The Manoae Family Fundraiser

This is the Manaoe family. They live in Nias, an island off the West Coast of Sumatra. Batua, his six children and their animals live in a shack built from scavenged materials and waste. The entire shack is only one room, a mere 4 by 4 metres. There is no running water or electricity, no bathroom, and only two mattresses for the family to share. It’s impossible for the family to keep clean or dry with a damaged roof, two children sleeping outside every night, and a house that sits in a flooded field, surrounded by thick mud and waste.

In the last two years the house has started to quickly fall apart. Locals estimate the house will fully deteriorate in the next rainy season.

Batua has worked in a stone mine for most of his life. Fabien, the eldest son at 15 years, left school a year ago to help his dad work in the mines. After school the other children help their brother to move stones, break them into small rocks and fill them into trucks. In total this earns the family 4 euro per day. After Batua finishes working in the mines all day, he fishes at night to provide food for the family.

The division between the wealthy and the poor has widened in the last 10 years on Nias leaving the Manaoe family with less and less. Without change, the children are eventually going to have to drop out of school to work and live a life of hard labour.

A local Neighbouring Family wants to help them make a change. With your help they are seeking to raise 5000 euros. The money will be used for two things; one to help rebuild the Manaoe family home, providing them with a safe and secure home with running water, electricity, and beds for every child. Secondly, to help the family open a small shop selling local produce to tourists and the community, to get them out of the cycle of hard manual labour.

With a small amount of help, together we can give Batua and his family the boost they need to help them change their lives.