Good Friday marks three weeks since Cyclone Pam tore through the South West Pacific wreaking havoc on Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
William’s Bay, Erromango Island. The village had been without telecommunications or any relief for two weeks when we arrived here on Wednesday the 25th of March. When we returned on Friday their supplies had arrived. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Of the three countries, Vanuatu was the worst affected and relief efforts in response to the devastation continue to gain momentum.
The Vanuatu government, working with various bilateral donors and local and international aid organisations, says it has reached all 22 of the main affected islands but acknowledges difficulties in reaching some isolated communities and small villages.
Bonkil Village Erromango, Saturday 28th of March. Food supplies had arrived at the Assembly of God Church when we landed but the villagers still needed medical supplies and requested some water tanks. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Mothers at Nalema Village, South Epi, Shepherd Islands gathered to listen to the Prime Minister Joe Natuman on Monday March 23rd. He had landed in a helicopter in the nearby coconut plantation. No relief aid had arrived here yet a week since cyclone Pam. Prime Minister Natuman told everyone gathered that aid was on its way and would reach them soon. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Some villages we visited had clean water sources and only needed new storage tanks or water pipes where they had been damaged by falling trees during the cyclone. But other communities had no water sources at all and children would line up with cups to drink the water as it came off the boat. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Vanuatu Osnat Lubrani has called on authorities not to let their guard down and warned them of the threat of a second disaster if basic health needs are not met in the coming weeks.
The main concerns for the relief effort are still largely water, food and shelter but more emphasis is also now being put on health and education as well.
Planting materials were a common request heard in many of the villages. Most had lost everything in the cyclone. One superstitious farmer told me that only a devil wind would dig out root crops from under the ground and leave them strewn across the ground to spoil. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
On Thursday Vanuatu's Minister for Climate Change James Bule hosted the first meeting for aid donors and international agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to look at the plans for rehabilitation of public infrastructure.
Mr Bule says assessment teams are already in the field conducting an in depth study of infrastructure damages which he expects will be ready next week.
He says this new report should give an indication of the monetary extent of the damages and allow the government to develop a strategy that it can then take to international donors for consideration and hopefully financial and technical assistance.
This health aid post on Emae Island in the Shepherd Group was one of the few I saw with its walls still intact, March 22nd. The friendly Nurse Donald Kalsong was so happy to receive the medical supplies we had brought from Vila. He said he had started turning people away to conserve drugs for more serious patients. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
The Principal of this boarding school on Emae Island, Richard Jenery, told me they had lost their dining hall, dormitories and ten classrooms. When we were there on March 22nd some boarding students from other islands were still stuck at the school with no transport to get them home after cyclone Pam. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Thursday 19th of March. Farmers from Teoma bush share the last roots from their Kava plantation. Their Chief Peter Kakor told me 3 years’ worth of the cash crop was destroyed by Cyclone Pam along with a system of staggered food gardens that provided a continuous supply of food and market produce for his village all year round. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
The people of Vanuatu will continue to need the assistance of the outside world for many months to come.
The NDMO and relief agencies are working off an emergency response timeline of three months.
But many chiefs and farmers I spoke to told me it would take a minimum of six months to get food gardens to a stage where they could feed themselves.
And it would take several years to rebuild the cash crops like kava, coffee and teak which they had spent many years cultivating into a sustainable source of income for their families.
School Principal Richard Jenery and the stranded students of Nofo Junior Secondary Boarding School on Emae Island on March 22nd. He told me that during the cyclone the field behind them was a wall of white water kicked up by the cyclone punctuated by sheets of flying iron roofing. The students were in the building to the right but had to make the dangerous journey across the field to his house out of shot behind me because the water was filling up the classrooms. He was the last to leave running half blinded towards a flashlight shone by his wife. He said it was a miracle no one was hit by flying sheets of iron and debris. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Library books drying on a concrete slab that used to be one of the classrooms of the Melemaat Primary School. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Schools have officially been declared open again, but preliminary figures indicate more than half of the schools in the country have been either damaged or destroyed.
Temporary measures such as makeshift tent-classrooms, school bags and basic stationery items are being distributed by UNICEF in partnership with Save the Children, the government of Vanuatu and other partners.
But these are short term measures and schools need to be rebuilt, and rebuilt properly at some stage.
Erromango Cooks Bay, Thursday March 26th. Two weeks since Pam with no relief supplies reaching them and with this poor baby’s mother unable to breast feed her . There were no root crops left to mash up as baby food and the baby was very weak and lethargic. The Medics checked her out and with no signs of other illnesses left her mother several tins of baby formula with strict instructions on using boiled filtered water and directions for sterilising the bottle with each use. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Locals point out the usual height of water in this fresh water well on Epi in the Shepherd Islands. After the cyclone none of the stored water sources were used for drinking creating a real problem for communities without fresh running water. Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
Health issues across the country are a constant and growing concern with most rural health aid posts flattened and their already meagre medical supplies destroyed.
Basic things like cuts and bruises, common colds and even proper nutrition and access to clean drinking water can blow out into serious community concerns if not addressed.
Three weeks after Pam the aid is flowing, but just how far and how well is anybody's guess when sitting here in New Zealand.
Jessica plays in the sand at Port Narvin on Erromango Island in Vanuatu. During Cyclone Pam the whole area where she is sitting was underwater as both tidal surges and the ferocious winds tore her village apart. The school water tank was full of sea water because some waves had washed right up and over the roof of the school. Amazingly many in the village survived inside the school the whole night with the wind and the waves washing around them. 25 March 2015 Photo: RNZI / Koroi Hawkins
When I left Vanuatu on March 29 there were many villages I had been to who were yet to receive assistance.
And given the logistical challenges and the limited supply of aid at hand, I strongly believe some are still waiting for help to arrive.