts in strategic locations of Padang, which are providing a community-based program of activities which are geared towards easing psychological stress and mental illness, along with issues such as displacement and disruption of social networks.
The program is called Tampek Mangadu, which translates in the local Minang dialect as “a shoulder to lean on”.
SurfAid’s team of psychologists, along with a large contingent of volunteer psychology students, are busy running the program which is packed with fun and educational activities that incorporate fine and gross motor skills, and enhance cultural knowledge and values, as well as livelihood projects.
The program is a window of opportunity for the Padang people to express their experiences, emotions, fears and hopes in order to find the best way forward for the individual and their community as a whole – as well as building capacity for emergency preparedness and disaster response in the future.
“The program makes me happy to be able to go somewhere safe to play with my friends,” Shindy says. “And I can’t wait for the end of the month special event.”
- Matt Hannon
SurfAid Earthquake Response and Recovery
Padang, Thursday 15 October 2009:
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Affected districts in Jambi and West Sumatra provinces, including the Mentawai Islands. Source: BNPB
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The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reports that 198,200 households still need emergency shelter after the 7.9 earthquake near Padang, West Sumatra, on 30 September. Lack of accessibility to rural areas remains the major obstacle to providing urgent humanitarian assistance but the Indonesian Military (TNI) has agreed to deploy 500 soldiers to build new roads, or create new access routes, to the isolated affected areas.
SurfAid has been transporting supplies to some of the worst-hit areas north of Padang via boat and then truck. We have distributed 1,163 tool kits, 921 shelter kits, 939 tarpaulins, 501 hygiene kits and 202 sleeping mats in the Pasaman Barat sub-districts of Kinali and Sasak.
SurfAid’s Pasaman Barat distribution team (consisting of 17 staff and four Mentawai student volunteers) will finish there on Saturday 17 October and be ready to move to the Agam district by Monday after a day’s R&R.
The team will distribute non food items, including blankets, to two villages in Sitalang, in the sub-district of Empat Nagari in Agam. One hundred and eighty families in the two villages have severely damaged or destroyed houses.
On Sunday 18 October, SurfAid’s Emergency Preparedness (E-Prep) field coordinator Wawan and a team of five will distribute family tents in the heavily hit Lake Maninjau area of Agam district, where 75 families have been displaced. Wawan and his team will teach the communities how to erect the tents.
On Tuesday 20 October, distribution of non food items will take place in four villages in Batu Kambing, Empat Nagari.
The security risk in Agam, mentioned in previous situation reports, is confined to the Bawan area where there is a small market area and relatively dense population. As the security risk has been confirmed by staff in the sub-district office, SurfAid will reconsider distribution in Bawan.
A team of 10, including SurfAid E-Prep staff, members of the Mentawai Student Association (FORMA) and IDEP, left for the Mentawai Islands tonight (Thursday 15 October) to start the E-Prep needs assessments there. Questionnaires will be conducted with the local government and communities in 25 villages and will include their capacity to respond to disasters and trauma. Fear of the next earthquake is on everyone's minds and in some villages mothers are taking their children everywhere with them.
SurfAid continues to work with a team from the Indonesian Association of Psychiatrists who are training local volunteers to provide “psycho-social support”. We will be focusing on children and working closely with schools and other community institutions. The program will start with four posts in Padang City this weekend and we are planning to roll it out in Agam and affected communities in the Mentawai.
SurfAid CEO, Dr Dave Jenkins, said he was very happy with the progress of SurfAid’s emergency response and recovery to date.
“We have used the same proven strategies as in our previous successful emergency responses, which is leveraging our local knowledge and staff to rapidly discover outlying communities in greatest need and delivering vital supplies,” Dr Dave said.
“It is also important to provide daily situation reports to our donors and partners, such as the UN, so that we make a contribution to the wider response.”
SurfAid Padang Earthquake Response and Recovery
Padang. Wednesday 14 October 2009:
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As of 12 October, there are 13 affected districts (Kabupaten) in the province of Sumatera Barat (West Sumatra). The 7.9 earthquake struck between Padang and Siberut Island in the Mentawai. Map courtesy UN-OCHA
Click for larger image
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Indonesia’s West Sumatran province has put the death toll of the 30 September earthquake at 1,117 people, however figures for remote areas won’t be verified until 20 October. Data shows 1,214 people were seriously injured and more than 135,000 houses were severely damaged.
Also damaged were 2,163 classrooms, 51 health facilities, 1,001 houses of worship, 21 bridges, 178 roads and 130 irrigation infrastructures.
Indonesian authorities have also upgraded the earthquake from 7.6 magnitude to 7.9.
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, visited earthquake-affected areas in and around Padang today.
“The fact that today is the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction serves to remind us that disaster reduction measures have to be a huge priority in Indonesia,” Mr Holmes said.
