After experiencing the destruction and suffering caused by the recent Lombok earthquakes while on holiday on the Indonesian tourist island, East London man Dave Matthews decided to stay and assist locals.
The 6.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island’s northern areas on Sunday, August 5, was the largest to hit Lombok in history, with tremors and aftershocks hitting the island almost daily since then.
“Nothing can prepare you for something like this. It was apocalyptic, like something you only see in movies.
“The earth was rocked to such a degree that a third of the swimming pool at the place where I was staying was emptied,” said Matthews, who was on the east side of the island, three hours away from the epicentre where the earthquake hit at 7.45pm.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch this week, Matthews, who owns Titan Tilers and Pavers in East London, said his area experienced 25 seconds of turmoil, while the northern parts endured up to five minutes of violent seismic shaking.
“It was a very scary experience, and it still is but, if you have any iota of goodness in you as a human being, you try to help your fellow man where you can. So the day after the earthquake I decided to join a team of locals and we went out to see if we could assist those affected in the north,” Matthews said.
From taking truckloads of food and water to the affected families, to offering the medicine they had on hand, the team Matthews was part of assisted in any way they could.
“We mainly acted as a catalyst to ensure people received continued support and had their basic needs met.
“Many people have still not been found among the debris and some communities, up in the hills, were only assisted two days ago because the roads were so badly destroyed and no one could get to them.
“The Indonesian government has offered a lot of relief for the people of Lombok and a massive Red Cross ship is docked at the port to assist those who were injured,” said Matthews. “I couldn’t believe how much destruction was caused ... Thousands of homes were reduced to only a pile of bricks and many people lost everything.”
Inspired by their father's decision to remain in Lombok and help locals, Matthews’ twin daughters, Jade and Kyra Fox, ran a three-day fundraising campaign back home and managed to raise R5,400 for Lombok locals.
The sisters took to Facebook and other social media to call for donations and received support from family, friends and strangers. The money raised was used to buy food, drinking water and medical supplies.
“My dad said to us, ‘You can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone’, and that’s really all we wanted to do,” said Jade.
Matthews said: “... it’s going to take a long time for Lombok North to rebuild itself, so it was wonderful to receive that donation and to know that there are people back home who care and are willing to help.”..