IsraAID brings aid to Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam
MFA 24 Mar 2015

On Friday, March 13, 2015, Tropical Cyclone Pam lashed down on Vanuatu with
category 5 conditions. On March 15, Vanuatu declared a state of emergency.
President Baldwin Lonsdale called for international support while at a
conference in Japan with UN agencies and IsraAID, stating, "I appeal on
behalf of the government and people of Vanuatu to the global community to
give a lending hand in responding to these very current calamities that have
struck us."

IsraAID responded immediately to the request, and dispatched an emergency
relief team to the area. In addition to traveling to Eratap to meet the
chief and assess the situation, the team also spent time in the capital city
of Port Vila to coordinate efforts with government officials and UN
agencies.

In a small makeshift shelter in the devastated village of Eratap, Mac and
Katie recount how they and their two children Kancy and little Clara managed
to survive the storm. "The cyclone howled so strongly, our children were
terrified," Mac recalls. The family was hoping to last out the storm in
their home, but Cyclone Pam, with its 320 kph winds was just too much. With
the roof caving in, the family somehow managed to escape to the local church
before the Cyclone flattened their home.

The most urgent needs outside of the capital remain drinking water and food,
and with access to remote islands hampering relief efforts, the situation is
becoming a race against the clock to save the lives of thousands dying of
starvation and thirst.

In the remote island of Tongoa in the Shepherds islands group, the situation
is beyond desperate, explained the island's representative to Parliament,
Mr. BM John Amos, as he appealed to Yotam Polizer, IsraAID's head of
mission, for support: "We have no supplies, no food, no clean water. Last
night three children died. Please help us."

The team wasted no time. A list was quickly put together, kits assembled,
and then moved to the harbor for loading. "There are so many islands here,
it's a logistical nightmare," explained Yotam as he moved boxes of water and
rice onto the boat. "The best thing we can do right now is respond to each
appeal as it comes and try and reach as many people as possible. Time is
against us but we will do whatever we can to help."

On Sunday (March 22), before dawn, the team will depart for Tongoa and hope
they can avoid more deaths there. During the coming week, more IsraAID
professionals will arrive, as the organization continues to support local
communities during this emergency.

Update March 24 - Tongoa: IsraAID brings relief by boat to remote islands in
Vanuatu

As the IsraAID team walked up the path, the chief of this small village on
the remote island of Tongoa broke down in tears, explaining "it's been ten
days since the disaster, and these are the first supplies we have received."
In this village of 42 households devoid of a road access, only four
structures remain standing, and starving locals lined up in the sun with
excitement as the IsraAID team, together with the Tongoa parliament
representative MP Mr. John Amos and a team of local volunteers, distributed
over 40 tons of rice, flour and drinking water.

The situation was the same all across the islands of Tongoa and Mataso, as
the IsraAID team travelled from village to village to distribute supplies to
struggling and desperate communities. In total, the team visited 12 villages
and all eight schools on the island - all were completely destroyed.

The IsraAID emergency relief team in Vanuatu (IsraAID)The reaction to the
team's country of origin - Israel - has also been a pleasant surprise:
"Everyone here loves Israel." In another village, when David, a man who lost
his house and whose water tank is now polluted heard that the team had come
from Israel, he excitedly picked up a damaged Bible from his ruined living
room, and opened to the page stating: "the light shines in the darkness."

As the team ended its first visit, they left with the promise to return, as
the entire island remains without clean water, food, medicine, electricity,
schools, homes, and their crops were destroyed. IsraAID will continue to
assist this and other remote islands in Vanuatu that are still reeling from
the destruction of Cyclone Pam. In the coming days a third team will leave
Israel, and will include medical and psycho-social staff, and a water
engineer.

IsraAID, founded in 2001, is Israel’s leading humanitarian non-profit,
non-governmental organization committed to providing life-saving disaster
relief and long term support. For over a decade, its teams of professional
medics, search & rescue squads, post-trauma experts and community
mobilizers, have been first on the front lines of nearly every major
humanitarian response in the 21st century, reaching over 1 million people in
25 countries. IsraAID offers training and support programs in both developed
and developing countries using Israel's unique know-how in the fields of
psychosocial support, education, agriculture and health. Today, IsraAID
conducts on-going training programs in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines,
Haiti, Kenya, Jordan and South Sudan.