I will never forget the look in the grandmother’s eyes,” says Peeples. In spite of her great loss she showed gratitude.

On his third trip to Indonesia in August, Tony Litwak rejoined the doctors to help the residents of Padang set up an emergency evacuation plan. In June they held a mock evacuation with 5,000 residents participating. “The biggest part of the problem is everyone is still so afraid,” says Litwak.

Back home in San Francisco and hoping to get back to Padang, David Lupo reflected on the spirituality of surfing and the mission that transplanted himself and his close friends across the world. “People think that surfers are just guys fighting for waves,” says Lupo. “But my friends and I are trying to do something meaningful. There we were, on a boat with a guy who doesn’t know if his family will still be alive when we get him to the island, or helping set up these clinics and seeing all these kids who needed them so badly. It’s hard to be back and not be thinking that there are so many people suffering.”

On September 2, Hurricane Katrina brought the Surfzone Relief Operation back into action. Matt George went to New Orleans to rescue residents. Since November, Matt George has been in Pakistan devastated by an earthquake last October. He is helping build structures. This time he is working in freezing conditions. George uses much of his own money, but he is also funded through the surfers’ organisation. — Beliefnet.com (Concluded)