EARTHQUAKE DESTROYS PADANG ( SUMATRA )

Sometimes it's just not fair ......

Whilst cycling through Sumatra , Indonesia ( northern most island in the archipelago) in 2006 I was pick pocketed in a market in Pariaman unbeknown to me until 2 days later when rolling into Padang the fishing port on the west coast of Sumatra, the only town with an ATM I'd seen for weeks , I realised my missing bank cards and a few other odd's and ends were gone.

With about R80 ( $10 ) to my name I found myself in a bit of a pickle....
So off to the local police station to try and forge the way forward , about 45 minutes of sign language , gesturing , broken Bahasa and a touch of English I manage to get directions to the local Western Union money transfer office ,which also happens to be the local post office, internet cafe and convenience store...lucky me.

A bottle of water for the parched cyclist and a few minutes on the net to let the family know the score and I was spent. Julius , a gentleman that had overheard me waffling about my plight wonders over and in his broken English says to me " If honest I help" I continue to sign and babble across my situation for a few minutes... Then out of the blue Julius takes my hand and beckons me toward the ATM where he proceeds to draw all his savings to give to me to rectify my problem.

Completely humbled and taken aback by this beautiful soul and his sincere gesture I swiftly jump into action with my newly acquired funds ( $15) making calls , cancelling cards , sending emails , all the relevant bullshit one needs to endure in such a scenario.
So now both myslef and Julius are tapped out , there's a 3 day wait for a money transfer so Julius invites me back to his home to sit it out.

We meander through walkways and side roads, over small bridges and through tiny tunnels till we arrive in his Kampung ( village ) where I am introduced to the "family" consisting of 6 men and 4 woman all of us will share the 1 roomed dwelling for the next 3 days and nights ."Kubu" in the red t-shirt in the photo above had also fallen on hard times and been adopted into this warm welcoming sanctuary that seemed to provide refuge for the needy. "Sniper" on my immediate right another of the adoptee's ,out of the bunch Julius , Kubu and Sniper had the most profound effect on me over the following three days.

Over the remaining days and nights we would laugh , cry ,sleep and eat together in this most humble of spaces all chipping in what we could for the daily meal and odd beer here and there.
Moments passed I still think of regularly today , a true,pure example of the beauty of people and human nature , being taken in and looked after during my time of need by complete strangers.

Padang was recently crushed by an earthquake and thousands have died , I have lost contact with my "family"

I start to wonder if mother earth is getting just a little bit pissed off , this incessant quest for bigger houses , more money and faster cars , our destruction of forests and raping of the oceans...taking us further and further from the natural pure beauties that once surrounded us in our most simple and most humble form .