Helping quake victims in Indonesia

I was in the Mentawaiis the day the quake hit. I was traveling throughout Indonesia surfing and doing humanitarian work. As with so many surfers who volunteer every year, the first part of my trip was to consist of a standard boat charter trip with friends through the Mentawaii Islands.

After that I was scheduled to fly over to Bali and work, with Skills For Humanity ( www.skillsforhumanity.org), on a humanitarian project for my new foundation — Waves For Water ( www.wavesforwater.org). My father, Jack, has an existing water related nonprofit called www.raincatcher.org.

A few months ago he and I launched a sister foundation, Waves For Water, with a central goal in mind: to create a platform for the surf community to help bring clean water to Third World villages worldwide.

The Bali project was going to be my first Waves For Water mission. Then the quake hit. When it happened, I was on the boat anchored at a fun little lefthander.

A friend and I felt the trembling but were unsure if it was just some random boat or ocean movement that is so common in that environment. We thought nothing of it until our captain heard later that night that a massive earthquake hit Padang.

We anchored directly off of Padang, which is different than the normal harbor anchorage a few miles away. The captain got word that the roads to and from the harbor were destroyed and decided that anchoring off Padang would be a better option.

We got word that there were no flights operating out of Padang Airport, that 80% of structures were damaged, and there was no electricity. At this point, everyone on the boat had one main concern — getting home!

There was a defining moment for me during all of this. I realized that I had 10 ceramic water filters in my bag that I had planned on using for my upcoming Bali trip. I was then consumed with focus and determination to try and get these filters into Padang and help aid relief efforts. Up to this point, nothing in my life had prepared me for the type of total and complete devastation I was about to encounter.

The drive through Padang to the Red Cross station felt like something out of a battle scene in a Terminator movie. Smoke and rubble everywhere, people yelling … and some people standing, smoking their cigarettes, frozen in a state of shock.

It was so soon after the quake that it seemed there was no real understanding of what happened or more importantly, what to do. Everyone just looked helpless. Some of the buildings were completely leveled into a pile of concrete and rubble; others, barely standing, were leaning to one side like some messed up version of Italy’s leaning tower of Pisa.

One of the common hotels that surfers stay in, Hotel Bumiminang, had sections of wall missing and giant floor-wide cracks that allowed you to see directly into various rooms. There was no rhyme or reason within the path of destruction. A three-story parking structure was now one story, or a little shanty house would be left standing directly next to a four story building that was now flattened.

When we arrived at the central Indonesian Red Cross station I wasted no time and walked in hoping to find someone who spoke English. The inside of the building was set up with a few desks and the odd computer or communication device, none of which were working due to the power outage. The temperature must have been in the mid-’90s and humidity at a thick 100%.

I found their best English-speaking representative. His name was Alfri. I proceeded to ask him and his associates if they needed water filters. Their eyes popped out of their heads as if I had just said they won the lottery. It was a look I will never forget as long as I live.

They said access to clean water was one of their biggest challenges and not just for drinking but also to use in cleaning and treating the wounded. I explained that the filters were the best of their kind and could filter the dirtiest of water sources.

However, I could not do anything without the proper materials. The filters need to be built into a system for proper use and operation. I had literature on the filters as well as directions but this was a unique circumstance in which I had almost zero resources and materials.

I had set many of these systems up in the past using the standard stackable paint bucket system that the manufacturer recommends. The Red Cross had no paint buckets or anything of the sort.

So Alfri and I left on a full-fledged charge in and around the dismantled city in search of containers to use for the filtration systems. That journey into the bowels of this catastrophe was a life changing experience that is ingrained in me forever.

At one point we were standing next to what used to be a little shopping center, and I could hear faint voices crying for help beneath the rubble. There was so much concrete that we were left helpless like everyone else.

The only way to get to these trapped people would be to remove the giant pieces of concrete with a tractor. There were only a few tractors operating throughout the entire city and they were overloaded as is. So these poor people would just have to stay strong, stay alive, and wait their turn. I felt helplessness, and utter sadness, as we continued on our mission.

After driving around for a couple hours we came across a little roadside stand that I noticed had some clear plastic 5-gallon canisters that are probably used to store gasoline.

I briefly inspected them and knew that this was the closest I was going to get. They appeared to be brand new, just a little dusty. I bought four of them with hopes of setting up two fully operational systems by the end of the day.

We finally made it back to the Red Cross, it was time to get creative and start assembling the system. The next couple hours were magical. The Red Cross workers and I collaborated on various ideas and methods of how to modify the new materials and make them into working filtration systems.

I had my Gerber 7-inch knife packed in my bag, and I used that to cut through the hard plastic and make holes and slices wherever needed. The whole process was a team effort and truly would not have worked without everyone’s input.

During the assembly of our first system I was also educating Alfri on maintenance, care and usage of the filters. If maintained properly these filters can operate successfully for three to five years and hundreds of thousands of gallons.

Finally we had finished one system. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but it seemed to have everything in its right place. I told Alfri that now we just needed a water source.

He took me out behind the building to a well that sat in direct sunlight. He said there was water in there but it’s completely contaminated. He said there are wells like this attached to the rear of most buildings but no one ever uses them because they are too dirty. Padang water could possibly be some of the dirtiest in the world.

We lowered a bucket into the brownish-yellow water. At close glance the water was even more horrific than I thought. It was a rich yellow color filled with algae and other clumps of who know what floating in it. We walked back to the system and poured the water in.

Going a little slower than expected, about a half hour later the bottom reservoir had filled up just above the spigot. I grabbed a cup off of a desk and filled it up with the filtered water. It was crystal clear in color but still a bit nervous I said, “Here you go boys…” They looked at me and said, “You first!”

I looked down at the cup and thought; you better work, and proceeded to drink it. Everyone started cheering as if they were surprised I didn’t immediately keel over after the first sip. Then they all joined me in drinking from this very significant first batch of clean water.

In a setting that was constantly bombarded with bad news we all sat there and looked at one another with huge smiles and a sense of real accomplishment. It was beautiful.

I then went to another Red Cross to repeat the process one more time. By days end there were two fully operational filtration systems and seven to 10 people who were now well educated in this technology.

I left the other eight filters with Alfri, and he said that the following day he would gather more materials and personally distribute them to different Red Cross station around the region.

I left Alfri that evening with a new mission: to get home as soon as possible and find a way to get him more filters. It took me 60 hours to finally get home.

The serendipitous nature of this whole experience has left me with an existential awakening. I now honestly feel like we are all truly a part of a bigger design that is way beyond our control.

I’ve walked away from this with an incredible sense of gratitude toward life and a pronounced determination to continue helping these people any way I can. It was a life-altering experience that has made me rethink every aspect of my life.

My heart goes out to all of the victims in Padang, and for those of you who read this, I ask you to send them your love too. To offer your support, contact Surf Aid International at www.surfaidinternational.org, or the Red Cross, www.redcross.org.