Relief Food for Vanuatu

Tropical Cyclone Pam

Vanuatu is an island nation in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean home to roughly 267,000 people.  This beautiful country has recently taken a substantial blow from Tropical Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 storm.  Over the past weekend, torrential rains and 185 mile per hour winds ravaged Vanuatu with an intensity that will be regarded as one of the most catastrophic storms in the history of the Pacific.  The outcome of Cyclone Pam has been absolutely devastating—90 percent of buildings in Port Vila, the nation’s capital on the island of Efate, have been destroyed and the outer islands have been completely leveled.  Roughly half of the Ni-Vanuatu population is now homeless and many have yet to receive relief, let alone contact from any sort of government or aid organization.

An aerial image taken by Care Australia's Tom Perry shows flattened houses near Port Vila

At this time, only aerial surveys have been able to observe the destruction on the 64 inhabited outer islands and communication with their inhabitants has been impossible.  Subsequently, aid will be difficult to distribute among these remote areas and the death toll will continue to rise as more information is received.  Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale has illustrated that the event has completely undone many years of the nation’s development.  Please take a look at the following webpage containing a video of his emotional plea for help: http://tinyurl.com/mhej88u.

One striking quote from this article is able to put the magnitude of this storm in context for the many people who have never heard of Vanuatu before: “Tom Skirrow of Save the Children said the logistical challenges were even worse than after Super Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 7,350 people.”  Several organizations including Save the Children, UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Oxfam along with the governments of Australia and New Zealand have already begun helping Vanuatu recover; however, this process will be arduous regardless of how much aid is given.  The entire country must be rebuilt.

A home damaged by Cyclone Pam, outside Port-Vila, Vanuatu. Reports said that about 90 percent of the housing in Port-Vila had been damaged.
Credit Unicef Pacific, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


My Connection 

I spent the summer of 2013 working for the Vanuatu Cultural Center in the Tafea Province (Southern Vanuatu).  My role as a research assistant on an archaeological expedition gave me the unique opportunity to work alongside many Ni-Vanuatu in the field and get to know them personally.  Over the course of our field season, we lived and worked in three locations: Isangel and Kwamera on the island of Tanna, and Port Narvin on the island of Erromango.  Each of these villages has left a lasting impression on me and I fear for my many friends that are still there.

Over the past few days, the only information about the status of the destruction in Southern Vanuatu—the area hardest hit by Cyclone Pam—has been the following:


Retweeted from Aurelia Balpe (@aureliabalpe), who is head of the Pacific office of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

1st report private fly-over Tanna&Erramngo, trees uprooted, no corrugated iron structures standing, no roofs on concrete blds, no H20 ‪#‎TCPam


As contacting any of my friends on the islands may be impossible for the coming months, I am eagerly awaiting more information and extremely motivated to do anything that I can to assist the relief effort.  At the moment, complete demolition of the islands’ infrastructure and permanent shelters are evident, there is no drinking water, and the death count is unknown.

Picture of our field crew on the rock beach near the excavation site at Potnuma, north of Port Narvin, Erromango.


Our Purpose

 This webpage will enable individuals to have a positive impact on the recovery of Vanuatu.  The relief effort is growing as more and more aid organizations are able to import supplies and establish themselves in the devastated nation.  Of these organizations, Oxfam Australia’s plan to address immediate needs will be particularly effective.

As an established global poverty fighting organization, Oxfam International is especially adept in providing relief in the wake of a disaster and has the capability to provide crucial supplies to those affected.  They have identified clean water, hygiene kits, and shelter as the most urgent needs to save lives in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.

The following is what they are able to provide:

·      $50 is enough to provide basic provisions including tarpaulin, water containers, soap and sanitary materials to families affected by a natural disaster.

·      $60 is enough to provide a toilet for 20 people in an area devastated by a natural disaster

·      $104 will provide a Food Survival pack to feed a family of six for four months

Of particular not on this list is Oxfam’s ability to provide a Food Survival pack.  This campaign will be focused on providing food security in the outer islands of Vanuatu.  Oxfam is unique in the sense that its Food Survival pack can feed a family of six for at least four months, and this package ensures food security for the receiving family even when the disaster has fallen out of the public eye.  That being said, three months is roughly the minimum amount of time to regrow some crops (i.e. manioc) while other regional food staples (yams, taro, bananas) may take up to a year.

The importance of these Food Survival packs cannot be overstated.  One major impact of Cyclone Pam has been the destruction of most of the subsistence farmers’ crops.  Outside of Efate, Ni-Vanuatu are dependent on whatever they can grow for what they eat, and now they have nothing.  According to the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid on March 16, at least 19,000 households need emergency food aid based on the storm’s path, but this number likely does not include a large number of households on islands where contact has not yet been made.


Our Publicity Plan

Please share this with everyone you know.  Additionally, over the next few weeks fundraising will be taking place at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA.  Our goal is to engage our community and get people talking about the tragedy of Cyclone Pam while empowering them to become agents for change in a community largely unaware of Vanuatu and the issues it is facing.  Updates will occur as our plan comes together, fundraising events are planned, new information is available about the relief effort, and milestones are achieved in our campaign.

Thank you for your interest, and please consider donating to this worthy cause.