By Phil Jarratt

Former Noosa restaurateur Brett Massoud fell in love with Madagascar the moment he set foot on the world’s fifth largest island in 1987.

But with plenty on his plate locally – like lending his exuberant spirit outside the house to Noosa’s coolest bars and restaurants before establishing the funky and never-forgotten Bratpackers in Noosaville – it took him a long time to settle down. settle on the colorful and beautiful but impoverished island in the Indian Ocean.

When he did, he chose isolated Fort Dauphin, from which he orchestrated a series of ecotourism projects.

Madagascar has been kind to him, and for the past two decades Brett has returned the favor.

Despite being the vanilla capital of the world, the majority of people in Madagascar live in extreme poverty, with 75% of the population living on less than $1.90 a day.

It hits children hardest, with more than 80% of under-18s living in what UNICEF describes as extreme poverty, with chronic malnutrition affecting nearly half of children under five.

While building his tourism business, Brett also focused on humanitarian efforts, particularly related to children.

Around the turn of the century, he noticed that local children around Fort Dauphin were getting quite good at surfing, despite the fact that the only surfboards available to them were a few beaters left behind by traveling surfers.

Said Brett: “For those of us who live in places like Australia where surfing is a multi-billion dollar industry, it’s hard to imagine that here there are avid surfers, empty waves and perfectly shaped, but barely a surfboard in sight.

“Here in Fort Dauphin, there is no surf shop, no boards or wax for sale, no ding repairers, and local kids are starting to ride fence boards, or occasionally old boards left behind, which are shared with the usual Malagasy generosity of spirit. .”

Although he is not a surfer, 20 years ago Brett organized the area’s first surfing competition.

He recalls: “We raced it all from my veranda, with a handful of foreign visitors to help us judge, and a domestic plane ticket as the top prize. Around 30 surfers shared just four boards over three days of competition, and it was awesome!”

From these humble beginnings, associations were founded and surfing slowly gained official sanction.

Says Brett: “Now we have a national federation and national leagues competing every year. This year we are finally starting to get the recognition the sport deserves, and the minister of tourism has asked us to develop surfing as an international tourist attraction specific to our region.

Fort Dauphin’s potential lies in jobs for young people in surf shops, surfboard rentals and surf lessons.

In 2021, Brett reached out to friends in Noosa and around the world to help send his young team to national championships. Generous donations allowed 20 surfers to cross the country for the event and win the senior, junior and open trophies.

“They’ve cleaned up,” Brett says, “and we can’t let the moose die.”

Now Fort Dauphin has been selected to host the surfing component of the 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games, and in preparation for this, the first of two events, a regional championship, will be held next weekend, with a large surf festival, under the patronage of the Minister of Tourism, scheduled for September.

Surfing is on the rise in Madagascar but in Fort Dauphin it still has to pay its share.

Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of the Noosa World Surfing Reserve, the Noosa Boardriders Club and individual local surfers, the $1,500 needed to run this month’s regionals has almost been raised, but this small community of surfers on the threshold of poverty needs continued help.

For more information visit gofund.me/feae7b89