Inspired Surfer – Dr. Dave – Founder of SurfAid

Inspired Surfers is a 10 part series – in partnership with Jimmy’s Iced Coffee. We uncover the stories of characters who have taken their passion for surf into their day to day lives and done big and amazing things.

In this episode we are in conversation with Dr. Dave – The founder of SurfAid.

About Dr. Dave

In 1999 Dr. Dave (Dave Jenkins) went on a charter boat trip to the Mentawais. Curious about life on the islands across the lagoon, he went to visit a local village and was shocked to find what he saw as entirely preventable and curable ailments causing high death rates, particularly among mothers and babies. 

For Dave this was a life-changing moment that saw him flip his life on its head and react to this problem. He quit his high paid job, sold his house and made SurfAid his mission.

Over the last 20 years Dr Dave has overcome a huge number of challenges to make SurfAid the great success that it is, ranging from immense language and cultural barriers to the destruction left by a string of natural disasters in the area of Indonesia in which the charity operates.

In this conversation, Dave explains why he created SurfAid and how the charity has evolved and grown over the years.

Summary

In this conversation Jim and Dave discuss:

• Life in lockdown in NZ
• The waves ‘out front’
• Surf boat trips to the Mentawi’s
• What inspired Surf Aid
• The challenges and evolution of Surf Aid

We hope that this story inspires you to Keep Your Chin Up, do good and take on the challenges in front of you!

If you enjoyed this episode you can find more conversations on our Wavelength Community channel.

Listen in to conversations with inspired surfers here.

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