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YWAM provides relief after tsunami in Samoa

“It has been a full-on ten days since the tsunami here in Samoa,” says YWAM Samoa director Usufono Fepuleai. He, his staff, and Discipleship Training School (DTS) students have been extremely busy going out almost daily to aid victims. “We work from 5am until mid-afternoon clearing the land for the village people staying in make-shift homes.”

The ongoing relief work needed in Western Samoa is enormous since the tsunami left approximately 4,000 people homeless, several hundred injured and nearly 200 dead. The same tsunami also swept over American Samoa on 29 September. Damage was not as extensive as Western Samoa, but still there were close to 40 people who died, and 2,000 made homeless. Considering the small size and population of both islands, this is a catastrophic loss for the nation. YWAM affiliate Li'a Se'ui is helping to bring trauma counselling to affected families in American Samoa.
The same tsunami in three successive waves also reached as far as Niuatoputapu in Northern Tonga on 30 September. Nearly 1,000 people live on this island: nine were killed and several injured. Current assessment of the island shows nearly 80 per cent of the island was severely damaged, including water tanks, much food, and medical supplies. In the days following the disaster rescue aid teams from Tonga and foreign countries have come to their assistance.

Meanwhile in Western Samoa Usufono and his YWAM team work tirelessly to help victims, pray, and listen to stories. “Some of the stories are amazing and sad,” Usufono relates. One miracle happened for a family who was told they lost their 18-month-old son when the storm descended. To their amazement, five hours after the tsunami they found him alive on the beach with merely a broken arm. Usufono says, “There is a mixture of relief, sadness, and pain for everyone in Samoa, as everyone’s family has been affected in one way or another.” Missionary/teacher Katharina Kopp says, “We had a memorial service for the people who died. Seeing all those wreaths being laid down made the number come more to life. It is really sad for our country.”

YWAM Samoa wants to thank numerous individuals for giving sacrificially to help, including friends in Tauranga who are currently loading a 20-foot container with all sorts of donated goods for Samoan relief. The Salvation Army of New Zealand also supplied a much needed truck to carry supplies.

Disaster relief will be an on-going focus in Samoa and Nuiatoputapu for a long time. They need builders, plumbers and electricians, as well on-going medical help. Two YWAM-based teams have come to help already: Rescuenet Australia (a search and rescue immediate response team) and a Marine Reach Medical Team, which has travelled to remote places tending injured people.

Usufono says “I want to first of all thank you for your prayers for our YWAM family here in Samoa and for the people of our nation. We will set up an office in town to facilitate relief help from and through YWAM international and friends of YWAM so we can see to it that the people affected will be served”

For more, visit www.ywam.org


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