A day with a Kuta beach lifeguard

A day with a Kuta beach lifeguard

I Made Kariasa, better known as Brenk, 30, has been a lifeguard
at Kuta beach on Bali since 1989. Born in the island's capital
Denpasar, he made straight for the beach after finishing high
school and continues to live at home, with his parents, one
sister and a brother. He relates his day to The Jakarta Post's
contributor William Furney.

I get up at about 6 a.m., have a shower and some coffee. Then
I feel refreshed. I'm Hindu but I don't pray every day, only when
I have time off or at religious festivals. My mother always does
it in our house; she does it for all of us.

Then I hop on my motorcycle and go to work, which is at Kuta
beach. When I get there at about 7 a.m., I have some things to do
before I start work. I have to deliver leaflets about lifesaving
to some hotels.

Afterward it's time to check the equipment, like the lifeboats
and so on. We have one old lifeboat, a Zodiac, and a new dinghy
(the Badung administration) bought. There were none in Indonesia,
so they had to import it from Australia at a cost of about Rp 70
million.

People come to the beach very early in the morning. A lot of
them come to exercise. The only exercise I get is walking up and
down the beach and, of course, surfing.

There are 28 lifeguards at the four towers on Kuta beach and
we work a rolling shift, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. to
after sunset.

During the morning, I'll be in the tower or on the beach,
watching the people. People drown because they don't swim between
the yellow flags and they swim a long way out.

This year, about six people drowned. They were both Westerners
and locals and had swum a long way out. When we take people out
of the water, we put them in the lifesaving position and give
first aid. If they need more help, we take them to the hospital
for treatment.

This month, I rescued an English and a Japanese tourist. The
current had taken them out and they got in trouble. A major
problem is that people who can't swim get into the sea and then
get into trouble.

Even though I've been a lifeguard for over 10 years, my salary
is still small, nearly Rp 600,000. But it's not really a problem
for me as I like the beach, and I love surfing.

I'll have lunch about 12 p.m. and eat some nasi campur, mixed
rice, meat and vegetable, from a warung, foodstall, on the
street.

In the afternoons, it's more patrolling the beach and looking
out for big waves. We get the biggest waves in July and August,
when there are the most tourists. But all year round, though,
there are people on the beach.

Sometimes there are a lot of jellyfish in the water and they
sting the tourists. But it's not that common. And they are only
the small jellyfish anyway. We have sharks in the water, but a
long way out. We've never had a shark come into shore.

I'm not married yet, and I don't have a girlfriend right now.
It's just work at the moment. I had a Japanese girlfriend before,
and once I went to visit her in Toyko. But it was boring there;
there was nothing to do. I don't like being in big cities.

This beach can be dangerous sometimes. There are some bad
people here, particularly thieves and drug dealers. I don't know
who these people are, but my friends do. I keep away from them as
I don't want to get involved and it's not my business. If someone
steals a tourist's bag, the guys around here will chase him and
beat him until he's almost dead.

I became a lifeguard because I wanted to work by the beach and
be free. My friends told me to work in the hotels. But I didn't
want to do that and I'm glad I didn't. It's a very strict life.
When I started work here, I underwent a training program. It was
very hard.

When I finish work, I like to sit on the beach with friends
and chat about things. Sometimes I'll have a beer or two. It's a
great way to end the day. And I'll watch the sunset. It's the
best in the world.

I'd like to go to Jakarta some day, when I have enough money.
I've only ever been to Lombok and some other islands nearby. I
get one day off per week, usually on Saturday. I'll get on my
bike and go around North and West Bali. I like to look at the
rice fields and the mountains -- if I'm always in Kuta, it's
boring.

When I get home, I'll have a shower and something to eat. Then
I'll watch some Balivision, I like the programs on it. I never go
out to clubs or anywhere like that, only sometimes to my
brother's house.

When I hit the bed I'm out like a light, dreaming about
surfing.