SurfAid launches Mentawai fundraiser & trip

Balaram Stack © Quiksilver

Surf Travel

Get On Board 2013 fundraising drive awards top fundraiser trip the Ments

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 15 November, 2012 : - - The Mentawai Islands, off Indonesia’s Sumatran coast, are home to some of the most perfect surf breaks in the world. A dream destination for surfers. But look past the azure blue waters and perfect waves and you’ll see communities challenged by regularly occurring natural disasters and disease.

Since 2000, SURFAID has been working to improve the health, wellbeing and self-reliance of the Mentawai people through education programs involving nutrition, hygiene and disease prevention. SURFAID has also taught Emergency Preparedness programs and provided disaster response to help prepare for and recover from devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.

These islands also represent a perfect case study to explore the challenges and opportunities related to broader issues of sustainability and the surfing industry’s connection to it … social, environmental and economic.

All of this adds up to a driving need for more awareness within the surf industry … surfers, surf travelers, board shapers, glassers, apparel and accessories manufacturers … all of us. So you’re probably thinking ...

“It’s so far away and I’ll probably never go there. Why should I care?”

As a surfer we care about others and the environment, especially the oceans. And it’s natural to want to help the remote regions of the world connected to us through surfing, while learning more about what we all can do to move the needle towards a more sustainable surf industry. Just in case that’s not enough, SURFAID has teamed up with the Quiksilver Foundation, Quiksilver Travel and San Diego State University’s Center for Surf Research to send you there to experience it for yourself.

“How can I go?”

Join our Get On Board 2013 fundraising drive. Between November 1, 2012 and January 11, 2013 register through our fundraising site, create your personal fundraising page and get the word out. At the end of the drive, we’ll take the top fundraiser with us on a boat trip to the Mentawai Islands, March 20-31, 2013, courtesy of Quiksilver Travel and the Quiksilver Foundation.

“What does this trip include?”

We want you to have an amazing trip. Actually, we want it to be epic. So we’re going to send you on a Quiksilver Travel-chartered boat, the Melaleuca, accompanied by Quiksilver pros to keep your surfing inspired. We’ll add a couple of sustainable surf tourism experts from San Diego State University’s Center for Surf Research to promote awareness of sustainable tourism, along with reps from Quiksilver Travel and the Quiksilver Foundation. And SURFAID will round out your experience by giving you a hands-on service project and insider view of SURFAID’s mission. All details of the trip are included in the legal language of the fundraiser “Terms and Conditions”. Please make sure you read them.

We’re pretty sure it will be: Exhilarating. Eye-opening. Life-changing. So Get On Board to: Give, Surf, and Preserve!