The possibility of introducing COVID-19 in the Pacific has complicated efforts to provide efforts to get support on the ground in areas impacted by natural disasters.

So local communities must be empowered to take action and make decisions based on their needs and capabilities.

For CANZ, the principle of subsidiarity in the foundation of their work enables them to respond to Cyclone Harold through the continued support of their partners in the Pacific.

"While we can't be physically present with those who have been affected, we still retain the ability to respond," says CANZ Director Julianne Hickey.

"Our long-term relationships with local communities provide direct avenues for us to contribute our support to those most in need."

In Port Vila, Caritas has enabled a local warehouse to dispatch emergency stock to the areas in Vanuatu which were hit hardest by Cyclone Harold. Over $100,000 worth of essential supplies - including food, water, tarpaulins and kitchen sets - are now ready to send out to local communities.

Caritas Humanitarian Coordinator George Fa'alogo had recently visited Port Vila in October 2019 to review the emergency supply stock and deliver training on the use of water filtration systems.

"The width and depth of our relationships is our strength," says Mr Fa'alogo. "We rely on the concept of subsidiarity to build the capacity of our partners in times of peace so that we can work together to launch effective programmes in times of crisis."

The cyclone relief efforts are supported by funding raised through Caritas' Lent Appeal and their Pacific Relief Fund. Caritas has been able to accept donations through its website and by direct credit during the lockdown in New Zealand.

Click here to make a donation.

Source

Supplied: caritas.org.nz

The executive director of the Council of International Development, Josie Pagani, said that during the lockdown the charities aren't able to fundraise and the public can't donate.

She said the international aid charities typically get about two-thirds of their revenue from public donations.

Pagani said aid organisations won't be allowed to enter the countries due to COVID -19 but she said there is still a lot they can do and are doing.

She said this includes releasing stock, from tarpaulins for shelter to wash kits for sanitation, and money to support and pay the salaries of their Pacific partners - the first responders, who need all the help they can get.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic Bishops' agency for justice, peace and development, is working with their partners on the ground in Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga to address the impact of Cyclone Harold, especially in the face of the global pandemic.

Caritas is supporting impacted areas through solidarity funding and assistance in the management and replenishment of pre-positioned emergency supplies.

Local efforts remain at the forefront of emergency response, and Caritas is committed to working with communities to respond to their immediate and long-term needs.

Cyclone Harold passed through Vanuatu as a Category 5 storm, directly hitting several islands and causing significant damage to communication, water and power lines, as well as crops, shops and homes.

In the Solomon Islands, a ferry carrying passengers from Honiara to Malaita encountered severe weather due to the cyclone. 27 people were swept overboard, and many remain missing. Massive flooding has damaged shelter and water supplies throughout the country.

Although it had weakened slightly, Cyclone Harold also reached Fiji and Tonga, bringing flooding, heavy rains and large waves.

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• rnz.co.nz
• cid.org.nz
• caritas.org.nz
• caritas.org.nz
• Image: thewest.com.au

The programme will ensure that communities have the skills necessary to rebuild, said Amelia Ma'afu the acting director of Caritas Tonga.

The Support to Self-Recovery programme provides timber, tools, equipment and training so people can restore their own houses, with Build Back Safer principles an essential component of the repair work.

Amelia said that homeowners will be able to use these skills as they rebuild their homes with kits provided.

The Build Back Safer principles encourage the use of cyclone strapping and bracing, and introduce techniques that will increase the resilience of homes to future storms and earthquakes.

Habitat for Humanity Chief executive, Claire Szabo, said the money raised would include money from the community and businesses lending financial support, tools and tradespeople.

"The locals are very involved," she told Radio New Zealand.

"We have engineers and builders that are involved in supervision both here in New Zealand and up in Tonga.

"So there's a whole crew of people to get involved to make our model happen."

The project aims to rebuild 500 homes.

Palasa and Vaea Lolesio and their four children live in Fo'ui village.

