The Samoa Files

How to help Tsunami victims By: Dennis A Smith, 16 December 2009-21:46:33

I've been asked how to best help the Tsunami victims. The question is a complex one but there is really just one simple answer . . .

Palagi! Just send Palagi. (That's Pakeha, Whiteman, or Tourist to you and me)

In the wake of the Samoa Tsunami, there appears to be a big chasm between the public perception and reality. The perception is that the whole country was destroyed; that hundreds of people have nothing as a result and need help desperately; that they are starving and will take years to recover; that the resorts have all been wiped out and that there is now no tourism, and so on.

Here is my take on the situation ending with my recommendations and an idea of what we are doing about it. The Tsunami killed 143 people, mostly native Samoans on the South coast who couldn't or didn't get to higher ground after the earthquake. It flattened many Fales (simple Samoan houses) on the beachfront and destroyed some villages entirely. It had an enormous impact on Samoa, particularly the impact of loss of life in a culture where family ties are very strong. Jobs have been lost in the affected areas but while tourism was down post-Tsunami, all resorts and hotels recorded high occupancy levels with relief workers and officials. According to the Samoa Hotel Association, ninety percent of resorts were unaffected in the Tsumani. True, many are still in temporary tents, but for many this is better or equivalent or better than what they had before!

Except for the first day or so when everyone was in shock and taking time to grasp the severity of the event, initial help was well co-ordinated and plentiful. The Samoan governement worked with UN, Australian and New Zealand aid agencies and many NGOs to affect relief supplies, rebuild basic infrastructure, distribute necessary shelter, food and water. Yes, true, some families relocated to the Tsunami to get the free handouts. Yes, true some families were asked to remain in the devastated areas without shelter by their Matai so that they could milk the system but generally most people have plenty of food al beit in temporary shelter.

International goodwill was and is extraordinarily high. The Samoa Tsunami is unquestionably the single biggest event since Pearl Harbour in the south Pacific. Front page international coverage extended for a week, and even up to three weeks in countries closely associated with Samoa.

Most villagers immediately relocated inland to what they call the plantations and many are totally petrified of the sea. I do not think that this is a passing fear. I read it to be a deep and widespread fear and it is rare now to find any Samoan other than a businessman who has a financial interest in building a resort who actually wants to live on the beach. The plantations slightly inland and on higher ground have always been their natural living area. The plantations are cooler, and have more water; food is close by and as the older generations knew, was out of the way of the "wave with fire" - obviously a reference to Tsunamis of pervious generations. I guess that the arrival of the Palagi who wanted to enjoy the water and beaches has drawn the Samoan people out of the plantations and to the low-lying areas in the last 50-60 years

Many rural Samoan villagers are subsistence farmers. They have nothing by Western standards and live from day to day. Their social lives are highly communal by comparison to the Western world and their daily life primarily revolves around growing, gathering and cooking food. Houses can be built or rebuilt in literally a couple of days and moving from one Fale to another is not an uncommon occurrence.

I understand that the first phase of post-Tsunami giving - sending pots and pans and clothes - has started to wane. I think that this outpouring of good intent has generally been well received, well managed and appropriate. There have been stories of misappropriation and claims of untoward behaviour. My take on this is that it has mostly been publicity seeking, petty political point scoring and that most goods went to their intended recipients.

Samoa has very strong family ties. Immediate family, and even extended families are generally very close. Giving is often from off-shore families who send back to their own. I am aware of families stockpiling goods next to families that have nothing. While this may sound "evil" or selfish, this is common throughout many aspects of the Samoan culture. Families with nothing may live alongside of those who have comparative riches. I hasten to add here that I believe greed is a universal challenge, and not unique to Samoa. It is manifested in the West with rampant capitalism and self-centred materialistic living. It just manifests in Samoa a different way - and with the expectation that the Palagi will give to them because he has something and they don't.

This bad attitude is such a big problem that I have heard of Samoans returning to Samoa and simply not visiting certain family so as not to have to go through the "give-me" stuff! I understand why they would do this because this lazy-thinking expectation of a handout from those that do have something is very strongly ingrained. It is similar to the Maori handout mentaality that rubs the Pakeha up the wrong way. Again I hasten to moderate my words, because not ALL Samoans (or Maori) are caught up in this nasty attitude - there are many lovely genuine people who have what I would call the true Samoan heart.

While I know that giving in the wake of a disaster is appropriate, I have real issues with extended direct giving to Samoan people. The reason is that there is a strong undercurrent of greed, that manifests itself in the way the Samoan looks at Palagi. Amongst the discerning, we joke about it in Samoa a lot laughing about the fact that the Samoan only sees a Palagi for his money. Children will come to a tourist and say "Can I have some money?" Villages charge for use of a beach or to see a resort, and the only real cross-cultural engagement that many Samoans have is when a Palagi comes and gives them something. In both Fiji and Samoa, aid money flows freely after a natural disaster and I have heard first hand in both countries how politicians and others enjoy the influx of aid money at such times.

Giving in a way that has a lasting impact and is truly meaningful needs to have a positive cross-cultral exchange. Sending money is fine - the government, religious system and Matai will all take a cut, and people will have a new house, or more food, but it perpetuates the poverty mentality that I believe cripples the country.

Overseas investment is not always the answer either. More resorts will help the country to a point but, lets be real about this - an overseas investor will generally invest into Samoa for a profit. Their modus operandii is to invest at the most favourable terms possible. They will want to buy low and sell high - good tourist dollars and cheap local labour maximises profits - the bulk of them taken offshore.

I've been working with the people of Fusi Safata on a not-for-profit project to develop a tourism and resort business. Our ideas are to work alongside the local people, and help them do what they want to do - serve and honour the Palagi. We are developing Honeycomb Resorts (website and concepts in development) as a pilot so that other villages can do what we are doing - working together at a grass-roots level to help each other. Everything is done by donation. The villagers are paid in a combination of food, clothing, petrol at wholesale prices as well as cash, and they get paid a wage for work done, not a hand out for doing nothing. It's a harder business model but it has the potential to (actually it already is) revolutionising the village life.

Anyone interested in truly helping Samoa should secure their passort, and get over to meet the people, engage with them and participate in the work that we are doing - right down at the village level. Sure, by all means stay at a nice resort. Sure, donate to Red Cross or donate your labour to Habitat for Humanity. Sure you can give people some food or a pot or a pan, but they live quite well off the land without lots of gifts from the Palagi.

The real secret however is what I said at the beginning - the most precious gift you can give to them is to give a rural villager your time. Invite your friends to get ready to meet the people of Fusi. Be ready to help teach the village Matai how to speak English. Get ready to slip into a dugout canoe with the local boys and trip out to a pristine deserted island. Help a local mother care for her child or cook a meal. Spend a few hours in the plantation with a whole family and see what real work is like. Your visit will be the highlight of their week!

And once they've given you a memory of a lifetime, just slip a little donation into their hand at the end of the day as a thank you. That's the Samoan way and it's the best way to help a Tsunami victim - by a country mile!

Tagwords: help tsunami victims

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