One urgent issue is shelter supplies such as tents, especially in the rural areas. Access, however, is still a major challenge in some places as many roads are badly damaged or impassable to areas where assistance is needed most.
“We need to work with the Government to ensure temporary shelter solutions quickly, with the rainy season soon upon us, but then move to more durable housing as soon as possible,” Mr Holmes said. Other areas of concern are emergency education and health, with so many schools and health facilities damaged.
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| SurfAid is supplying construction kits so that the locals can start rebuilding. Photo: SurfAid |
SurfAid has been transporting emergency supplies of tents, tarpaulins, mats, building kits (consisting of a hammer, saw, nails, etc) and hygiene packs to some of the worst-hit areas north of Padang via boat and then truck.
SurfAid Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Judge, said: “We will complete the distribution at Pasaman by tomorrow (Thursday 15 October). The needs assessment is still ongoing in the Agam district and when we know what is exactly needed there our distribution will shift to Agam.
“To date, we have more than 100 staff and volunteers involved in the distribution of the NFI (non food item) program, plus emergency preparedness assessment and training in the Mentawai Islands, and our psycho-social support program.”
SurfAid Program Manager Tom Plummer and several staff joined the assessment team in Agam today (Wednesday 14 October) and will report back to SurfAid’s Padang HQ tomorrow morning.
SurfAid’s Dr Saiful Sofjan will do further government liaison at the Agam district to make sure security issues are under control due to the recent situation of frustrated communities who didn’t get assistance.
Tomorrow (Thursday 15 October), six SurfAid E-Prep staff, four FORMA (Mentawai Students Association), and two team members from IDEP will leave to the Mentawai for Emergency Response Assessments.
SurfAid Padang Earthquake Response and Recovery
Padang. Tuesday 13 October 2009
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One of the main streets in Padang’s Chinatown with buildings about to topple.
Photo: Alice Trend/wavepark.com
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SurfAid is continuing its aid distribution activities in Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman) districts, 100km to the north of Padang, which were severely hit by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday 30 September.
We have a team of 18 working in Pasaman Barat, with staff accommodation and warehousing at the Istimqomah Hotel. We are distributing building and shelter kits, tarpaulins, mats and hygiene packs. The planned finish date for the Pasaman Barat response is Sunday 18 October.
Two SurfAid staff are doing follow-up rapid assessments in Empat Nagari sub-district in Agam. Initial reports indicate that there is a need for assistance in Empat Nagari and that other International NGO (non government organisation) intervention has been limited. The SurfAid team will also check to see if other International NGOs are planning to distribute non food items (NFIs) in the region.
The Agam (Empat Nagari) assessment raised a concern of a security risk as communities have become frustrated and angry due to not receiving any significant aid assistance to date. The security risk is being mitigated in three ways:
- SurfAid’s Dr Saiful Sofjan met with local government stakeholders on Monday 12 October to address the issue and request military or police presence at distribution points.
- Pasaman Barat, which is one and a half hour’s away, will remain as the base for distribution until our team decides that the security risk is OK. The team will then move base to Empat Nagari.
- A decision has been made not to distribute food items while there is a perceived security risk.
- This distribution will start on Friday 16 October.
We are planning a small scale joint operation with Mercy Corps in the Maninjau Lake area and also planning a joint operation with Yayasan Indonesia and LEAP to support distribution of non food items in the Pariaman area. The planned Pariaman distribution date is Friday 16 October.
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Unloading relief supplies from the SurfAid boat at Sasak Harbour, north of Padang.
Photo: Napitupulu/SurfAid
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In other SurfAid assessments, it is clear that there is no immediate medical need in Pasaman Barat and so our medical team there has been disbanded and will now assist our distribution teams. SurfAid’s Dr Saiful Sofjan will focus on government and local stakeholder relations. The health situation will continue to be monitored, particularly in the remote areas affected by the earthquake.
It appears that significant amounts of aid are being dispatched from Padang and dropped at district government posts by International NGOs. However, due to low distribution capacity at district government level, many fringe communities are not being reached. As such, SurfAid, in its second phase of non food item assistance to Agam, will aim to reach these communities.
By Friday 16 October SurfAid teams will begin rotation in and out of the field in order to anticipate burnout.
Mentawai and Telos Islands
SurfAid conducted validation assessments in Siberut Island, the northernmost island of the Mentawai Island chain, today. The Mentawai lie 150km to the west of Padang.
Early reports indicate that infrastructural damage is limited. Some key findings were:
1. Six schools were damaged, with two severely damaged
2. The Puskesmas (Public Health Centre) has suffered no major damage
3. No outbreak of disease
4. The community returned to their villages after living one night at higher ground after the 7.6-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday 30 September
SurfAid has distributed one platoon tent, 22 tarpaulins and 30 mats to Muara Siberut. Both the assessment and distribution of relief goods has been assisted by the US Air Force.