They are one of many families whose homes were destroyed by cyclone Gita.

Their house was almost completely destroyed; only the walls of the kitchen and a small bedroom on the side of the house remain standing.

Vaea was able to rescue some of the roofing iron to straighten it out and make a shelter for the family to live in.

But the roof still leaked through old nail holes and splits in the iron.

He fixed this problem with a tarpaulin he received from Caritas.

He was committed to rebuilding the house with his brother's help but couldn't afford the materials required. He says he has the skills necessary and will start the rebuild as soon as he can.

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• caritas.org.nz
• caritas.org.nz
• kanivatonga.nz
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Although the damage does not ap­pear as severe as tropical cyclone Winston in 2016, it has affected 315 students.

The school's principal, Alosio Saukuru, said they were in desperate need of funds to rebuild so that students could continue their classes normally.

The building that has lost its roof is an old one that was reconstructed after tropical cyclone Winston.

It consists of three Year 9 classrooms, a Year 10 classroom, three Year 12 classrooms and three staff rooms.

Saukuru said the students would now be accom­modated in a newly built classroom block. The building has not been opened officially.

He estimated damage to the building would be between $40,000 to $50,000. He is requesting assistance from relevant authorities.

"We are in need of 187 desks and 162 chairs for the students," he added.

The damage occurred around 5 pm on Tuesday. "We are lucky that no student or teacher was injured at the time of the destruction," said Saukuru.

He said that, despite the damage, they would go ahead with their end-of-term one examination.

St John's ex-scholars representa­tive, Fiona Samuels Kamsoo, said students were safe and have not let the destructive winds of TC Keni affect them as they now concentrat­ed on their exams, which started today and would end next Tuesday.

"As a request by the school prin­cipal, Mr Saukuru, all official messages concerning St John's College are to come only from the ex-scholars and PTFA. With the re­cent events and all sorts of posts on Facebook there has been some con­fusion," she said.

Source

• fijisun.com.fj
• fijitimes.com
• Image: fijisun.com.fj

The Society has forwarded $10,000 to Tonga and $3,000 to Samoa from its disaster relief fund.

Tonga's needs are around health, hygiene and basic food needs; in Samoa the focus is on the repair of family homes.

"We have been in contact with our National Presidents in Tonga and Samoa," says the Society's Twinning Officer, Arthur Schultze. "They have kept us up to date with the areas where assistance is most needed."

In Tonga, health and hygiene are the priority area for the Society. Funds are going towards items such as disinfectant, toilet paper, napkins, mosquito nets in response to an outbreak of dengue fever, water and basic food items.

In Samoa, agricultural supplies - tools and seeds - and the replacement of roofs on family homes are the initial focus of support.

"Prior to Cyclone Gita, two shipments of clothing and other basics were sent to Tonga and a further shipment was dispatched last week which included clothing, bedding and canned food," said Arthur Schultze.

The Society in New Zealand has launched an appeal for funds through its Councils and Conferences to provide Tonga and Samoa with ongoing support.

The Vinnies are also having a 'gold coin' collection at many Catholic schools and food donations are being collected in Auckland schools.

The Society's National Council of Australia has offered A$10,000 to assist with aid in Tonga.

If you would like to contribute funds to the SSVdP Appeal, please contact admin@svdp.org.nz or phone 04 499 5075

Source

• Supplied: St Vincent de Paul Society

The builder had a sleepless night.

But he realised how bad things were in Tonga only when he got hold of his policeman cousin the next day.

So now Uhila and his sons Taani, 22, and Siaosi, 10, are pausing their New Zealand lives to go to Tonga to help their family rebuild.

"My plan is to go and just make sure it's safe," Uhila said. "We're doing this from the good of our heart."

Uhila grew up in the Tongan village of Lapaha.

It's one of many that Gita largely destroyed.

He said as soon as he realised how widespread the destruction was he wanted to "give back" to his home.

He organised the trip with his sons.

