A humanitarian team from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently travelled to Vanuatu to bring aid and to consult with local Church leaders with respect to determining the next steps needed to help those impacted by Cyclone Pam.
This is the second group from the Church to travel to Vanuatu to assess needs and coordinate aid. The first team returned to Auckland from Vanuatu 21 March after a week of organising and assisting in disaster relief efforts.
Team member Hans Sorensen, the Church's area welfare manager, on his second excursion since the cyclone, said the primary aim was to meet with government officials and other aid agencies to offer the Church’s help and develop stronger links and partnerships where needed. They also wanted to open the way for the arrival of two containers of root crops donated by Latter-day Saints in Tonga and Samoa for the people of Vanuatu.
Another one of the primary tasks for this team was to assess the needs of Efate Island and help in shipping much needed supplies to Tanna, one of the islands hardest hit by Cyclone Pam.
According to Hans Sorensen, “The food distribution in Efate is going well. People have returned, by and large, to their communities and are re-building their lives. We believe Efate is ready to move from the response to the recover stage.”
The team arrived on Tanna Island 30 March to assess needs of the people and check the availability of food from local food retailers in the main town of Lenakel, with the hope that purchasing locally would help Tanna Island economically.
Food was purchased locally and its distribution was organised by local Church leaders. “The day we left Tanna, 2 April, the mood of the members had changed considerably,” said Mr Sorensen. “They were smiling, laughing. Hope had chased away the fear and many a tear was shed as we looked into hungry yet grateful eyes.”
According to Sorensen, the food should last for at least 5 weeks.
To date, the humanitarian team has made contact with and built good relationships with several other aid agencies. “I feel a good bond with those we have met and offered to help or work together with,” said Mr Sorensen.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides relief and development projects for humanitarian purposes in countries all over the world. Projects operate without regard to the nationality or religion of the recipients.