SurfAid is establishing two communication posts with v-sat to assist coordination and communication between the Mentawai Islands and Padang. One will be established in Padang and the other in Tua Pejat, the regional capital of the Mentawai and where SurfAid has a field office. Both posts will be headed by the Mentawai District Government and manned jointly by Mentawai Government FORMA and SurfAid.
SurfAid has a team of eight departing tomorrow (Wednesday 14 October) to complete comprehensive surveys across 25 villages over a nine-day period. Fifteen of the villages are in the Mentawai Islands and 10 in the Telos, a group of islands to the north of the Mentawai.
This team will distribute disaster recovery education materials (books and manuals, including our Community Based Disaster Management kits) and children’s colouring and story books.
The logistics of getting around the island chain is extremely difficult as there are few roads so the assessment teams will travel by SurfAid boats.
SurfAid Situation Report
Padang. Sunday 11 October 2009
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SurfAid CEO Dr Dave Jenkins gets a situation report from a local headmaster in Pasaman Barat. Photo: Napitupulu/SurfAid
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SurfAid Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Judge, reports that SurfAid’s emergency goods distribution is striding ahead in Pasaman Barat, which is 100km to the north of Padang.
“We have delivered approximately 932 tents, 800 construction kits, 300 hygiene packs, 400 floor mats, and food items and medicine,” Judge said from SurfAid’s Emergency Response HQ in Padang. “We now have the capacity to see how we can help in Agam, which was also severely hit. Our first distribution there, to a village decimated by a landslide, is taking place today (Sunday 11 October).”
SurfAid medical team member, Dr Saiful Sofjan, has returned to Padang for a debriefing at mission HQ. Dr Saiful reports that distribution at Kinali, in Pasaman Barat, has focused on three villages - Koja, Alamanda and Sidodadi.
“This area mainly consists of transmigrated communities and our team found that the communities have tried to return to their normal lives as fast as possible,” Dr Saiful said. “By the time we arrived, people had already started building new shelters from wood and leftover materials from their collapsed houses.
“So the arrival of the SurfAid team with shelter, hygiene and tool kits has been very useful for them to rebuild. Three hundred shelter kits, 752 tents, 300 hygiene kits and 300 construction kits were distributed directly to the communities of these villages.”
Dr Saiful said that the SurfAid medical team didn’t provide direct medical assistance in these villages, although SurfAid donated various medicines for diarrhoea, Acute Respiratory Infection, trauma, antibiotics, multivitamins, and other medicines to the local Kinali health clinic (Puskesmas).
The SurfAid team then went to the Kinali village of Padang Kadok, where 85 patients were treated. Dr Saiful reported that they seem to have symptoms of chikunya fever - an acute viral fever that translates as “bending up”, which refers to the painful shivers and muscle spasms that accompany it. However, our medical team couldn’t find the vector (the carrier of the infectious agent) so confirmed conclusions can’t be made at the moment. Medical supplies were reserved for distribution if chikunya fever is confirmed.
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SurfAid's convoy of supplies heads to Pasaman Barat. Photo: Napitupulu/SurfAid
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A second SurfAid distribution arrived at Padang Kadok with a total of 500 construction kits, 180 tents, 400 floor mats, 100 cans of tuna, 50 packs of instant noodles, 20 hygiene packs, vitamins, gloves, large hats and stationery. SurfAid set up a warehouse in this village and 94 mattresses, tents and tool kits were distributed at Padang Kadok and the neighbouring village.
Today (Sunday 11 October) SurfAid’s Pasaman team distributed non food items to other Kinali villages of Luhak Nan Duo and Sasak Ranah Pasisie, and a few jorong (smaller places in a traditional Minangkabau village).
A third round of NFI (non food item) supplies - 450 floor mats, ropes and tents are heading to Kinali. This will be kept at SurfAid’s warehouse at Padang Kadok ready for distribution to the next area.
SurfAid field staff member Anto and other staff went to Agam to do an assessment to confirm data from the local coordination post and community unit for their needs re non food items and to define the distribution locations. The SurfAid team will work closely with the local Satkorlak (coordination unit).
Another SurfAid team member is heading to Posko 3 Pandan Maninjau to install a platoon tent (14m x 5m) which will be used as a temporary school.
SurfAid Situation Report
Padang Saturday 10 October 2009:
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Trauma clinic training of trainers. Photo: SurfAid
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The latest figures from the National Disaster Management Agency report 807 deaths and a further 241 people missing. A total of 2,256 people are injured, of which 891 are severely injured.
The number of severely damaged houses increased to 135,100, with 62,772 moderately damaged. The following infrastructure is severely damaged: 1,386 classrooms, 168 roads, 241 offices, 16 bridges and 1,237 places of worship.
