Global Mobility Finland Volunteering in Indonesia, Earthquake Tragedy part 4
14/08/2018 Tuesday. Day 5. Bali. Canggu Lost households: 270 000, 521 aftershocks, Amount of donations: 2500€
The tarpaulins were shipped early in the morning from Sanur to Lombok by boat. The decisions to use Gofundme-link created by Job Wilms and co-operation together with Dream Divers powered by Extra Divers was made. The reporting in the Social Media could start.
Gofoundme donations goes directly to a local Endri’s Foundation and there are no intermediates nor administrative expenses and the money goes directly to buy supplies for the suffering people in the refugee camps. As you can see in the title, there are over 270 000 household gone on the 14thof August. Not forgetting that a new earthquake of a magnitude of 6.9, which is as strong as the first one on the 5thof August, hit in the evening on the 19thof August, so the number of death and lost households is growing fast. https://www.facebook.com/ENDRIs-Foundation-offisial-328797874301186/
A note for entrepreneurs in Finland: Donations till 850€ can be deducted in your taxes.
Like earlier mentioned, we contacted the Red Cross of Finland and were waiting for an answer, which we received on Monday. Red Cross of Finland is taking care one of the camps that has 80 000 refugees. Their answer confirmed our decision to stay in Bali and do all we can with social media, collecting money and help to find suppliers for the goods needed in Lombok.
Dream Divers powered by Extra Divers is or was Aleksi’s employer in Gili’s. It is worldwide company and the headquarter is situated in Europe. Dream Divers dive center is operating in Lombok and Gili Islands. Dream Divers opened also a foundation for their employees to collect money for their families and reconstruct their homes and keep up paying at least a minimum salary for locals.
So far Dream Divers has already donated blankets, pillows, clothes, hygienical products, medical supplies, baby food, food, water, gas and the tarpaulins we gathered. Shipments are done with Dream Divers’ boat and the goods are stored in Dream Divers’ office in Singgigi, Lombok, before distributed to the camps.
The dive center building of Dream Divers in Gili Air survived the earthquake, as it is mainly built out of wood. People gathered at Dream Divers the day after the earthquake, after sleeping on a big football field which is in the center of the island, and also the highest spot in case of a tsunami. There was a tsunami warning which was later cancelled.
Dream Divers had a generator and gas to be able to have electricity to load the phones and devices to keep contact to the rest of the world. Dream Diver’s personnel volunteered during the night of the earthquake to find the people who got stuck in the buildings and helped the wounded to get quickly to the harbor for the first evacuation boats to Lombok for hospital care. Two of the victims died. Aleksi tried to help one of those, but there was nothing he could have done to save the person’s life. Hi did his best. The paradise island was destroyed. Next day there were several evacuation boats to take all the wounded, tourists, locals, business owners, employees away from the island to Lombok, where they got to the refugee camps or a boat to Bali. During the next days the island was deserted. First the only food available was snacks, chips, noodles, chocolate bars. Then it came a moment to start cleaning the restaurants, bars and abandoned resorts and villas as the food in the fridges and cold rooms needed to be used or burnt to avoid maggots, warms, rats and of course diseases. It was dangerous to go into the buildings and in some of then it was access impossible or really too dangerous. When entering any of the buildings it was very important first to inspect the walls and the cracks on the walls and carefully look where you go in to get fast and easily out in case of an aftershock. In Gili Air there were few camps away from buildings and trees where people gathered after the sunset to prepare food and sleep. Mattresses, pillows and blankets were brought out of villas and resorts to sleep outside. It is said that the aftershocks will last two-three weeks. Before the buildings have not been inspected by the engineers it is not safe to sleep inside. Even though there were many buildings still up in Gili Air, there were more of those that were down or partly destroyed. Many business owners have lost their whole fortune and many many families have lost their homes and their only option was to go to Lombok for the refugee camps or simply leave the island to go to find a job.
Few days after the earthquake the electricians came to the island and they got electricity back. After that few of the business owners and locals came back to check their properties. Aftershocks kept coming and created panic each time amongst the people in the camps in Gili Air according to our friend Tatiana Simunic who we joined the day before.
We moved our base from Canggu to Sanur, where the shipments to Lombok are made. Sanur is calmer place to be and we found a cheap, nice and very friendly place to stay for a little longer period than just one or two nights. In the evening we got the link about the article about our Finnish friend Juni and his family, who were at the refugee camp in Lombok and got out from there to Bali and his wife got to the hospital for medical exams because of a growing abscess in her throat. Here is the link to the article:
Evening went by, by sharing the link in all type of social media we all used.
Take care of your loved ones!
-Jenny