I come in peace

I have been volunteering with people from around the world who took time away from their families, their jobs, and their lives to help people recover from the devastating earthquakes in Indonesia. Many of them have worked on previous projects elsewhere in the world with All Hands and Hearts and they continue to volunteer their time and resources when they can.

There's a team that helps prepare hot food for villages where people can no longer cook, which is my favorite job. It mostly entails cleaning and chopping produce, like pounds and pounds of onions and garlic for the cooks. We also have teams that are helping families demolish what remains of their homes. Other teams are removing rubble from homes that were previously demolished.

When rubbling, I wear steel toe boots, a hard hat, work gloves, eye protection, and a face mask as I shovel bricks and concrete into wheelbarrows to be relocated. We work for hours in the sun, bending and digging to get the job done. We drink lots of water, but we sweat so much that there's no need to pee. I have never worked so hard in my life, and I have never been so dirty. I sometimes just walk to the beach after work for an ocean bath so I can immerse my whole body and feel clean. I really hate the physical work. I have to reframe my thinking though. I could focus on what I don't like, but I have to remember why I'm here. I am a reflection of God's love, and the work I'm doing is as unto the Lord.

All smiles at the kitchen

Removing rubble one brick at a time

Enjoying delicious coconut water after rubbling

The people in the village say thank you or "terima kasih" as they see our purple shirts pass, even if we're not working on their house at that moment. The families that we help sometimes offer us coffee or tea or the ultimate reward, a fresh coconut. Sometimes they can offer nothing but a smile. Those smiles remind me of why I'm doing hard labor without payment. Because of our work, they can build a temporary shelter for their family or start rebuilding the foundation of their home.

Yesterday, one of our volunteers on a demolition site was severely injured and carried to the road on a door turned stretcher. All work stopped so that she could be rushed to the hospital. She has been stabilized since then and is on the road to recovery. The people of the village helped the volunteers as best they could. It was a reminder that the work we are doing, while helpful, is also dangerous.

Please continue to pray for the people of Indonesia and the All Hands and Hearts volunteers in Lombok. You can contribute to the disaster recovery work by donating here: https://give.allhandsandhearts.org/fundraiser/1623359

All Hands and Hearts

I had 2 objectives that I wanted to achieve in the course of my journey around the world. The beginning of my journey was mostly personal - letting go and working on going with the flow, which is still a work in progress. The current part of my journey involves helping others. I'm in Lombok, Indonesia volunteering with All Hands and Hearts. 

The island of Lombok was struck by several earthquakes with the strongest occurring on August 5th. Almost half a million people were impacted when their homes were destroyed and many lives were lost. The island is still experiencing tremors on a regular basis. (We had 2 just this morning.) The projects in Lombok include providing meals for more than 3000 families, demolishing hazardous structures, and removing rubble so that families can begin rebuilding.

AH&H has several projects around the globe where they support communities impacted by natural disasters. I first learned of the program in Houston, because they have a team there working on recovery from Hurricane Harvey. They enlist the support of volunteers from around the world for whom they provide room and board at no cost to the volunteers as long as they can get to the site on their own. It takes a lot of resources to support the communities and volunteers. I've seen the work of AH&H firsthand, and I know that whatever we can do makes a big impact on the people who lost their homes and livelihoods after the earthquakes.

Please consider supporting All Hands & Hearts by donating $50 or whatever you can to support this initiative. Check out my fundraising page here:
https://give.allhandsandhearts.org/fundraiser/1623359 

I helped remove the rubble from this home with a sledgehammer and shovel.

Full buckets of food to be delivered to villages

Food delivery schedule for the day

I won't complain...

I am grateful for this view from Gili Island, Indonesia right now.

I've had some frustrating things happen in the last 24 hours that could have a huge impact on my journey. I dropped my phone in water last night, and it is not fully functional just yet after sitting in rice all night. I also lost access to cash with 2 debit cards - one was deactivated by the bank for fraudulent activities, so they sent a new card to my home even though I told them I wouldn't have access to it since I'm out of the country. I forgot the PIN for my backup card, because I rarely use it for cash, and it was confiscated by the ATM after too many failed attempts. Thankfully, I'll be based in Indonesia volunteering until the end of the month and will be able to receive mail at my location. I'll post more details about my time in Indonesia very soon. 

I'm in a good place.