On Thursday 8 October, the Ministry of Health sprayed disinfectant in the city of Padang to halt the spread of communicable diseases.
One hundred and eighty-six NGOs (non government organisations) and 10 UN agencies are operating in Padang. SurfAid started the move to a larger office in Padang today to run their Emergency Response operation.
SurfAid’s Trauma Clinic commenced their Training of Trainers (T0T) today at the Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP).
We have 9 psychologists from the Indonesian Psychologists Association in Padang training 40 local volunteers - psychology students and nurses - in trauma counselling. The newly trained Trauma Team will then train volunteers and community members in the areas where we set up trauma clinics to help earthquake victims. We will initially set up the clinics in Padang, then West Pasaman to the north. This program is likely to continue for at least three months.
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Flyers promoting the trauma clinic services. Photo: SurfAid
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The theme of the trauma clinic will be using local dialect to help the community feel at ease and comfortable to share their distress, anxiety, fear of another bigger earthquake, losing their loved ones, and being involved with the evacuation of victims.
SurfAid Program Manager Tom Plummer and Assistant Program Manager Rintis went to Pasaman today to join the SurfAid medical and distribution team that has been in Kinali since Wednesday. We plan to set up a communication centre there to help the team coordinate with Padang HQ, partner organisations and stakeholders.
SurfAid Program Director Dr David Lange is working with Mercy Corps to assess the Agam situation. Agam was heavily hit by the earthquakes.
Aid distribution continues in West Pasaman and we will distribute goods for immediate needs in the Mentawai Islands this week.
SurfAid is also planning a short-term, crisis response Emergency Preparedness Program for the Mentawai in villages where we have not been operating our AusAID-supported E-Prep Program. This is at the request of the local Mentawai Government as there is a need to educate a very scared population who are in fear of another earthquake. There will also be a communication and information service for the Mentawai, in cooperation with the local government.
SurfAid Situation Report Friday 9 October 2009
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Loading emergency supplies for the village of Kinali, which is north of Padang.
Photo: SurfAid
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The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported 784 deaths and a further 242 people are missing after the Sumatran earthquakes last week. The number of buildings damaged includes: 388 offices, 3146 educational classrooms, 122 health facilities, 49 bridges, 81 markets and 2351 places of worship.
According to Satkorlak, the total loss is estimated to be Rp 2.2 trillion (US$233 million).
SurfAid is concentrating its main relief operations on the sub-district of Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman), a coastal area north of Padang.
A second phase of 370 tarpaulins and 500 construction kits went to Sasak Harbour by boat from Padang today (Friday 9 October), and another 500 construction kits are scheduled to be delivered there on Monday 12 October.
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SurfAid is supplying construction kits which include hammers, nails, saws and shovels so that the locals can start rebuilding. Photo: SurfAid
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Life in the affected areas, particularly in Padang, is slowly returning to normal. Some people have started to rebuild their houses and buildings, markets are reopening and many children have returned to school. The main concern remains the provision of shelter and clean water for survivors.
The city of Padang continues to experience water shortages, while the affected districts are able to rely on water from wells.
Indonesian Govt statistical info above is from the UN-OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) Indonesia.
SurfAid Volunteer Dr Matt Eckersley reports from the town of Maliggi in Pasaman sub-district that the local people live in fear of a tsunami:
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The town of Sasak is surrounded by water and extremely susceptible to a tsunami.
Photo: Napitupulu/SurfAid
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What worries you most? "It’s tsunami, sir! Tsunami!"
Since Boxing Day 2004, few words have reverberated with such meaning around the world. Tsunami - images of nature’s power, destruction and death. Even from comfortable loungerooms in the West, the power and fear of events in 2004 were felt by all of us.
Now transport yourself away from the loungeroom, away from the TV set that brought you those horrifying images. Go across seas and bring yourself down on the western coast of Sumatra - in one of the thousands of small towns and villages that dot the coast, where the daily view is not the TV set that transmitted those horrifying images but the open and wide expanse of that very sea. That view is a constant and ready reminder of the real and present threat that one day that sea, just like it did off Aceh in 2004, could rise with power and force and come flooding in.
During SurfAid's Padang Earthquake Relief Program we found ourselves in such a town, the town of Maliggi in Pasaman, West Sumatra. We were a group of doctors from Australia who had volunteered with SurfAid International and were part of a rapid assessment team to find the most urgent needs of the community. We had traveled up the coast by speedboat to the town of Sasak then divided up on motorbikes to survey the area.
Coming in to Maliggi, despite the emergency of the situation, we were struck by the beauty of the area. We crossed a series of small rivers and came to a town bordered by the ocean and surrounded by delta rivers. It was a relief to find no acute medical concerns and a community working at getting back to their normal lives. Sitting down and talking to the people we were amazed to find that the fear of the earthquake was minimal. Despite just days before having to struggle out of shaking houses and being forced to crawl due to the violence of the quake, the people of Maliggi were not in fear of earthquakes. So, did they fear anything?
