The Search for impact in Rote
Rip Curl is proud to partner with SurfAid to support their mission. Recently, our Head of ESG, Shasta O’Loughlin, who leads the partnership, joined the SurfAid team on a visit to their project site in Rote, Indonesia.
In 1999, physician and surfer Dr. Dave Jenkins took a surf trip to the Mentawai Islands in search of waves.
Upon visiting one of the local island villages, Dave saw people suffering from medical conditions like malaria, malnutrition, and poor living standards. He realised that many of these issues were preventable through basic health education and hygiene practices.
So, Dave quit his job, returned to New Zealand, and began laying the foundation for what was to become SurfAid, registering the charity in 2000, SurfAid's mission to this day remains improving the health, wellbeing and resilience of families living in remote surfing communities.
Rip Curl is proud to partner with SurfAid to support their mission. Recently, our Head of ESG, Shasta O’Loughlin, who leads the partnership, joined the SurfAid team on a visit to their project site in Rote, Indonesia. We sat down with Shasta to hear more about the experience.
How did Rip Curl first start getting involved with SurfAid?
Shasta: Rip Curl began partnering with SurfAid in 2022. In 2023, we became the primary partner of their Make A Wave fundraiser, a month-long challenge encouraging people to surf every day in September to raise funds. We've also entered teams in their annual event, the SurfAid Cup.
The decision to partner with SurfAid was an easy one for us. Rip Curl is built on The Search, a quest for adventure and uncrowded waves, which often takes us to some of the most remote corners of the world. Along the way, we encounter communities who live in these areas and supporting SurfAid’s work to improve their quality of life felt like the right thing to do.
Tell us about the trip. How did it come about?
As a key charity partner, Rip Curl was invited to join SurfAid on a field trip to Rote to see their work firsthand. We started in Bali, where we met Dr. Dave Jenkins. He shared heartbreaking stories about child mortality and malnutrition in surf destinations that many of us have visited for years. We then had a surf with Dr. Dave at Balangan, which was a pretty special moment followed by a sunset surf at Uluwatu, a first for me and one to remember. The next day, we flew from Denpasar to Kupang, stayed overnight, and then took a ferry to Rote. Our bags didn’t make the ferry, so I arrived with just my surfboard. Luckily, our luggage came the next day! We were welcomed to T-Land Resort, right in front of an incredible left-hand wave. For the next four days, we surfed each morning and visited local villages in the afternoons.
How was the surf at T-Land?
The break was amazing with several sections to take off, which spread out the line up. The swell built over the week from 2-3ft with our last morning being 8-10ft. Lucky for me it was a high tide on the last morning, so the reef wasn’t so scary. Wearing my GPS3 watch I tracked a 264-meter ride, which is my longest ride ever, my stoke was high!
What was it like seeing SurfAid’s work in action?
We met the local SurfAid team who oversee the project delivery in the local communities. They took us to five different villages. During our visit we heard from the Community-Based Mobilizers (CBMs) whose purpose is to take a leadership role within the village and work with the local SurfAid team to model change. We saw established community gardens, education site for seedings, composting and soil maintenance, fathers having a cooking class, a positive parenting education session and a Posyandu, a monthly community-based health check post for pregnant women and children under five. We heard how SurfAid’s support has improved accessibility to food and nutrition education, resulting in better health outcomes.
Can you tell us a little more about the programs?
The program in Rote has three key behavioral change targets:
- Encourage and support pregnant women to attend six essential health check-ups throughout their pregnancy.
- Provide nutrition education and guidance to pregnant women and their children to promote a balanced, four-star diet rich in plants, proteins, fats, and grains.
- Actively engage fathers in cooking activities and positive parenting practices.
The program’s core pillars focus on building community capacity through programs that build community connection, training, and ongoing support for local health workers, Cadres (government-appointed integrated health service leaders), and CBMs. These community leaders collaborate closely with the SurfAid team to foster sustainable, long-term behaviour change.
How can people help support SurfAid’s work?
Sign up for SurfAid x Rip Curl Make A Wave and raise funds for remote communities like Rote, by surfing every day in September with me! After seeing firsthand how these fundraising efforts truly make a difference, I’m even more inspired to take on the challenge again. Knowing that SurfAid’s work is creating real impact in remote surfing communities makes us proud to be sponsors. They’re empowering these communities to build capacity and drive lasting change from within.
