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WRONG TIME, RIGHT PLACE
Jon Rose's first-hand account of freshwater relief during Padang earthquake
Photos: + Words: Jon Rose
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October 7, 2009
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I was in the Mentawai's the day the quake hit.
I was there traveling throughout Indonesia surfing and doing humanitarian work. Like so many surfers do every year, the first part of my trip was to consist of a standard boat charter trip with friends through the Mentawai Islands. After that I was scheduled to fly over to Bali and work, with Skills For Humanity, on a humanitarian project for my new foundation, Waves For Water.
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We thought nothing of it until our captain heard later that night that a massive earthquake hit Padang. As we got closer to Padang our captain kept getting updates about the extent of the catastrophe. 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 than the normal harbor anchorage a few miles away. Now, with a clear view of the city, we were able to see some of the wreckage. We were pretty far away but could tell that some of the buildings were slanted or slightly off in some way. I realized that I had ten ceramic water filters in my bag that I had planned on using for my upcoming Bali trip. I was very aware of the significant impact my filters could have in this dire situation and therefore my mission was set. In a lot of ways I was setting off to do what I had planned in Bali, but the game had obviously changed a bit. I was certainly prepared to be among people suffering extreme hardship in life-threatening circumstances. Had I gone to Bali, I would have been equally exposed to people suffering intense poverty and destitution. But, up to this point, nothing in my life had prepared me for the type of 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 in 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 Piza. 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. Their operations were definitely stunted due to a severe lack of resources, manpower, and electricity. There was a tent outside holding most of the severely wounded people that came in. I found their best English speaking representative, named Alfri. I proceeded to ask him and his associates if they needed water filters. Their eye's popped out of their heads as if I had just said they won the lottery. 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 -- I had almost zero resources and materials. Most of the materials are pretty universal items that I'm sure we could have found had it been any other normal day in Padang. 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 now engrained in me forever. We searched every inch of that city. Of the buildings that were left, no businesses were open so we were scanning everything, even people's houses to see what they had in their yards. 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-ish canisters that are probably used to store gasoline. I knew that this was the closest I was going to get. 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. 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 3-5 years and hundreds of thousands of gallons. Finally, we finished one system. It wasn't the prettiest thing but it seemed to have everything in its right place. I told Alfri that we just needed a water source. He took me out behind the building to a well that sat in direct sunlight. He said there's water in here 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's water could possibly be some of the dirtiest in the world. But this is what these filters are made for so 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-knows-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, "this had better f--king work," and drank 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 went to another Red Cross to repeat the process. By day's end, there were two fully operational filtration systems and around 7-10 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's 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. The fact that I was in Padang at that time with the assets I had and the incredible accessibility to Ground Zero was miraculous. To the best of my knowledge, I was there at least a day ahead of the international relief support, which makes me even more thankful to have helped build an early foundation for water relief. I've walked away from this with an incredible sense of gratitude towards life and a pronounced determination to continue helping these people any way I can. It was an undoubtedly 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 please contact: Surf Aid International Red Cross MORE SURF NEWS SURFLINE HOME PAGE |