"It’s tsunami, sir! Tsunami!" It was then that we caste a new eye on the idylic town we had entered, bordered by the ocean and surrounded by delta rivers.
Like so many thousands of others who live on the coast of West Sumatra, the people of Maliggi had nowhere to run. A tsunami of even moderate size would cause complete destruction. Maliggi was a town of 6,000 on a delta plain, a town with the health centre situated on the foreshore and the primary school on an isthmus of land surrounded by water. As the people of Maliggi were acutely aware, it was a town that a tsunami would almost completely decimate, with nowhere to escape and health facilities destroyed.
The unfortunate reality is that Maliggi is just one in a series of thousands of towns and villages that line the coast of Sumatra. Despite our original mission being one of acute survey and response, it became clear to us that the real need for these people is in developing an effective response to a possible tsunami.
On the way back to Padang following the survey we brainstormed the plan. Would an airtight bunker full of medical supplies and food, and that doubled as a community centre, work? Would a series of towers with protected bases provide protection? But it is clear – there needs to be a plan as scientists predict that a giant earthquake of 8.8-magnitude in this region is just a matter of time.
SurfAid Situation Report: Sumatran Earthquakes
Padang, Thursday 8 October 2009:
Latest figures from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) report that 739 people have died after the Sumatran earthquakes last week, with the highest number of fatalities in the city of Padang (popn. 900,000). A further 296 people are missing; 863 people are severely injured and 1,356 are slightly injured.
The number of houses severely damaged is 121,679, with 55,206 houses moderately damaged. BNPB also reports that the following areas of infrastructure have been severely damaged: 55 health facilities, 162 roads, nine bridges, 1,182 places of worship and 36 markets.
One hundred and thirty five (135) NGOs (non government organisations) and seven UN organizations are operating in West Sumatra
SurfAid is concentrating its main relief operations on the sub-district of Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman), a coastal area north of Padang.
A second phase of 370 tarpaulins and 500 construction kits will be ready to go to Pasaman Barat via boat tomorrow (Friday 9 October), and another 500 construction kits are scheduled to be delivered there on Monday 12 October.
SurfAid’s first boatload of cargo - 300 shelter kits, 752 canvas tarpaulins, 300 hygiene packs and 300 construction kits - plus field and medical staff, was dispatched to Sasak Harbour yesterday.
A SurfAid team will accompany other NGO representatives to fly to Muara Siberut, on the northernmost Mentawai island, on Saturday 10 October, on a US Army flight to assess the needs situation and distribute non food items that the plane has on board.
SurfAid staff is still conducting needs assessments in the Pasaman Barat areas of Luhak, Biu and Kinali, with a report due from the field.
What has become clear from our assessments is that there is a great need for an Emergency Preparedness Program to ensure the affected communities don’t have to live in fear and can continue a normal life.
SurfAid has been running an Emergency Preparedness Program, supported by AusAID, in the Mentawai and Nias islands for the past three years.
Yudas, the Vice Bupati (Regent) of the Mentawai Islands, said that during and after the 7.6 earthquake on 30 September, the Mentawai communities who had received training and skills through SurfAid’s Emergency Preparedness Program, were reacting calmly.
"They have made sure that their shelters on top of the hills (in case of tsunami) are supplied with enough food and water. I hope SurfAid can expand this particular program to the wider community in the Mentawai region, so we can have all Mentawai community members ready for any disaster that may happen in the future," Yudas said.
SurfAid Situation Report: Sumatran Earthquakes
Padang, 9pm Wednesday 7 October 2009:
West Sumatra Satkorlak (provincial disaster management unit) reports that the total number of houses severely damaged is 102,046, with 49,864 houses moderately damaged.
They also reported at least 1,000 landslide spots in Gunung Tigo highlands located between Padang Pariaman and Agam districts.
Six helicopters carrying food and medical supplies were dispatched to the highlands as landslides blocked roads.
According to the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), there is no shortage of aid supplies however the biggest challenge is distribution, particularly in the coastal hinterland where landslides buried three villages and destroyed roads and communications. The Government has issued storm warnings for remote areas over the next few days which is hampering distribution efforts and triggering concerns for more landslides.
According to the Head of Ministry of Health (MoH) Crisis centre, health workers doused areas of Padang with disinfectant to ward off the spread of communicable diseases; fogging is also being done to reduce mosquito-born diseases. There have been no reports of a rise in communicable diseases.
Due to access problems, SurfAid is using its marine expertise and primarily sending aid and staff north by boat to Sasak Harbour, in sub-district Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman). SurfAid is focusing on Pasaman Barat as other NGOs (non-government organisations) are covering Agam, Pariaman and the surrounding districts.
