Hello to all! First of all, thank you to all of those that have already contacted us to offer their comfort and support. As you have seen in the media, on July 29th and, August 5th, and then again this past Thursday the 9th, devastating earthquakes shook the island of LOMBOK as well as our little island paradise GILI AIR,Yes, we are safe and sound, but our hearts and the rest of our lives remain in pieces…When I say our lives, I speak of not only Mike, Isaac, and I, but also of the 70 employees and their families that lost their loved ones, their homes, and their livelihood.Sarah, for whom we raised funds for only 4 years ago, after her horrible life threatening accident, is one of our dear friends that lost their life. This is the most painful of our news… unreplaceable. The region north of LOMBOK and the 3 GILI islands have been placed in a state of emergency by the indonesian government. SInce the catastrophe, humanitarian aid has been organized without delay to come to the aid of those hit the hardest. NGO’s, the government, civilians - ourselves included, everyone is activating. The work to be done is enormous and difficult because the roads are also severely damaged and the aftershocks are non stop: more than 350 since the first earthquake!! Anxiety is high but we have to see this through! In the last 6 days we have dipped into our personal resources to transport food staples out to our employees. They are grouped together with their families in temporary shelter camps...adults and youth, as well as pregnant women, newborns , and elderly… These communities make about 300, 500, or even 1000 souls. It goes without saying, that our resources will not last forever! The region hit by this earthquake lives essentially from tourism and the infrastructures in place to respond to the needs of travelers coming from around the world. For the island to recover it is imperative that commerce, hotels, restaurants, dive centers… that give employment to every family in the region, are up and running as soon as possible! The Bistro “restaurant”, Breadelicious “bakery and sandwich shop”, Kempas Villas, “our homes”... everything that we have worked for these last 5 years is out of order. We are, like many others, forced to close for an undetermined amount of time. However, it is unthinkable to us to leave our employees in misery and distress. We must therefore rebuild OURSELVES to be able to support THEM I am therefore launching a campaign to raise money to pay for the reconstruction needs as well as assure the long term aid in the material, moral, sanitary needs of our employees and their families. The goal is to reopen our various activities as soon as the first tourists return, to assure them a salary and position in our company. It is only in this way that they will succeed in rebuilding their lives. I am counting on you all to share this campaign with as many people as possible: Together we are stronger!We want to keep hope! With your support we will succeed to overcome this challenge, and who knows… Maybe one day soon we will have the chance to welcome you on our little paradise GILI AIR. A million thanks in advance for your generosity, whatever that may be! Pauline, Mike, Isaac, and everyone that are part of our lives here.
