Ballarat and Ballan couple help tsunami hit

FORMER Ballarat resident Ben Pike was lying in his tent on the beach in Indonesia last week when he felt the first shudders of an earthquake.Since moving to Indonesia five years ago with his childhood sweetheart Rebecca Conroy, of Ballan, he said he'd experienced hundreds of small earthquakes.But when the quake intensified and he heard coconuts falling closeby, he curled into a safety position.Soon he popped his head outside the tent to double check, then lay down again and continued listening to music on his headphones."A second later water was gushing into my tent," he said. "Another second and the tent was full of water and I was slammed up against a bamboo hut, which was usually about five metres away."Panic set in as he found himself underwater and unable to breathe. Luckily the bamboo tore a hole in his tent and he was able to escape through the rip."Within seconds I found myself vomiting water, shaking like crazy, naked and crying," he said. "With the ever rising waters I quickly jumped onto the roof of the hut and waited for the water to subside. "Once the water drained l ran towards the hill 300 metres behind where we were camping."The 7.7 magnitude earthquake and tsunami on October 25 has claimed the lives of at least 431 people and devastated the livelihoods of thousands.The pair had recently opened a surf camp, Kingfisher Bay Resort, which was extensively damaged at a cost the couple can't afford to foot.But instead of focusing on their losses, they are working tirelessly to help rebuild the community that was so welcoming to them."The word at the moment in Padang amongst the westerners is that food and supplies and aid work is getting to the people, but there are a lot of small and remote villages still in need of a great deal of assistance," Mr Pike said. "The locals in our area have talked of relocating villages that got wiped out."I hope to be involved in the rebuilding of the villages, providing water wells, electricity and rebuilding lost homes."Mr Pike is calling for people to help with the rebuilding efforts."I am looking for volunteers such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and any skilled labour," he said."With 70 percent of 385 houses destroyed in the four villages I was also hoping people would get behind us over here and help out financially ."Anyone interested in helping can contact tunangrebuildingproject@hotmail.com.