Helping quake victims in Indonesia

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 know 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; you better work, and proceeded to drink 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 then went to another Red Cross to repeat the process one more time. By days end there were two fully operational filtration systems and seven to 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 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. It took me 60 hours to finally get home.

The serendipitous nature of this whole experience has left me with an existential awakening. I now honestly feel like we are all truly a part of a bigger design that is way beyond our control.

I’ve walked away from this with an incredible sense of gratitude toward life and a pronounced determination to continue helping these people any way I can. It was a 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, contact Surf Aid International at www.surfaidinternational.org, or the Red Cross, www.redcross.org.