Jack dives in to aid island health
“The staff are really competent, they’re all trained, they’ve all done their three- or four-year nursing course . . . what the local staff are achieving, considering what they have to work with, is pretty amazing.”
For Mr O’Shea, day-to-day life consists of waking as the sun rises and embracing the heat. But you won’t hear him complain — one trip to the snow as a youngster was enough for him to realise his heart was with the sand and sun.
“There’s no air conditioning in my house and it’s about 29-30 degrees whether it’s day or night,” he said.
“But it’s not quite the tropical paradise people think it is. They say ‘Oh you live on this beautiful island’ but it does have its challenges. Things like pollution, water quality ... I wouldn’t say the island is sinking, but climate change is having an impact and things like overcrowding here is a massive issue.”
If there are waves to be had on a day off, you’ll find Mr O’Shea chasing them with a few members of the small expat community that call Kiribati home, many of them from Australia and New Zealand.
Like many residents, his house backs on to the ocean, but when he arrived he was surprised to find there was almost no information about the local conditions or hot spots.
“All amateur surfers think of themselves as meteorologists. I scoured the web and saw a massive potential for surf,” he said. “I found an email address that linked me to the president of the Kiribati Surfing Association (KSA) and went from there.”
The KSA aims to promote surfing as a simple and accessible sporting activity and educate locals on the importance of marine sustainability.
Mr O’Shea was eager to get involved and developed a project proposal that received a funding grant from Pacific Islands Trade and Invest, a partner of the AVID program. The project became known as the Kiribati Surfing Exploration Initiative and began with Mr O’Shea refreshing the KSA’s website.
“In this day and age almost anyone seeking information will first look to locate resources online,” he said.
“(People) now have access to information that has been vetted by experienced local boatmen and surfers ... we have already had thousands of (website) views.”
Building on the website’s success, Mr O’Shea started to travel to the atolls, seeking out potential surf tourism locations and generating partnerships for the KSA.
“I got to travel around the islands and surf some different places that are completely uncrowded and only a handful of people know about,” he said.
“The main outcome was to further engage local private enterprise and involve them in the surfing tourism product. This has extended to local boat operators, sponsorship arrangements with major retailers and the local accommodation providers on South Tarawa and outer islands.”
Mr O’Shea said he arrived with no expectations but admits he’s surprised how long he has stayed.
“It’s the simplicity of the place. The weather is beautiful, you meet some lovely people, locals and expats and the work is incredibly rewarding,” he said.
Mr O’Shea would love to do similar work in Fiji, Vanuatu or the Solomon Islands where there is scope to work on broader projects, such as domestic violence and nutrition programs.
“Not having anything to tie you down in Australia can be daunting at times but it can also be an opportunity ... you never know where you might find a home,” he said.