Hi, my name is Mike Blake and I am a “Brit” living in Nicaragua. I am appealing for your help on behalf of a young Nicaraguan family - Gerard, his wife Kira and their daughter Britany Mayeli. Kira is the daughter of my sister in law from her first marriage, which I think makes her my step-niece, if there is such a thing! They live in a poor neighbourhood of Leon, Nicaragua in a basic house made of wooden posts with sheets of zinc nailed to them. I don't have any photos of their actual house, but I have included a picture of the house opposite to theirs, which is very similar. They are a really nice, typical young Nicaraguan family, hard working and friendly and they have always treated me as one of the family.

On Friday 3rd November their house caught fire and burned to the ground, literally leaving them with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. It seems it was probably caused by faulty wiring. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but they have lost everything they owned. In Nicaragua insurance isn't available for this kind of basic house, even if they could afford it.

Both Kira and Gerard work full time but their wages are low and it will take many, many months for them to replace their possessions, let alone rebuild the house. At the moment they are living in a charity centre while the local community construct a shelter of wooden posts with plastic sheeting for walls. I should say that it is heart-warming to see the reaction of their neighbours and families, who have donated clothes, bedding and other basic items.

I would like to ask if you could consider making a small donation towards our target of £400 so that we can pay for the building materials and labour to reconstruct their house.

Of course it is always a tragedy when a family home is destroyed, but it is even more poignant when the family has so little to begin with.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I would be grateful if you could share this with your family and friends.