"Due to the generous support of government and private donors, SurfAid has sufficient resources to consider a longer term operation in Pasaman Barat, which will assist the transition of the local population to rebuild and return to daily routines," said SurfAid Program Manager Tom Plummer. Plummer lost his Padang house and belongings in the Wednesday 30 September 7.6 earthquake but luckily his pregnant wife Sas had flown to the USA the previous day.
SurfAid dispatched three teams to the Pasaman Barat region today (Wednesday 7 October). The first team, with SurfAid CEO Dr Dave Jenkins, an Australian doctor and two SurfAid needs assessment team members, arrived in Sasak from Padang on a SurfAid speedboat at 5pm today.
The team reported that of a total population of 15,000 in Sasak, 300 houses were severely damaged, but there was no medical problem and the small puskesmas (health clinic) had no drug shortage. The government has given the community rice and the local PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) has supplied 10 tents.
"The biggest problem there was the overwhelming trauma of the possibility of a bigger earthquake and especially a tsunami," Dr Dave Jenkins reported. "They don’t have anywhere to run due to the low-lying land and a lot of rivers. They are aware of this situation and now desperately worry about their lives, especially from what they have seen on television and in the media."
The SurfAid team reported Sasak needed 100 tents, 20 construction kits (hammers, nails, saws, shovels etc) and 100 hygiene kits.
The team will do two more needs assessments tomorrow morning (Thursday 8 October) in Luhak and Biu, which are expected to more severely damaged. The assessment team will return to SurfAid’s Padang Emergency Response HQ in the evening to report.
A second SurfAid team of one medical doctor and seven SurfAid field staff headed to Sasak Harbour on board the Kuala Intan Baru II. They have a cargo of 300 shelter kits, 752 canvas tarpaulins, 300 hygiene packs and 300 construction kits.
The team will concentrate on the Pasaman Barat area of Kinali, particularly the villages of Koja, Sidodadi, Alamanda, VI Koto Selatan and Lenggam.
A third SurfAid team, consisting of two medical doctors, a nurse and five SurfAid field staff, plus medical care kits and medicine, left by car to the same villages.
SurfAid’s trauma clinic team is approaching the main government hospital of West Sumatra, RS.M.Jamil, to obtain the data of the Padang earthquake patients who have been treated in the hospital so we can offer counselling assistance. A separate team is finalised the working framework with a group of psychologists from Universitas Andalas and other volunteers.
We are waiting for the arrival of more shelter, hygiene and tool kits from Medan, in North Sumatra. We are hoping to get these emergency supplies on Saturday. SurfAid will continue planning with IOM to procure more shelter and hygiene kits.
MENTAWAI UPDATE:
SurfAid has encouraged a Mentawai community representative to set up a posko (command post) in Padang. SurfAid has sent information to the Mentawai posko on a daily basis.
The Vice Bupati (Regent) of the Mentawai has instructed the command post to be on standby and take further action in relation to the Mentawai communities affected by the earthquakes. The command post has received information that one Mentawai student has died and four students are in hospital.
SurfAid Situation Report: Sumatran Earthquakes
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| Padang and its surrounding districts were seriously hit by the 7.6 earthquake. Photo: Jossi/SurfAid International |
Padang, 6pm Tuesday 6 October 2009:
Three groups of SurfAid assessment teams, ascertaining where SurfAid should focus its initial relief efforts, have returned from the sub-districts of Agam and Pasaman Barat (West Pasaman), which lie to the north of Padang and were heavily hit by the earthquakes.
"SurfAid was requested by UN-OCHA to undertake rapid assessment of two coastal sub-districts of Agam and we found 75,000 people without shelter,” SurfAid Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Judge, said today from SurfAid Emergency Response headquarters in Padang. “Rain is forecast for the next week so SurfAid is urgently planning with other agencies to respond to this assessment."
SurfAid has loaded a boat, the Kuala Intan Baru2, with emergency supplies for Pasaman Barat. On board are 300 shelter kits, 700 tarpaulins, 300 construction kits and 500 hygiene packs, plus medical staff. The boat will depart from Muara Harbour Padang at 8am tomorrow (Wednesday 7 October) bound for Sasak Harbour in the north.
Tom Plummer, our Mentawai Program Manager who has come to Padang from his base in Tua Pejat, said: “We have enough solid information about the situation and we are sending shelter and hygiene kits to the affected area as soon as we can, along with doctors, nurses and medicine, so the community can receive immediate help.”
A team of six from SurfAid will join the boat, along with one person from Trocaire. The journey will take eight hours.
The emergency supplies will be distributed to the three worst-hit sub-districts of Pasaman Barat:
1. Sasak Ranah Pasisia, IDPs 1000
2. Luhak Nan Duo, IDPs 15,000
3. Kinali, IDPs 30,000
(IDPs – Internally Displaced Persons. These figures are a broad estimation only.)
