Pepperdine students work with international organization to improve health care in Indonesian islands.
By Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
The Mentawai Islands are a cluster of islands off the coast of West Sumatra, Indonesia that boast some of the best surfing waves in the world. They are populated by roughly 70,000 indigenous Mentawai people, in villages where a quarter of the children can die before the age of 12 from preventable diseases. Nearly 100 percent of the population suffers from malaria.
A group of eight Pepperdine University students hopes to make the Malibu community aware of this chain of islands through serving as ambassadors for the nonprofit organization SurfAid International, which attempts to rid the islands of preventable diseases through locally based health care programs.
This Saturday, the university’s student club, Waves for Change, will run one of four SurfAid Swim4Life events to raise money for the organization. Participants sign up for a half-hour swim at Pepperdine and, using fundraising tools on the site, seek out sponsors. All sponsor money gathered will go directly SurfAid and prizes are awarded to participants per amount raised.
“All it took was one e-mail. They make it so easy,” said Amelia Eastman, a SurfAid volunteer who will be swimming in Saturday’s event.
Eastman sent out e-mails about the fundraiser to 50 people and raised $1,000.
Brian Pickett, SurfAid USA development manager, said $60,000 would be enough to support SurfAid health programs in five Mentawai villages for the next five years.
New Zealand physician and surf enthusiast Dr. Dave Jenkins founded SurfAid International eight years ago after witnessing Mentawai’s disease-ridden population first hand on a surfing trip to the islands.
In addition to bringing vaccines and modern medical supplies into the islands, the organization trains local, university educated Indonesian “facilitators” to teach the population how to make simple health care changes, such as using mosquito nets that could prevent malaria and boiling water before drinking, to maintain the long-lasting well being of the villages.
“I’ve worked a lot in Third World countries as a volunteer,” Eastman, who is a physician, said. “You get to have a certain perspective on these problems: it’s overwhelming, you do what you can… SurfAid is the real solution. When change comes from within the society itself, it works.”
Members of Waves for Change hope to see these impacts first hand. The club, which was founded last year, plans on visiting the islands this summer for a hands-on look at SurfAid’s work on the global level.
“We hope to bring a piece of Indonesia, in all its beauty and sadness, to students at Pepperdine and people of our community,” said Stephen Roesler, club member, who believes the trip may lead to more interest in SurfAid’s efforts and other philanthropic endeavors in the future.
The students had hoped to receive funding from Pepperdine for the trip, but due to Indonesia making the U.S. Department of State’s “Axis of Terror” list and what club President Amory de Roulet calls a “logistical nightmare,” the students will be funding the trip themselves.
As of now, many of SurfAid’s programs are still in a trial period where three years remain to see long-term ramifications.
However, the Malaria Free Mentawai, or MFM, program was test piloted in two villages and the percentage of children infected with the disease decreased from between 12 percent and 37 percent of infected children to zero, Pickett said.
SurfAid USA is still small, but the organization has global connections, with chapters in Australia and New Zealand, in addition to recent and potentially increased support from the Indonesian government. The organization has goals for expansion and plans to implement the program in Mozambique and Cambodia.
On a stateside level, however, the organization has taken what Pickett calls a “grassroots approach,” using word of mouth, volunteers and local media to spread exposure.
Sara Eirich, an artist in Solana Beach, volunteered her services to create promotional media for the Swim4Life events. Eirich designed a membership logo, event posters and an event T-shirt.
“Graphic design plays a crucial part in communicating messages and emotions, which in turn, has a huge effect on people’s perception of an event or organization,” Eirich said. “It’s great to increase awareness or inspire someone to participate or get involved in something they never would have otherwise.”
Members of Waves for Change have already raised $5,000 for Saturday’s event, but Roesler thinks the amount will probably increase in the coming week.
“Overall, it just seems applicable to Malibu. We have all these people living here with a love for the ocean and more specifically, surfing. Most live considerably comfortable lives [who] have a lot to offer the rest of the world [who are] less fortunate,” Roesler said.
Participants can register online for Saturday’s swim at www.surfaidinternational.org/swim4life or register on the day of the event. The event will takes place between 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pepperdine University pool.