surfaid 12 Nov 2007No Comments 347 views Print Email

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Aid organization SurfAid International has received the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO) 2007 Humanitarian Award at the World Congress of NGOs awards ceremony in Toronto, Canada.

The award recognizes SurfAid as one of the best non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the world, a testament to their groundbreaking and effective approach to providing aid.

“This is like a world title but better because it’s your peers who have chosen you,” SurfAid Founder and CEO Dr Dave Jenkins, who accepted the award on behalf of the organization, said. “They know better than anyone else how tough it is, how dangerous it is, and how much determination you need to start and grow an effective non-profit without being a billionaire or having any significant backers. SurfAid would especially like to thank everyone who has believed in us and supported us over the past seven years.”

In taking the decision to present SurfAid International with its 2007 Humanitarian Award, the WANGO Awards Committee were impressed with the compassion of SurfAid and their remarkable and successful effort to address the dire health situation of the Mentawai people, off Indonesia’s West Sumatran coast, with their high childhood mortality, the ravages of malaria, poor education, and poverty.

Mr Taj Hamad, Secretary General of WANGO, said: “SurfAid’s unique cutting edge solutions to alleviate the human suffering in the Mentawai Islands, and now Nias Island, promoting community-based solutions and tapping into the inherent values in the surfing community - individualism, courage, dynamism, and adaptability - is an example of humanitarian service that deserves widespread recognition. We are delighted to recognize such efforts and bring greater worldwide awareness of the extraordinary accomplishments of SurfAid International.”

The prestigious WANGO awards recognize non-governmental organizations from throughout the world that demonstrate exceptional effort, service, innovation, and excellence. Among past recipients of WANGO awards are Rotary International, Ashoka, Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, Inuit Circumpolar Conference, Free the Children, Bahrain Women’s Society, Bharatiya Jain Sanghatana, Buccoo Reef Trust, Altai Foundation, and Roots of Peace.

WANGO is the world’s largest, general purpose, international association for non-governmental organizations. With members in over 140 countries, and close to 70,000 members and subscribers, the Association encompasses the vast spectrum of the NGO world, ranging from small nonprofits focused on their local communities to major, international organizations with global agendas. Formed by NGOs for NGOs, the Association was established to assist NGOs in accomplishing their vital tasks and provide the infrastructure for NGOs to better connect, partner, and multiply their contributions to solve humanity’s basic problems.

SurfAid International was started by New Zealander Dr Dave Jenkins in 2000 after he took a surfing holiday to the Mentawai Islands in October 1999. Then working as the educational director of a multinational health organization in Singapore, he realized the plight of the people after taking his medical kit into a village, where he was confronted by the community’s poor health and conditions. One woman, who was brought to him in a wheelbarrow, died later that night and the experience affected him profoundly. He left the islands determined to rally help.

SurfAid works so well because it provides the fundamental building blocks of health through direct community empowerment and engagement, creating long lasting behaviour changes.

Dr Jenkins said: “We are a team coming from varied backgrounds but who share the same vision and have all sacrificed something to be here. We did not change our lives, leave families, and the comforts of home for anything but the best outcomes for the people we have chosen to help.

“We have all surrendered to this commitment and we are not letting go of our single-minded vision. Striving for cost-effective impact in remote island settings is an extreme challenge and requires SurfAid to test, refine and re-test cutting edge solutions. This has and will continue to build a strong and resilient organizational culture.”

Dr Jenkins said more than 11 million children under the age of five die in the world every year. “Further, for every single death, thousands of children and their communities are crippled by suffering. And yet, the vast majority of these deaths and suffering are preventable with achievable behaviour change from the parents. Immediate post delivery and exclusive breast feeding, mosquito nets, improved nutrition, clean water, washing hands and recognizing the signs of serious illness are scientifically proven behaviours that save lives.

“SurfAid International is committed to designing and refining a proven model that permanently shifts community norms towards these key health behaviours. In the long term we would like to take our success to scale in many more communities across Indonesia and beyond. I’d like to sit in my rocking chair one day (if those damn mossies don’t get me first) and know I’ve been part of something that has saved at least a million children’s lives and prevented tens of millions of days of extreme childhood suffering.

“We ask people to get passionately involved, give time and money, organize a fundraiser, recruit other members, and get your school involved in our schools program,“ Dr Jenkins said. “Stay with us, be part of our growing success, and help save lives.”

About SurfAid International
The mission of SurfAid International, a non-profit humanitarian aid
organization, is to improve the health of people living in isolated
regions connected to us through surfing. SurfAid is incorporated in the
USA, Australia and New Zealand, with the program base in Tuapejat, the
regional capital of the Mentawai Islands, off West Sumatra, Indonesia.For further information please contact:

Kirk Willcox
SurfAid International Communications Director

Email: kirk@surfaidinternational.org
Office: +62 751 32 964 (in Padang, West Sumatra)
Mobile: +62 812 663 4937

Website: www.surfaidinternational.org