Ipayato Village, Vanuatu

On April 6 a Category 5 cyclone, TC Harold, hit the shores of Vanuatu’s largest island Espiritu Santo. Sadly we heard yesterday that along with damaging many other parts of Vanuatu, Wils’ home village of Ipayato on the South Coast of Santo was hit incredibly hard. The village is 3 hours south of Luganville, and is accessible only by 4WD river crossings. Communications are still intermittent but we do know, thankfully, that there have been no deaths in the family. News beyond that is not good. The family are completely self sufficient, but it’s hard to feed yourself or rebuild when the environment you utilize has also been destroyed. At this stage there is no road access but hopefully when the rivers subside we will better understand what they need to get back on their feet. The current travel restrictions mean Wils can’t get home to help, but we’re in touch when possible with the extended family in Vanuatu and would like to help them however we can from here. Unfortunately at this stage the only thing we can offer is financial support as there is no feasible way to get hard goods to them, but if/when that changes we will make the most of it. We understand this is a financially challenging time for many people, but if you can possibly manage it, any donations would be gratefully received. On a personal note, this family, my family, welcomed me with literally hundreds of open arms (refer the family photo) and my heart is broken for them, especially Wils who feels helpless.