Kuala Intan will act as a floating warehouse, staff accommodation and communication
post. The team will take two motorbikes onboard the boat. Other boats are standing by in Muara Harbour if further supplies are needed to Sasak.
SurfAid CEO Dr Dave Jenkins, Matt Hannon and Tom Plummer will depart Padang to Sasak
with a speedboat to do primary treatment and further assessment tomorrow morning.
SurfAid is planning with other aid agencies - IOM (trucks and transport), Save
the Children (NFIs (non food items), especially shelter) and SurfAid (distribution, Monitoring & Evaluation) - to do distribution in the Agam area. Departure is also planned for tomorrow.
Shelter has been identified as key priority in all areas and SurfAid is currently sourcing shelter kits from cities outside Padang.
SurfAid Founder and CEO, Dr Dave Jenkins, said all SurfAid staff have rallied, despite some of them having near-death experiences and others losing their homes.
"The team spirit amazes me yet again as we roll out our program to the many people in need," Dr Dave said. "These are unforgettable moments for our maturing organisation - to serve with such warm-hearted people passionately committed to the welfare of others."
Summary of SurfAid rapid assessments:
- SurfAid will be focusing on two sub-districts of Agam and Pasaman Barat. Pasaman Barat’s worst areas are: Luhak Nan Duo, Kinali, and Sasak Ranah Pasisia.
- Agam: Worst areas are Tanjung Raya and Nibung (Lubuk Basung), where 99% of the village has been damaged or collapsed.
- Assessment data will be compiled by SurfAid’s Dr Saiful Sofjan to ascertain the needs for further plans on medical care provisions, trauma clinic and school space.
- Re-assessment about the exact location where SurfAid can pitch tents will be communicated by the assessment team by telephone.
- The Trauma Clinic team will meet several psychology teams from Universitas Andalas to discuss the framework of working with the community members and religious leaders to provide a cultural trauma approach for the community in Chinatown and other areas within the Padang region, and as well for Agam and Pasaman Barat.
SurfAid Situation Report
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SurfAid's Matt Hannon, who is normally based at Katiet village in the Mentawai Islands, assists with distributing emergency items to residents of Padang's Chinatown, which was one of the most damaged areas of the city.
Photo: SurfAid International
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Padang. 4pm Monday 5 October 2009.
In the days since Thursday 1 October, the morning after the first big earthquake near Padang, SurfAid has partnered with a church volunteer group (World Harvest IFGF) to provide any possible help for survivors in Chinatown, one of Padang's worst hit areas.
SurfAid has contributed medical supplies such as first aid kits, dehydration solutions, sutures, minor surgery kits and bandages, along with the distribution of clothes and tents from the IFGF to all poskos (coordination posts) in Chinatown and other areas with similar needs.
SurfAid is going to set up a trauma clinic with IFGF and assessment is taking place at the moment for the best, safe locations. SurfAid is in process of getting at least 20 trauma counsellors.
SurfAid target areas are: District of West Pasaman and Agam, and trauma clinics in Padang.
+ Click here to read SurfAid's Assessment on West Sumatra Earthquake from Agam and West Pasaman Regency
 PADANG UPDATE FROM SURFAID CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, ANDREW JUDGE (Sunday 4 October 2009)
The government reports that 21,400 buildings are damaged or beyond repair. Many people are homeless or too scared to return to their homes due to fear of further earthquakes and a possible tsunami, so they are living outside in temporary shelters they have erected.
We need urgent funds to buy medical supplies, tents, tarpaulins, water and food. Our appeal is at www.surfaidinternational.org
SurfAid's Padang office survived the earthquakes and we have now re-established Internet and phones.
SurfAid:
- is helping a local clinic by looking for medical supplies for them and a hospital
- has been assigned by the UN to assess coastal areas to the north, which were heavily smashed. Three SurfAid assessment teams left for there last night (Sat 3 Oct)
- has full responsibility for the Mentawai and Telos islands (Tom Plummer's latest update on the Mentawai is below)
- will work with Mercy Corps in mainland Sumatra.
SURFAID MENTAWAI PROGRAM MANAGER TOM PLUMMER REPORTS (Saturday 3 October)
Mentawai: Damage reported in three subdistricts on the islands of Siberut and Sipora include: three severely damaged houses; 106 moderately damaged. In terms of infrastructure: nine offices, six schools, two mosques, four churches and three bridges have all been classified as heavily damaged. SurfAid indicates significant impact of psychological trauma for residents who have no source of reliable information. Most of Mentawai islands do not have access to mobile phones, radio or television.
The Vice Bupati (Regent) and a local government delegation were heading to Padang on the morning of Monday 5 October to meet with the Governor.
