I dispatched three stories this week from Samoa for New Zealand Christian newspaper Challenge Weekly. Here they are with pictures:
Fusi - a village protected
In broken but animated English, children from the Samoan village of Fusi all clamour to say the same thing: "The island saved us from the Tsunami!"One by one, they share how grateful they are that their village on the south side of the main Samoan island Upolu is tucked away behind an idyllic little island that broke the power of the Tsunami and was therefore spared.
Just a few kilometres away to the East, taking the full brunt of the wave, Coconut Beach resort was devastated; Maninoa was levelled; upmarket resort Sinalei lost its wharf, bar and sustained damage to its beach fales (beach hut accommodation) and to the West villages suffered too.
The village Matai (chief) Alo Tagiata and his wife Miriama are now open to ideas for tourism, possibly looking at Eco-Tourism to the island with dugout canoe tours. They currently support themselves with a taxi business and a plantation "up in the hills".
Photo: A grateful Tagiata family, from left to right: Sanifili, Misiona, Tai, Miriama, Miracle, Uilisese, Koli (Alo's brother), Alo (Village chief)
Getting back to normal
Greg Cassagrande, an internationally recognised leader in micro-finance pleads with the world to help those directly and indirectly impacted by the Tsunami in Samoa to get back to normal quickly."A critical part of effective recovery is getting people back into meaningful work as soon as possible" he says in Apia after having just flown in from the United States to help.
"Obviously Samoa is in crisis-mode at the moment with some very urgent need for some of our women directly affected, but it is still business as usual for thousands of others we help out week after week and we must make sure that everyone has support to rebuild their lives"
"We are currently working with the government and there are lots of ways to help people back into a livelihood including work for cash schemes, small business loans and so on.
"People wishing to help may do so on our website www.spbd.ws - with a cash donation, or even an interest free loan is just as valuable because of the immediate need we have here".
Cassagrande, a successful American businessman based his family in Devonport, Auckland for several years and established the South Pacific Business Development Foundation (www.SPBD.ws) in 2000. Since then his organisation has provided in excess of $20m (NZD $10.8m) in short-term loans to Samoan women generally used as a kick-start to the needy to run their own businesses.
Photo: Greg Cassagrande, founder of Samoan micro-finance organization SPBD
Rebuilding lives after "The Wave"
The Tsunami has profoundly affected the entire 180,000 population of Samoa. Referring to it as simply "The Wave", no local is short of a story to recount about their recent natural disaster.The earthquake - "It was STRONG . . . It went on for a long time". Of the ensuing Tsunami - "my whole village has gone, my home is gone". Then of course the serious loss of life. It seems that everyone here has lost a mother, father, brother, sister, aunty, cousin, extended family member or knows someone who has.
International help has arrived in force and authorities are working with a myriad of NGOs all keen to lend their assistance where needed.
Photo: Early morning volunteers boarding a Field Assessment Unit in Apia, one of three teams destined for the disaster zone with Government assistance questionnaires]
Roads are now fully cleared and in the worst affected areas, brand spanking new power poles seem to have simply sprung forth from what otherwise looks like a wasteland. Hundreds of piles of debris pepper the land as graders, diggers and bulldozers have been tidying up and landscaping the hot dusty beachfront properties.Photo: Grader completes South coast road cleanup outside buildings that remained structurally sound
Extended family members from around the world have returned to help rebuild their family homes. Combing through sand for broken glass outside the beach resort of Sinalei, one ex-pat Samoan says "I've come up here from New Zealand to help my aunty rebuild the resort and get them back in business as soon as possible. We Samoans are all about family".
Photo: New Zealanders make their presence felt in Lalomanu, ground zero on the South East coastWith tourism cancellations following the Tsunami affecting the entire country, the Samoan government is keen to see tourism recommence quickly. Only 10% of Samoa's total accommodation capacity has been affected although this did include the most pristine southern beaches. These resorts are already setting their scheduled opening dates, even those totally demolished and the universal sentiment in the nation is that Samoa is resilient and will rebuild.
Tagwords: samoa
