We have all been moved this week by the harrowing images coming out of Indonesia, following the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The double natural disaster has left a trail of destruction, making orphans of children, and leaving parents childless. Tens of thousands of Indonesians are without shelter and in need of food and water, the basics we in the UK all take for granted.

But amid all the chaos and heartbreak, the UK, along with the international aid community, has been working tirelessly to help the vulnerable survivors. The UK is a world leader in providing emergency humanitarian assistance when disaster strikes, always among the first to respond and among the biggest donors.

When hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people fled Burma for neighbouring Bangladesh in August last year, UK aid came to help and we continue to support displaced families in the camp at Cox’s Bazar. We were there when Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the Caribbean last autumn and again when an earthquake hit Nepal in 2015. When Ebola broke out in Sierra Leone in 2014 UK aid stepped in to help stop it. The year before, we helped the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan after it struck the Philippines.

We are there right now for the people of Indonesia, supporting the country’s government in the relief effort.

On Thursday my department, the Department for International Development (DfID), sent a plane loaded with UK aid from the UK to Indonesia. On board were shelter kits and solar lanterns, very practical and essential items that will make a very real and immediate difference to those on the ground. This essential kit was paid for out of the UK’s aid budget. Another plane with UK aid flew from the Middle East to Indonesia this week, carrying similar gear, as well as hygiene kits, containing toothpaste and soap, and other essentials. These are just some of the ways UK aid is making a very real difference in Indonesia right now.

We are also providing expertise. A team of seven humanitarian workers from DfID is currently in Indonesia, helping the country cope with its immediate crisis. I have huge admiration for the heart and expertise of these selfless humanitarians who deploy at a moment’s notice.

But Britain doesn’t just step in, using its aid budget as a force for good in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. In general, it also stands ready, when needed, to help as countries recover from humanitarian catastrophes. We stay for the long haul, aiming to help countries recover, and ultimately become sustainable and prosperous. We work to build resilience after natural disasters, to build back better so countries are better prepared to deal with crises in future.

DfID’s work goes on relentlessly around the world, day after day, week after week, year after year. Even when humanitarian crises are not in the news it is striving to make the world a better, more prosperous, safer and fairer world. This is not only a win for developing countries, but a win for the UK, which can only prosper in such a world.

Britain is a compassionate nation. I know the majority of the British public wants to help when they see suffering. Britons rally to the cause, donating money to help strangers on the other side of the world. We are among the most generous nations when it comes to giving both our time and money.

On Thursday the UK government pledged to match pound-for-pound the public donations made to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Indonesia Tsunami Appeal, up to £2m. I have no doubt the British public will dig deep and give generously to this partnership of 14 British charities. They always do. But the predictability of their response doesn’t make it any less impressive.

The British public should know that UK aid and the money they give to the DEC appeal are getting to those who need it. It is incredibly challenging to get aid to those in need in Indonesia, but aid workers are battling to do just that and are making a monumental difference when they do.

When countries are in crisis Britain leads the international response. Our ongoing reaction in Indonesia this week is no exception.

This is where UK aid is doing what it does best – saving and changing lives – both in the immediate aftermath of disasters and longer term.

The world looks to Britain at times like this.

We should be proud that we are bringing hope around the world in times of dire need.

• Penny Mordaunt is the secretary of state for international development