SurfAid Padang Earthquake Update Saturday 3 October 2009:
Two major earthquakes have hit the Padang, West Sumatra, region - the initial 7.6 on Wednesday evening and then a 6.6 quake on Thursday morning. Padang, the gateway to the Mentawai Islands and where most of the surf charter boats are based, has been seriously damaged and the death toll is more than 1,100 but there are fears that thousands more are still trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
SurfAid has gone into emergency mode and has staff doing assessments of the needs of the people in the coastal areas south of Padang, which are heavily populated and impoverished. SurfAid had Mentawai health program staff already in Padang and they have been reassigned to emergency work. SurfAid will respond to the immediate urgent needs with medical staff and supplies. SurfAid has eight doctors and three nurses preparing medical supplies.
SurfAid is buying tents, tarpaulins, food, water and sanitation and medical supplies in Medan, North Sumatra, and getting these to Padang.
The SurfAid office in Padang survived, however the internet system is down, along with electricity and phones, so a priority is to get a new internet system in place along with satellite phones and gensets for power, along with fresh water as the mains water supply is cut off.
SurfAid's Program Director, Dr David Lange, who has been with the organisation less than a month, narrowly escaped from the Ambacang Hotel just before it collapsed. The people behind him didn't make it out and last night emergency crews were using heavy lifting equipment to try to locate any survivors. The Ambacang is a well-known stopover hotel for surfers heading out to the Mentawai Islands.
SurfAid is still trying to locate five of its Indonesian staff in Padang. Sixty Australians were still unaccounted for last night.
SurfAid CEO and Founder Dr Dave Jenkins is in Bali and will fly into Padang when we have our communications systems in place. SurfAid Chief Operating Officer Andrew Judge is in Medan, North Sumatra, hoping to get on one of the full flights to Padang today.
The SurfAid speedboat Sibex was dispatched to a village in Siberut yesterday to check on reports that a school and mosque had collapsed.
SurfAid Mentawai Program Manager Tom Plummer is heading to Padang from his base in Tua Pejat, the regional capital of the Mentawais. His house in Padang is completely flattened. Luckily his pregnant wife, Sas, had just left for the USA. "Thankfully she left on Tuesday, the day before the first earthquake," Tom said. "She had finished a contract with an aid organisation in Aceh and had just shipped all her belongings down to our house in Padang. I haven't told her yet that there's nothing left."
SurfAid Program Director Dr David Lange filed the first report to SurfAid staff after his narrow escape on Wednesday evening: "That was a very large earthquake. I don't know the size yet but large chunks of glass and brick walls of the hotel I was in came down all around me. I can't imagine how I got out. It was like the floor was falling away as I ran over it. I lost my passport, communications, all my money. The city is burning, infrastructure appears damaged (water lines, sewer lines, power lines are down). We need medical supplies, food, shelter and transportation. I would guess hundreds are dead and significant infrastructure damage worthy of a significant response.
"I have only scrapes. I'm in a safe place. We are going to set up a field hospital now. I’m using someone else’s computer and won’t be able to communicate."
A few hours later, David filed this report: "I just can’t believe I'm alive. The people right behind me didn’t make it out, the blocks from the hotel were falling all around me.
"One hospital, called Silasi, is completely ruined and non-functional. One other private hospital is damaged severely but functioning out of tents. The main public hospital I did not assess. The Ambacang Hotel and Spice Homestay are both collapsed, with lots of westerners in the Ambacang.
"I saw dozens of the biggest buildings collapsed in town, most of the damage is concentrated in the commercial centre markets, the main pasar, which was fully packed. The one-storey homes seem OK but people aren’t staying in them because of fear. Water mains are ruined and power lines are down. No fuel is available right now.
"People are trapped and screaming for help but they are below huge slabs that will take heavy equipment and there is none. I would expect hundreds dead when the final toll is known, but the big issue is that the normal infrastructure is down. We should focus on supporting infrastructure: tents, tent clinics, clean water, food."
SurfAid has launched the SurfAid Padang Earthquake Relief Appeal. You can donate via our website here.
Thank you very much - and many thanks to all who have already donated.
- Kirk Willcox
SurfAid International Communications Director
E: kirk@surfaidinternational.org
M: + 61 407 063 829
+ Click here to read the Mentawai Islands situation report
 Dr. Dave Receives "Agent of Change" Award
Dr Dave Jenkins and SurfAid have been honoured with "Agent of Change" at the Surfer Poll Awards. Rob Machado and Courtney Conlogue presented Dr. Dave with the award and surprised him with a cheque for US$15,000 to help support the SurfAid mission.
"I'm honored to receive this award on behalf of everyone who donates and contributes to SurfAid International," said Jenkins. "Collectively we've wiped out hundreds of thousands of days of child suffering. A special thank you to SURFER Magazine. They’ve really sparked support from the industry. And on behalf of all the children that now not only survive, they thrive."
+ Watch Dr Dave's Acceptance Speech
+ Read the full press release
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