Greg's Comments Wednesday 7 October 2009
By Greg Cassagrande
Friends, today was a very long day. We visited with dozens and dozens of SPBD ladies who have been severely impacted by the Samoan Tsunami. The stories they tell and their grief is extreme.
An SPBD member Ruta Sao, who has a small taro plantation, tells of losing four of her children (ages: five months, two, four and five) when the wave hit. Each of their bodies has since been recovered and they will all be buried in the mass national funeral this Thursday. Ruta is now living high up on a mountainside under a tarp held up by four large sticks. She insists that she is not leaving. In fact there is a whole enclave of people from Ruta's village of Saleapaga who have now moved up there. They all insist that they will never go back to Saleapaga. And after experiencing such terrifying tragedy who can blame them? We will help her and the others rebuild new and safe homes on the hillside above Saleapaga.
The prime purpose for today's activities was to individually assess each of the victim's situations and to determine how we can best assist them. People like Ruta are still grieving tremendously and perhaps what she needs most is time; and then some counseling and then some opportunity. We are good at providing economic opportunity. We hope to also link her and others with some charitable psychological counseling organizations that will be arriving on island in the next couple of weeks.
The village next-door to Ruta's, Lalomanu, was also largely wiped out. Thanks to a nearby off-shore island which bore the brunt of some of the wave some houses in Lalomanu were mercifully spared. We had organized a group of 21 of our micro-entrepreneurs with whom we work in Lalomanu and were gauging very specifically how each was impacted. One of our members, whom we had assessed as having been entirely spared from disaster, then burst into sudden tears and she began to tell us all of a heartbreaking story of losing a grip on her mother's arm as they were escaping the wave and her mother was carried out to the sea. Her mother too will be buried along with Ruta's children this Thursday. The point is – homes can be replaced and businesses can be re-launched. But people are truly precious. And for this reason, all of these ladies, in this area, have been terribly, deeply and personally affected and so they all need our help.
The New Zealand Police arrived in Samoa over the weekend. They have brought with them teams of trained dogs to help uncover the dead My assessment is that they are doing a good job. In addition to people, there are all sorts of dead fish, chickens, pigs, and other livestock lying about. Now as one goes through the tsunami zone one sees many scattered piles being burnt. I think this is helping to control the horrendous odor issue that I mentioned yesterday and will help contain the emerging health related issues.
SPBD is putting together aid packages to deliver to woman who have now literally scattered throughout Samoa. We have already delivered to most a prepaid cell phone so that we can keep in touch with them. Cash grants will be a big part of the package. These should go out later this week. The logistical issues are significant; however we have one of the best distribution systems in the entire country and so I am confident that we can pull it off.
I have taken heaps of photos and am trying to load them onto FlickR so that people can view them. The internet connection here is very erratic and very slow when working. So, getting these photos loaded may be a time consuming endeavor. I'll let you know when they are available for general viewing.
Once again, my appeal, if you'd like to help, please forward this file or link on to others.
People can support our efforts online via:
www.spbd.ws or
www.microdreams.org
and now also at: www.mercycorps.org
That's it for now. Tofa soifua. (Good-bye)
Greg Cassagrande
