Appeal for Shoes UPDATE

In a surprise visit to the island, Ocean Blue Resorts invited a special guest from Singapore to meet the community and tour the area. Arjan generously donate shoes and clothes for the kids.

An impromptu fashion show resulted, with two young girls showing the crowd that gathered their new dresses. Not sure they enjoyed all the attention, but they did love the new outfits.

Many thanks to Arjan and his family in Singapore for providing all the cloths.

Meanwhile back on the beach, the boys wanted to get their photo posted on the internet again! Here is Anafi with 4 friends..

Kids on Gili Sunut November 2012

Always there to welcome you with a smile, we are adding more photos of the children currently living on Gili Sunut.  Watch out for frequent updates. 

They are the changing face of the community. And they get to see the builders and their families working on the new village each day. With the new village at Teanjah Bay visible from the island they watch as their new homes and future takes shape.

This group of familiar faces met me on the beach and wanted to be on the internet!  They know about the blog site and so we try to show them on the laptop when we visit.

“Celebrity" they shout as a friends face appear on the web.

School's out for the day and this eager student couldn't wait to say hi and see what all the other kids where doing on the beach. Seeing Ocean Blue Resorts could mean footballs and candy. No time to loose.

There is no way this young boy was going to stand next to the girls. 

Teanjah takes shape in week one

Two weeks into our building schedule, real progress could be seen at the new village site.  

The first 6 houses were taking shape and lorry after lorry had delivered the supplies needed to keep the builders busy.  With the threat of the rainy seasons soon approaching, everyone at Team Sunut was focussed on buying materials and ensuring as much as possible was delivered before the 10km track to the project became impassable. 

On site were Pak Yasin and Pak Muhasim to check on progress.

With the full support of the community the excitement once again mounts. 

Progress on the new village

After months of delays, it was a great relief to finally bring good news to Gili Sunut.

While many investors are good at talking, few actual deliver what they so easily promise. After 3 years of struggle, it was therefore a celebration day when Pak Martin COO of Ocean Blue Resorts was able to confirm that construction for the mainland village would restart immediately. At the village meeting to discuss the news was Pak Yasin and Pak Muhasim.

But the news did not come without concerns from the community. The meeting on the island was attended by hundreds of eager villages, including village elders, community leaders, parents and kids. Given that there had been serious delays before, including a court case over the Teanjah Anjah land title, the first reaction to the news was not as enthusiastic as you would imagine.

Given the opportunity to speak at the public meeting, Pak Martin confirmed that the restart was real and that this time, no legal issues would stop the completion of the new village on the mainland. He personally apologised to everyone for the delays and genuinely understood the hardship it had caused. He went on to thank the community for working together to help make this a success and looked forward to developing the sustainable future the community deserved.  

With some families concerns openly discussed, the community could see that finally their new village would become a reality.  And, that they would be allowed to be part of the construction process by working (and getting paid) to build their house. All 109 of them.

With everyone united, the race is now on to complete the project before the rain season arrives. 

Appeal for shoes

Village life on Gili Sunut struggles on as it does every day. A recent visit to the island welcomed us with the familiar smiling faces even thought the problem of relocating to the mainland remains.

During the visit two boys, took a shine to my trainers. ‘I like your shoes Mister’ said Fauzi. He has become the team spoke person when we are on the island as he’s been learning English and his confident smile sells well.

In fact they all liked my beaten up old trainers.

We take for granted simple necessities like shoes so you are reminded how lucky you are when you see the kids on Sunut. Growing feet mean an endless need to replace the pair you have. If you are lucky enough to have a pair in the first place!

We have set up a local Shoes for Sunut Appeal. Please help.  If you are in Bali or Lombok, then get in touch and we will collect. (only trainers and flip flops please)

We will keep you posted with pictures. Thanks for helping.

Russia shows greater interest in Gili Sunut


Thanks to all our Russian visitors for looking at the blog. The number of page hits from Russia has steadily grown and we are please to see they are in second place after Indonesia. 


This month we have also seen great interest from the UAE, Romania and New Zealand. Please keep visiting us and add your name to our followers. 


Or send me your thoughts by email! We still need support for the football team and any help you can give to the community is very welcome. 

Village life on Gili Sunut

Gili Sunut is home to some of the friendliest people you could wish meet. 


My regular visits to the island are always met with the same big smiles and open arms. Here are just a few candid shots of everyday life. No words are needed here. The images speak for themselves.























Since Ocean Blue Resorts arrival four years ago to discuss its plans to build a community focussed tourist destination, many other individuals and travel writers have been to visit. They come to see this great location and to met the community. They come to see what our plans are for the future and they come to support the people. Hopefully they take away a better understanding of the islanders and what needs to be done to help them. 

We are looking forward to the big move to the new village and the development of the new Resort. It will bring a better standard of living of the villagers, the ability to be part of the Lombok community, and the prospect of job opportunities to create a sustainable future for the families.