The story of outstanding support from Rip Curl, an international surf company with a very big heart, for relief aid vessels 'Karya Bersama' and 'Sumber Rejeki Bahru'.

Rip Curl is one of the leading surf companies in Indonesia, with a long history of working on Sumatra’s west coast. Intimately familiar with the islands, waters and communities there, the company’s executives quickly decided to focus relief aid in this area after the tsunami. Inspired by Robert Wilson, they established Rip Curl Indian Ocean Aid, an initiative to bring relief to survivors in Sumatra and the Maldives. The team worked with Yayasan IDEP and the Tsunami Relief Initiative / Bali Patok LKMD – Ubud on the Sumatran front.

On January 9, three team members from Bali flew to Padang. Robert Wilson of Rip Curl, Gde Ariawan of LKMD Ubud and Jack McNaught from IDEP boarded Karya Bersama, a vessel chartered by Rip Curl with a full load of emergency aid for survivors. The cargo bays overflowed with 1200 care buckets containing medicines, cleaning gear, rice, cooking utensils, soap and other essential items. Also aboard were 116 generators, 116 water pumps, 400 litre water tanks, jerry cans, tarps and building tools.

Narrative from Robert Wilson of Rip Curl…

The Karya Bersama’s cargo was intended for the survivors of the Island of Simeulue and Calang on the mainland of North Sumatra. Located near the epicenter of the earthquake, both areas were believed to have suffered severe damage in the tsunami.

We arrived in Sinabang, the capital of Simeulue, on January 12th and delivered some of the cargo to the Governor for distribution to those most in need. Amazingly, only 7 deaths were reported at that time on Simeulue. The people of the island were very aware of a tsunami’s power, having been hit by one in 1907. Most of the villagers knew to run to high ground when the sea receded. Although very few lost their lives, over 22,000 people were displaced.

We departed Simeulue the next day, bound for Calang on the mainland of North Sumatra. This destination was chosen after having we received information from another vessel (also co-sponsored by Rip Curl), the Sumber Rejeki Bahru. Arriving in Calang, we found complete devastation. Three quarters of the population had been killed and all houses and infrastructure utterly destroyed from the beach to the foothills two or three kilometers away. The locals described a wave as tall as the coconut trees to Robert, who later measured the high water mark at 25 metres. They also described the sea water as being very hot; indeed, the leaves and grasses at the high water mark seem to have been burnt.

In Calang, we unloaded the balance of the aid and handed it over to Mr Ade Taryano (of Rakata Adventure a Jakarta based Tour Company) whos guidance lead the expedition in land. Ade and his team were stationed in Calang assisting people on the ground when we arrived and thanks to Ade and his team the distribution of goods in Calang was successfully achieved.

The Karya Bersama then departed for Padang with Jack McNaught on board. Robert and Odek then boarded the Sumber Rejeki Bahru, which was headed for Banda Aceh for resupply after distributing about 90 tons of aid purchased by IDEP. Odek left from here for Jakarta while Robert stayed on to purchase building supplies. This proved to be a challenging exercise, given that most of Banda Aceh had been destroyed and the only stores remaining were quite small and situated on the outskirts of town.

Nonetheless a truckload of roofing iron and tools was assembled and loaded onto Sumber Rejeki Bahru along with supplies purchased by IDEP and other goods donated by various agencies including The World Food Program (WFP) operating in Banda Aceh.

The Sumber Rejeki Bahru departed Banda Aceh on the morning of January 18 for Calang. Robert hitched a ride on a military C130, destination Medan, and then headed home to Bali to continue fundraising efforts.

As of January 20 the boats had made four trips to Calang, delivering hundreds of tons of relief supplies. A large proportion of these supplies were purchased through support from Rip Curl Indonesia and Rip Curl Australia. Donations from these two outstanding supporters totaled Rp 556,500,000. Some of these funds were disbursed through IDEP and other funds delivered directly to the projects on the ground by Robert Wilson. All funds went directly into aid, which was delivered into the hands of the survivors.

IDEP wishes to express its profound thanks to Rip Curl Indonesia and Rip Curl Australia and to many people who have helped make this initiative possible