Craigieburn woman desperate to help family hit by earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia
WHEN a Craigieburn woman heard her “second family” was struck by the Indonesian earthquake, she knew she had to do something.
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A CRAIGIEBURN woman has made a desperate plea for donations to help her “second family” survive in Indonesia after a powerful earthquake wiped out their village.
Moya Barnett-White moved to the sunny Indonesian island of Lombok in 2012, where she formed a strong friendship with a local family, the Hansas, who took her under their wing.
“They’re my best friends in the world — just beautiful people,” she said.
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“They don’t have much but they’d give you their last grain of rice if you were hungry.”
Ms Barnett-White’s “adopted family” in Lombok have been forced to seek emergency accommodation after their village was destroyed by a magnitude-6.4 earthquake on July 29 and a second magnitude-7 earthquake on August 5.
More than 13,000 houses were ruined and while the estimated death toll was recently recorded at 346, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said it expected the death toll to rise once the rubble was cleared.
With their house in ruins, the only roof over the heads of the Hansa family now is a tarpaulin.
“They’re still shell-shocked,” Ms Barnett-White said.
“They’re just happy they’re alive and uninjured, but now I think the trauma is starting to set in.”
Devastated by news of the earthquake, Ms Barnett-White is urging the Hume community to dig deep and donate to her GoFundMe page raising money for the village of Karang Subagan in northern Lombok.
“The local economy has been decimated — they depend on tourism and all the tourists have been evacuated,” she said.
Up to 2000 tourists on the nearby Gili Islands were evacuated by emergency services after the jetty was damaged.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who have already donated,” Ms Barnett-White said.
“These are real people dealing with real difficulties.”
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs have urged tourists to reconsider their need to travel to Indonesia following the earthquakes.
Many tourist facilities are damaged or not operating and emergency services and medical facilities are under serious strain.
To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/5xiljdk.
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