In the last week, the islands of Lombok, Indonesia have been hit twice by catastrophic earthquakes. Homes and buildings have been destroyed and thousands have been injured.

Indonesia is one of our favourite places in the world and we have travelled to the Gili Islands and mainland Lombok several times. Seeing the places that we know and love go through this disaster is shocking and heartbreaking. We have met so many lovely people on our travels but one who is very dear to us is Mukram, who we met whilst staying in Senggigi on our honeymoon. He worked at the villa we were staying in and during our stay invited us back to his village, where we met his family. They were all so welcoming and he proudly showed us his makeshift classroom where he teaches his children and the other children of the village English - in the hope that they can have better job opportunities within the tourism industry. We were invited to his Mother's house on another evening so that Nathan could watch the football :) where we were cooked for and looked after so well. Mukram's family didn't have much in terms of materialistic things by our western standards but they were so hospitable. He was immensely proud of his family, local area and Lombok's burgeoning tourism scene.

We have been in contact with Mukram over the past week and unfortunately, got the news yesterday that the second, stronger earthquake has completely destroyed his and his mother's homes. Luckily, all of his family are safe but they are currently sleeping under a tarpaulin and have little food or supplies. They have no running water and power to charge phones etc. is scarce. Local roads have been torn up, meaning that getting things to those who are in need is having to be done mainly on foot. Mukram - being the man he is, even though he has just lost everything he owns - is currently rounding up what medical supplies he can to take to a neighbouring village which has been even harder hit, with his brothers.

We are hoping to raise money to help Mukram and his family in the immediate term with food, water, medicine and basic supplies - but also in the longer term to help start rebuilding his village. He currently has no income, as the villa where he works understandably has no upcoming bookings and his wife earned money through selling her handmade bracelets to tourists on the beaches. If you can help us, any donation however small can make such a big difference to our friends. Thankyou.

Katie, Nathan & Freddie :)

We have added some photos that Mukram has sent to us.