Damage to a building in Port Vila on the Island of Efate, Vanuatu. In March 2015, Cyclone Pam devastated the tiny archipelago of Vanuatu, which lies some 1100 miles east of Australia. Aid groups poured in. I was recruited by Reach Out World Wide, ROWW, to document their aid mission. The objective was to make direct contact with villages outside of Port Vila, and provide the local people with water purification devices, food, and emergency medical care. |
A village on the road that surrounds the island of Efate. Homes on Efate are constructed primarily from corrugated steel and palm leaves. |
Young men and boys pose for a photo in front of a village store. Islanders are very friendly, and the slingshot is a common sight among young men. |
An Auntie poses for the camera. |
A father and his two sons welcome the team from ROWW. While this village didn't lose anyone to the cyclone, they suffered two deaths afterwards from contaminated water. |
A grandpa and his grandson seek refuge from the tropical sun under a canopy. |
The people in Vanuatu are welcoming. They had no idea who we were or even that we were even coming, yet they smile and wave at a van full of foreign strangers. |
Volunteers from ROWW pose with members of a village in Vanuatu. The bucket held up by the chief of the village contains a water filtration system that will provide clean drinking water for the families in this village. |
The Natural Beauty of Vanuatu |
Destruction from Cyclone Pam |
A young man holds a pamplemousse; which is a large, sweet grapefruit native to Vanuatu. |
The machete is a universal tool on the island. It's very common for islanders to be carrying a machete with them. Here, a young man peels a pamplemousse. |
More cyclone destruction. Many large trees were knocked down during the storm. Those that remain standing were stripped of their foliage and fruit. |
Thanks for the advice. |
This village was hit hard by the cyclone, but everybody was out working on the new structures. |
There isn't a lot of money for building materials, so much of the construction materials are recycled or re-purposed. |
Everyone smiled and was happy to have their picture taken. |
Some of these kids hadn't seen many foreigners. The camera was interesting and maybe a little scary. |
Blue tarps are everywhere. We gave some out as well, but other aid groups had been through before us, and we saw many homes with new blue roofs. |
I took this photo of a man sitting in his village with his home in the background. He lived in a tidy little hut by a river. After the photo, I noticed he was limping rather severely, and he had a dirty bandage on his leg. I notified our mission director about a possible medical case. |
Our mission doctor, Gale, removed the bandage and inspected the wound for infection. It turned out that he had gangrene that extended half way up his thigh and down to his foot. This made walking nearly impossible. He was also deaf and non-verbal, which made communication difficult. |
Dr. Gale and the mission paramedic, Kevin, clean the wound and administer antibiotics. According to Gale, this wound was lethal. In less than a week, the gangrene would have taken his leg. After that, he would have died. It's very difficult for sick people to get to clinics or doctors. Even though there is a road around Efate, many villages are too poor to own transportation. |
The injured man's sister looks on while he receives medical care. Due to his hearing loss and inability to speak, she was a crucial translator for the man. Her little boy holds a can of tuna, some of the supplies ROWW brought from Port Vila. |
We gave the children fresh rubber gloves to play with. They thought the gloves were pretty interesting. |
This is the state of much of the housing once you get out of Port Vila on Efate. What wasn't destroyed by the cyclone is damaged. The climate is tropical, and rain is common, so a water tight roof is paramount. |
Cyclone damage to a structure. This will be repaired or re-purposed. These folks have a lot of work ahead of them. |
It's easy to make the children happy. Some bubble gum does the trick. |
Our mission director, JD, and our paramedic, Kevin, talk to some village elders about what happened during the storm and what they need now that rebuilding has started. |
A communal area for this village. The concrete pad is a remnant from World War 2. Vanuatu was on the edge of the Japanese empire, but was spared invasion by Japan. The US Navy realized Vanuatu's value as a base, and arrived before the Japanese could take the island. |
This man peels a taro root for cooking. Taro is a staple in Vanuatu, and one of the easiest things to get after the cyclone. Most other food staples that grow on the island had been destroyed by the storm. |
Not everyone likes to smile at the big camera. |
Neslep River lagoon. Even after the battering it took from cyclone Pam, the lagoon is still beautiful. |
Surrounded by the destruction from the cyclone, these young men are still happy and proud to be Vanuatuans. |
Just a gorgeous beach on Vanuatu. |