HOW CAN YOU HELP LOMBOK?
Want to support Lombok?
Ubudian ex-pats and international visitors can help in many ways, most importantly raising awareness and funds to buy much needed supplies. Even if you are only here for a short while, go to the Lombok Earthquake Relief Facebook page and share their information internationally
Your foreign currency and more importantly your ability to spread the word will literally save lives, because you can get this vital message to those back home – Lombok will need help for a year or more to make a full recovery!
Check out the Lombok Earthquake Relief FB map. (No apologies, you are going to hear about this group several times in this column). Information on the map continues to grow and become more accurate as hundreds of Indonesians from Lombok, Bali and other islands across the archipelago travel to remote Lombok communities to gather info and provide supplies.
Hundreds of thousands of people – including an estimated 50,000 pregnant woman – are sleeping rough on the ground with only tarps for shelter and dangerously poor water supplies.
SUPPLY FRESH WATER
So even if you are only a visitor, you can BUY a water filter system to supply 50 people or more for $60ish and donate it to a Lombok non-profit (visit www.nazava.com, where they sell the systems for Lombok evacuee shelters at cost, and ask them to send it where it will do most good).
Other projects are assisting by digging new wells or replacing some of the thousands of kilometres of broken PVC pipes. Again (you guessed it), info on that FB page, where the work of many great non-profit teams is reported.
SHIRTS FOR SHIRTS
Do you have a business here where you can sell cool products? Can you find room for another t-shirt in your holiday bags? Through that same FB page, you can connect with a group that is making great t-shirts where all the profits go straight to support local NGOs working on the ground in Lombok.
And for every t-shirt you buy, TWO good quality men’s shirts will ship direct to Lombok. This is a super smart idea, because there are lots of reports of men in the camps wearing rags because they have no clothes left. It’s only possible because of a “fire sale” and the innovative thinking of a great networker from Jakarta.
If you can buy a bunch of shirts and sell them either in your Ubud store – or back in your own country – or outfit all your staff with a t-shirt branded to suit your business, or if you can donate or “interest-free loan” some cash to get this project building faster, even better!
Scroll down the same Facebook page for more information.
BAGS FOR BLANKETS
Using the same great images, a similar idea will see a 2m x 1.5m blanket sent off to Lombok camps for every good quality “Act for Lombok” cotton shopping bag you purchase. Early days on this project but it’s going to be huge, raise lots of money to buy tarpaulins and other desperately needed supplies, and keep thousands of families warm as the wet season looms.
So again, if you don’t have the cash but want to help, spreading the word about this project may get the organisers one HUGE step closer to full scale production, in time to send hundreds of blankets to Lombok. Again find more info Lombok Earthquake Relief FB.
SMALL CHANGE, HUGE HELP
Are you here on a yoga retreat or with a group? Hopefully, we will soon see these coin collection tins all over the island, and even flying home with you to other countries, where you can fill them up with foreign cash!
Once again, Lombok Earthquake Relief FB page is the place to find more information, if you think you can do more than simply toss a few coins in the next collection tin you see. Yesterday I met an Australian woman on a yoga teacher training who says she’s making sure that each of the 30 students tucks a can in their luggage. There’s a well-organised and transparent collection process, so that every bit goes directly to small non-profits already in Lombok, working actively with the most affected communities.
GOOD KARMA TATTOOS?
Ubud’s latest community centre, Karma House, is certainly “changing the vibe around tattoo culture”. I admit, this little black duck was surprised that my friend chose a “tattoo parlour” to meet for coffee.
It’s a whole new concept, with exotic street art murals, friendly atmosphere, savvy local staff. You can sort your own tattoo over a herbal tea in their vegan friendly cafe, and then pop upstairs for yoga, dance or meditation.
Only opened last month, just round the bend at the top of the hill in Jalan Raya Penestanan, these new kids on the block say they are intend to combine business with “doing some good . Karma House raised 100 million rupiah for Lombok in two weeks, and sent it direct to Slamjam Brothers who are working with displaced communities in Mentigi, Lombok.
For more info contact Aren Bahia, “Founder & Chief Troublemaker” or visit www.karmahousebali.com.
FEAST AND FICTION
Check out the full October Ubud Writers and Readers Festival program, but this “one-night-only celebration of fiction” at Bridges Restaurant sounds fabulous.
Three of the Festival’s most beloved novelists, Fatima Bhutto, Anuradha Roy and Gail Jones at a delicious three course dinner, wine and a treasure trove of tales, moderated by Rosemary Sayer.
Saturday, October 27, 6:30 – 9:30pm. 1.2 juta per person, including paired wines. Book quickly at www.bridgesbali.com.
STAYING POWER
It was a bit chilly last night, so I’m typing in the long yoga pants and a t-shirt I slept in, both made with bamboo Modal material from Goddess on the Go.
Sometimes you can get a cool looking pair of yoga pants in an Ubud shop for as little as $5, but then I’ve bought one or two and they quickly became excellent grey dishrags. Whereas these, bought June 2014, have adapted to my body changes (I lost 10kg with dengue) and slept with me, yet retained their original shape and crisp royal blue and lime green colours.
Jalan Raya Penestanan (next to a superb little Turkish resto). Or buy on line: www.goddessonthego.com.au.