He's packed nine bags full of tools.

It's costing $800 to take them over.

They plan to buy the materials they need to fix the homes in Tonga when they get there.

Uhila knows that building materials will be in short supply.

Since letting people know he was going to Tonga to help, many family and friends have asked for his skills.

Uhila says he can only do so much, " It's only me and my boys," he says.

On this trip he says he'll make temporary fixes.

He hopes to return with a container full of supplies.

New Plymouth's St Pius X School community donated $1,000 to help the family with expenses.

Siaosi is a student at the school and Taani a former student.

Siaosi, 10, has minimal building experience but is anticipating the trip.

"We're going to be travelling around the whole village and going to the most damaged houses," he says.

Source:

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

Saipan is 218 kilometres from Guam, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Catholic parishes, schools and organisations have been collecting non-perishable food items and funds to assist victims of Soudelor.

Water, rice and other canned goods are the most essential items, a release from the archdiocese said.

Saipan is a U.S. commonwealth with a population of 53,000.

Typhoon Soudelor hit Saipan with the intensity of a Category 2 hurricane on Sunday night 2 August, local time.

Winds were measured up to 105 mph as the storm hit. However, they may have been stronger than those reports according to an AccuWeather Meteorologist.

According to the Red Cross, nearly 500 people spent Monday night in several government shelters.

Residents were without water and electricity and were rationing gasoline four days after Soudelor.

President Obama declared the Northern Mariana Islands, including Saipan, under a State of Disaster last Thursday.

Source

• kuam.com
• mvariety.com
• accuweather.com
• abc7.com
• Image: facebook.com/SoudelorRecover

The church's Tonga Service Centre Manager Howard Niu says they have signed with local contractor Oregon Pacific International to carry out the construction.

Mr Niu says the houses will be provided to members of the church.

He says the church will provide the core of a house.

"We're talking about a 4.8 metres by 3.6 metres to start with. The government and the World Bank donating the other half of it."

"Especially for the most vulnerable group, if you're 65 and above, and or whether handicapped or have more than eight in the family."

The money to support this project comes from the Latter-day Saints' humanitarian fund, to which Church members and others from around the world, including Tonga, donate.

The joint Church and Government humanitarian project will also focus on training locals on Ha'apai in building and other trade skills, as well as support families as they create and maintain family and community vegetable gardens.

Source

• Radio New Zealand International
• mormonnewsroon.org.nz
• Image: mormonnewsroom.org.nz

The immigration lawyer, Richard Small, says the New Zealand authorities are wanting to send Tongan overstayers back to the area, and he has 30 such cases on his books.

He described deporting people with medical conditions to an area devastated by a cyclone as perverse.

He says New Zealand has a role to play as a neighbour and a responsible member of the Pacific Forum, and should introduce a two-month moratorium on deporting people to Ha'apai, on humanitarian grounds.

Labour's Pacific Islands Affairs spokesman Su'a William Sio has called on the Government to call a temporary halt on Immigration New Zealand deporting people to Ha'apai

Sio says, "Immigration New Zealand's decision to deport overstayers back to the islands of Ha'apai where 5000 people were displaced and 800 homes destroyed was described by lawyer Richard Small as ‘perverse"

He has called on Pacific Affairs Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga to call a temporary halt on Immigration New Zealand deporting people to Ha'apai.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• Scoop.co.nz
• Image:ABC.net.au

It is estimated that 75 per cent of buildings in Ha'apai have been destroyed or have major damage.

Crops, infrastructure and water supplies also having sustained significant damage.

Amelia Ma'afu, Caritas Tonga programmes coordinator, says providing a safe water supply is the top priority.

"Drinking water is a major problem. Cyclone damage to the water supply has resulted in contamination, so people are advised not to drink piped water. Rainwater tanks which many people use have also been damaged."

Caritas Tonga is providing clean drinking water for 1,500 people in Ha'apai.

Source:

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Image: Radio New Zealand