SurfAid International
In 2000, physician and surfer Dr. Dave Jenkins went on a surf charter to the Mentawai
Islands to find perfect waves. He found them. What he also found was 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, Dave went on to
establish SurfAid International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the alleviation
of human suffering through community-based health programs. SurfAid has the support
of the New Zealand and Australian governments, the global surfing community, and
importantly the Mentawai people of the affected areas themselves.
Mentawai
The Mentawai Islands are a hyper-endemic malaria area.
In the worst affected villages one quarter of the children die before reaching the
age of 12 years from preventable and treatable diseases including malaria, measles,
tetanus, and diarrhoea.
Throughout the Mentawais, 50% of all families lose at least one child.
The Malaria Free Mentawai Project
SurfAid is blanketing the Mentawai Islands in life-saving mosquito nets.
We are working with village communities and the existing health services: the Mentawai
Health Department and the Indonesia Malaria Control Board.
In 2001, SurfAid began piloting a malaria control program. In 2004, the project
expanded to cover 13,200 people in 17 villages.
Early results show great success with a 75% reduction in malaria-related death and
suffering in target areas.
203 villages of 70,755 people are now being targeted with 25,500 nets.
Our aim is to eradicate malaria in the Mentawais and this is achievable.
Samuel’s Story
Samuel is 5 years old but looks much younger. Recurrent malaria attacks have stunted
his growth; even his hair has stopped growing. When malaria fever burns, he uses
as many calories as a fully grown man working an 8-hour day on a farm.
Here’s Samuel six months later, treated with malaria medications and sleeping under
a mosquito net. He’s gained weight and height and his hair is growing again.