Help Us Honour Our Granddad’s Memory

Dear friends, family, and community,

We are reaching out with heavy hearts and a humble request to honour the memory of our dearly loved granddad, Pr Mapusaga Faraimo.

On the day of Granddad’s burial, the Faraimo family arrived to lay him to rest, only to face a heartbreaking and unexpected situation. Logan City Council had assigned a burial plot between two existing graves. While the location might not have seemed unusual at first, we quickly realised it was far from suitable. Less than half an hour before we reached the burial site, Logan City Council’s maintenance team informed the funeral home who then informed us that the ground was unstable, with the walls on either side of Granddad’s grave already collapsing, supported only by wall stabilisers. With family and friends who had travelled from interstate and overseas to honour Granddad, this left us in an extremely difficult position, and so, with heavy hearts, we made the unsettling decision to proceed with the burial.

Emotions ran high as our pallbearers lowered Granddad to his grave, but even with the wall stabilisers, the graves on either side began collapsing into his, creating an unstable and undignified resting place. It was heartbreaking as we worked quickly to prevent further complications, and deeply traumatising for everyone involved. We couldn’t offer the service we had envisioned, nor could we honour his legacy as we would have wished.

After this distressing experience, we contacted the funeral home to reach out to the Logan City Council to discuss moving Granddad to a more stable and respectful location. Unfortunately, Logan City Council advised that if we wished to re-inter him elsewhere, all expenses would fall on us. They are arguing that we had the option to postpone the burial that day. However, with not enough advance warning, and with loved ones present and a service prepared, postponement was nearly impossible.

Now, with no assistance from the council, we are turning to our community for support. Our hope is to give Granddad the dignified resting place he deserves, one where his family and friends can visit in peace. We wish for him to be honoured as he should be, in a site that reflects the respect and love he earned as a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and respected figure in the Samoan Seventh Day Adventist community.

This GoFundMe aims to cover the costs of moving our grandfather to a new burial site, free from collapsing graves. Below is the breakdown of the necessary funds:

• $6,800 – Exhumation fee (specialist team)

• $3,603 – Logan City Council exhumation fee (to exhume Granddad’s current plot)

• $3,007 – Opening of new gravesite (to exhume Granddad’s new plot)

All funds will go towards hiring a specialist exhumation team (legally required on-site), the exhumation from his current grave plot, the preparation of his new plot, and transport to his new resting place. We know times are tough, but any contribution—big or small—will help us give our grandfather the resting place he deserves. If you’re unable to contribute financially, sharing this campaign with others would mean the world to us.

Thank you for reading our story, for your compassion, and for helping us give our granddad the final resting place he deserves.

We are forever grateful.

With love and gratitude,

The Faraimo Family ❤️