Rebuild the heart of a community

Cyclone Pam in 2015 was the worst natural disaster in the entire history of Vanuatu. For those of you that have never heard of Vanuatu it is a nation of 81 islands 1100 nautical miles north of New Zealand and 500 miles west of Fiji. My name is Captain Sean P. Meagher from 2008 to 2011 I spent a fair bit of time cruising the islands and getting to know the inhabitants of Vanuatu on a 165 foot Schooner Blue Gold.

All of the Islands are special but one Island will always stand out in my mind, the Island of Maewo. Water falls, beautiful beaches and wonderful people. Maewo at the time was under the leadership of Chief Nelson a great man and worthy of his title and the trust his people put in him. Chief Nelson never wanted money for his kindness, instead he only asked for books for the children of his village. The center of the community was a large hut with a cement foundation. The flags of many a visiting boat hung in the rafters of what Chief Nelson called his "Yacht Club".

The Yacht Club was a fancy title for what in reality was the community center. This is where the children were taught, weddings were held and visitors like me witnessed 1000 year old tribal rituals called "Custom Dances".

When Cyclone Pam hit it destroyed this structure and ripped the heart out of the community. For well over a year I have been trying to raise money for the people of Maewo to rebuild their "yacht club" and help my friend Chief Nixon the son of Chief Nelson, provide the children of Maewo a place to learn and the people of Maewo a place to dance the custom dances of their ancestors.

Time is of the essence! Right now the weather is good and supplies can be easily transferred from the capitol of Efate to Maewo.

We are asking for $20,000.00 USD. This amount is literally the total of all supplies needed to rebuild the Yacht Club and ship the supplies to Maewo with a few dollars left over for school books for the children.
If anybody wants an exact accounting of how the funds are dispersed I would be happy to provide it. Since we are not a non-profit and "go fund me" likes US dollars the funds will be transfered to a business account in the US and then transfered to an ANZ (Australia New Zealand) Bank account in Vanuatu.
 
Everybody that donates will be given a place on the archway leading into the club. Your name will be carved into the arch by a local craftsman.  The biggest donors will be on top and in the biggest letters but all names will be visable. The people of the tribe will literally sing praises in your name.

I purposely did not post disaster pictures and chose to focus on the good people of Maewo but just google Cyclone Pam Vanuatu and see for yourself the devistation.

Let's get this done in the next couple of weeks. The people of Vanuatu, the people of Maewo, and the sailors that seek refuge on Maewo for the next 1000 years will look on the names above their heads and thank you.