Revisiting Vanuatu After Cyclone Pam

And Why Your Help Was Priceless

Presented by:Sherry & Dennis Day, S/V Trillium

Above: Landing Beach in 2014

Below: Same Beach in 2015

This was the village on Avokh Island, Vanuatu in 2014

This is the village on Avokh Island, Vanuatu in 2015

Living Conditions Today

This is a kitchen now.

This baking oven was destroyed.

Rain water cisterns are contaminated so we took water ashore

every trip.

This had been the village market where they bought and sold extra food from the gardens to each other. Now there are no tree fruits and the gardens are just starting to yield.

This roof-less building was the community building where we had visited last year. It was a wonderful structure then.

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Food and Household Goods Were First To GoWe purchased 300

kg of rice and cans of powdered milk. Each family received 5 kg of rice and a can of milk powder plus

a variety of household items.

Everyone waited in anticipation for the goods to come ashore. Items

were divided into 50 piles – one for each family. In the end, they only

received a few items each, but everyone was happy with what we

brought.5

Clothing Donations Going Ashore – At Last!

What a happy day when the clothing bags went ashore! There were many

trips in the dinghy.

It was like Christmas in July for the

grateful people on Avokh Island!

We sorted, hauled and moved hundreds of pounds of donated clothing more times than we

care to remember! 6

Clothing Created Excitement and Chaos!

The littlest children (who don’t really care about clothes) thought the bubble wrap was

the best!

Clothes for children were spread on our old

mainsail, divided between boys and girls

and in size and age range groups. Great plan, but not to be

executed!

Then the chaos began! They were told the children should pick up two things each,

BUT everyone started grabbing clothes! 7

A New Dress and Underwear for Each Woman!We had 100 Mother Hubbard Dresses made by women in Port Vila. We also purchased bras and under panties

for each woman.

Having learned from the children’s clothing experience, we took a more

orderly approach with the women. And the men were to stay away!

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Clothing For Men: Only One Item Each!Although it seemed like we had

too many bags of clothing labeled for men, we only had

one item for each one! We thought we had fewer men and

more clothes and were shocked to see we might run out of clothing when we had

believed there would be several items for each man.

Dennis and Chief Kaisa gave clear instructions for

each man to select one item starting with the older men first. Some of the younger

ones complained, but Dennis reminded them that

one should respect his elders.

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Then the Projects Began …We were planning to install solar lighting in the Community

Building. When we saw that it had been destroyed, it was time to rethink the plan!After touring the village, we worked with Chief Kaisa and Vincent to

determine what they saw as priority projects.Their concern was the cost of things: roofing materials, shipping,

nails and screws, water catchment systems, etc., and food was a great need as well.

We told them we had 100,000 Vatu (or $1,000 USD) available for them to spend on reconstruction and other related needs.

They just needed to prioritize. They had a difficult time grasping the amount and what it could do for the village.

We had made a personal commitment to help them in whatever way they felt would best benefit the whole community.

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Immediate Need: Water!School Project Church ProjectThe Namara Primary School rain

water collection system needed repair.

Dennis showed the men how to repair it and taught them to use various tools including a power drill we left with them.

Larger gutters were needed on the church which had the largest metal roof and collection cistern.

With the donated tools, we established a community tool box – a new concept, instead of dispersing tools to individuals.

Church projectSchool project

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Next Project: Solar LightingSince the solar lighting could not be used in the Community

Building, it was decided to put it in the church where 200+ people had sought shelter during Cyclone Pam. And it is the religious center of this village.

Later they held a special ceremony to bless the lighting system and the computer we donated, and also to thank us.

The lovely gifts we received from

them.

Installing solar lights in the

church.

A moving Thank You ceremony for

us.

Chief Kaisa & Dennis are now

brothers.

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Sherry’s Project: Computer Training +The school’s 6-year plan was for a computer and they were

completing year 5. So we decided to buy the computer and necessary components.

While Dennis worked with the men on various projects, Sherry taught Vincent and Headmaster Bill how to use the computer with daily sessions on S/V Trillium.

She set up a number of master forms and documents so they could easily fill in the information and save as a new document. They had never used a computer!

We also bought new student textbooks for the school. We were the Guests of Honor at the Children’s Day event at the school.

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Sailing with the ChiefOne of the highlights was spending a week on S/V Trillium

with Chief Kaisa and Vincent when we took them to Port Vila to buy building materials for the projects and food.

Once again we became a cargo ship. They called us “Little Sista” because the local island ferry is called “Big Sista!” It was a great way to get to know them.

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Shopping Until We DroppedHow far does 100,000 Vatu go?

Church guttering (very expensive)Community Building roofing shipment, roofing screws and nailsBenzene (gasoline) for the generator to run power tools

In addition to the donations, we invested $6,500 USD in this project. We purchased a variety of other items

Repair parts for school gutters, locking tool box, household items Electric drill, cord and a variety of other tools, including yam shovels Solar lighting system and battery to make donated solar panel work The school computer, textbooks, cases of paper for the printer, power cords, surge protectors, etc.,

including a Pelican waterproof case for transporting the computer in the canoe. Food, milk, new clothing, filled fresh water containers Gifts for all of the children on Children’s Day School supplies, classroom aids, a globe

The ROI was well worth it! Look at these smiles!15

An Experience of a Lifetime!Working with the villagers for two months has been a most

rewarding experience of a lifetime as we became part of their village family.

Goodbyes were very hard for all of us. We hope some of you will visit Avokh Island sometime and send us photos.

Thank you for helping us in this mission that evolved into much more than originally planned.

We hope you find such a rewarding experience. If you are interested in the more in-depth story

behind this presentation, please visit our blog at: sv-trillium.blogspot.com or search Skipperette’s Log.

Chief Kaisa, Nella, Karina & Vincent coming to say

goodbye. 16

Things we took to them:Used clothing for men and children100 Mother Hubbard dresses and

underwear Fish hooks and lineRopes, line and wire of all sizes7 used sails and materials to make sailsFabrics, threads, elasticSewing machine needlesBasic cooking utensilsKnives, hatchets, axesHand tools: hammers, saws, etc.Shovels, yam diggers, garden toolsSolar panel, lights and outlets, battery

Plastic plates, cups, bowls, glassesSilverware, paring knives, etc.Plastic dishpans and laundry tubsPots and pans for open fire cookingTowels, soap for bathing and laundryToothbrushesSheets and blanketsSeeds: tomato, beans, lettuce, squash,

pumpkin, melons, cucumbers, chokoSchool supplies: exercise books, paper,

pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, notebooks, colored pencils, crayons, chalk, computer and printer, etc.

Wentworth College school uniforms17

Thank You for DonatingWhile it sometimes feels like we have only done “a drop in the ocean” to

help Avokh Island in the Maskelyn Group, Vanuatu, it would not have been as bountiful without the help of the Whangaparaoa Rotary Club and Wentworth College in New Zealand and the many donations from friends and friends of our friends in the USA. And a special thanks to the Old Mission San Diego, CA Rotary Club for donations and connecting us with New Zealand Rotary Clubs.

Everything you helped buy, collect and sent with us was most appreciated by these people whom you may never meet, but know you have helped in their recovery and with ordinary needs. Thank You All! 18