13 January 2005
By DANNY LANNEN


A RIP CURL employee in the Maldives was swept from a small island by the force of a tsunami.
Ahmed Kaleem, 36, said the experience had made his life more meaningful.

He was holidaying on the uninhabited island with a family group of 20.

``We were all washed 200 to 300 metres away into the ocean,'' Mr Kaleem said.

``The one advantage we had is we are very strong swimmers, but things got difficult because we had wives and small kids.

``The good thing is once we were washed into open water the risk of hitting something is very minimal.''

A speedboat on the pavement

He said he had been playing with his son Haaish, 7, after breakfast when the sea changed within seconds.

``The entire island was washed in less than a minute,'' he said.

Family members reached a motorboat and landed safely on another island but one of their maids drowned.

Mr Kaleem has shared his story to Rip Curl's extended family through the company's international general manager Grant Forbes.

Rip Curl has launched its own Indian Ocean Aid program and is mobilising its international transport network to deliver aid to areas of Indonesia ruined by the Boxing Day tsunami.

Robert Wilson, managing director of the surf giant's Indonesian licensee, has set out by boat with an aid team for Sinabang on Simeulue Island, carrying emergency provisions including waterproof sealed containers with food, cooking oil, spirit stoves, fuel, a hammer, rope, nails and water purification tablets.

Seventy- four people died on the Maldives as a result of the tsunami.

Mr Kaleem said relief teams were focusing now on rebuilding shattered lives.

``What we are mostly concerned with is going into places and finding who needs the help to rebuild their lives,'' he said.

``We are not rushing because it is going to take a long, long time.

``Here the challenge with us is we don't want to duplicate the work, that is very, very important.''

Many people would start again with nothing, he said.