What is SurfAid?

In 1999, physician and surfer Dr. Dave Jenkins went on a surf charter to the Mentawai Islands with one goal in mind: to find perfect waves. The surf proved to be everything he had hoped for. What he also found, though, were the Mentawai people—mostly women and children-–-suffering and dying from the ravages of malaria and other preventable diseases. Troubled by the inequity of lifestyles and moved by compassion, Dr. Jenkins went on to establish SurfAid International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the alleviation of human suffering through community-based health programs. With the support of the New Zealand and Australian governments, the global surfing community, and most importantly the Mentawai people of the affected areas themselves, SurfAid has come to exemplify the healing power of cross-cultural partnerships.

Together with an impassioned, motivated, and talented team of volunteers, staff, and supporters, the SurfAid journey has begun.

Watch SurfAid International Mission Video

What Does SurfAid Do?

The Mentawai people face an overwhelming burden of illness on a day-to-day basis. In the worst affected villages, one quarter of children die before reaching the age of 12 years from preventable and treatable diseases, including malaria, measles, tetanus, and diarrhea. Throughout the Mentawais, 100 per cent of families are directly or indirectly affected by malaria.

Local efforts barely dent the overwhelming burden of illness suffered by the village communities. Prior to SurfAid, most Mentawai people relied on local shamans and village healers as their sole primary care givers, but traditional cures are generally useless in the face of killer diseases.

WE SAVE LIVES

SurfAid utilizes cutting edge solutions derived from the best programs and medical technology available on the world stage. The SurfAid Mentawai Health Program addresses the most pressing health, humanitarian, and developmental needs of the Mentawai people. Each project has been designed with the help of international experts, is cost-effective and culturally sensitive, and may be replicated and transported to new regions and countries.

By fostering community participation SurfAid’s goal is to empower people and provide community based health and development programs to control malaria, improve nutrition, and hygiene; and decrease the rate of deaths from respiratory infections and diarrhea. The programmes empower local communities to continue to bring about their own improvements in health and quality of life and are designed to work with local government and non-government organizations to bring about permanent change.

The development philosophy of SurfAid is a hand up, not a hand out. SurfAid assists the people to gain control over their health, own the program, and ensure that a long-lasting legacy of better health remains.

WE WILL SAVE MORE

The scope of activities in SurfAid’s 53 target areas is now expanding to include a new highly successful programme model used in Mozambique and Cambodia. These activities, which incorporate SurfAid’s previous programs and the new model, will be known as the Community Based Health Program.

In these 53 areas SurfAid is implementing the Emergency Preparedness Project to assist these vulnerable communities in preparing for future disasters.

In addition, SurfAid will be implementing a new malaria control program which will include 203 villages in the Mentawai islands and will include activities such as training health care providers in the use of rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) and artesenuate combined therapy (ACT) for detection and treatment of malaria; mass education to community members regarding malaria; mass distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets and the development of a sustainable supply system for mosquito nets. The project will be known as the Malaria Free Mentawai Project.

Want to be part of the SurfAid community; and provide vital support of our effort to save lives?