SBC DR on the ground in American Samoa
By Mickey Noah
|
|
Wearing their trademark yellow caps, Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers Patrick Underwood (left), Oahu, and David Whitehead (right), Big
Island, show American Samoan islanders in the village of Masefau how to
purify their water following the recent tsunami that devastated the island. Photo by Terry Henderson. |
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (BP) – Terry Henderson, operations consultant for disaster relief for the North American Mission Board, has joined a team of local Baptists and volunteers from Hawaii to assess the damage from the recent earthquake and tsunami that devastated American Samoa.
“While the tsunami did extensive damage, the team was surprised to see how quickly the people of American Samoa began cleaning up the devastation,” Henderson reports.
Henderson, three DR volunteers from the Honolulu-based Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention – Patrick Underwood, David Whitehead and Chris Martin – and Don Gann, DR consultant from the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, arrived in Pago Pago and were led on a tour of the island by Elise Tafao, director of Baptist Missions for American Samoa and pastor of Happy Valley Baptist Church in Pago Pago.
Following the tour, the SBC disaster relief team met with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and ASVOAD (American Samoan Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters) to determine the focus of the government and non-government agencies’ planned response. ASVOAD has identified five of the neediest communities; FEMA has provided two-person, dome tents for the homeless; and the American Red Cross is distributing disaster relief supplies.
Because counseling for affected children has been designated as a priority, NAMB’s Henderson said disaster relief chaplains who have the ability to relate to children are needed. Children who experienced the tsunami continue to show signs of post-traumatic stress.
Clean water to drink is also a top need, Henderson said, because while water is available in most locations, Samoans are unwilling to boil the water because “they have precious little money and can’t afford to use their propane fuel just for boiling water.”
Henderson reports that SBC disaster volunteers purified water in the village of Masefau on Oct. 19.
“Pastor Tafao is interested in transporting water purification units into the hard-hit areas,” said Henderson. “Where and while the water is being purified, Baptist church members and disaster relief workers can minister to the people.”
Tafao said there is an ongoing need for the contribution of cooking and eating utensils, pots and pans for cooking, and children’s clothes since many Samoan residents lost all personal belongings in the tsunami.
According to Tafao, six of the 31 tsunami victims were Southern Baptists, members of three churches in the South Pacific Baptist Association.
The Seafarers Ministry Center, an SBC ministry located in Pago Pago’s harbor district, was totally destroyed by the tsunami. All that remains of the center is its concrete shell. As a result, NAMB Mission Service Corps missionaries Joeli and Tupe Sovea lost both their home and their workplace.
Tafao said negotiations on a replacement facility for a new Seafarers Ministry Center – close to the original one – are complete and that the Soveas and their three children have already moved in. Through the center, the Soveas minister to sailors – especially those on Chinese and Russian fishing vessels – docked in the Pago Pago harbor. Pago Pago is home to the largest tuna canneries in the world.
The Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention has established a fund for individuals and organizations wanting to support relief efforts in American Samoa. Donations may be mailed to the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, Samoa Disaster Relief Fund, 2042 Vancouver Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.
Donations can also be made through NAMB’s disaster relief web site, www.namb.net/dr.
Mickey Noah is news consultant for the North American Mission Board.
More News ...
| 
