Nehrbass' Cyclone Pam Tanna Relief
Donation protected
PURPOSE OF THIS COLLECTION: to collect funds to get nails and food to the people of Southwest Tanna.
More about our story:
For ten years we called Tanna, Vanuatu our home. The people in our village and surrounding area became like family to us as they took us in and taught us how to live in their remote, untouched paradise. Our Tanna family supported us when our children were very sick and we them when illnesses and injuries struck their families. We grew to know each other very well as we labored together in the daunting task of translating the New Testament into the Southwest Tanna language. Our hearts will always be in Tanna.
On March 13-14, category 5 Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu. It was the largest storm ever to make landfall in the South Pacific. It destroyed nearly all the homes and gardens on 20 + of the 82 islands in Vanuatu, including our island home, Tanna. It is now two weeks later and we STILL have not heard directly from our village, not for lack of trying. Communications were wiped out by Pam. Restoring service to such a remote place is, obviously, a challenge.
We heard indirectly through SIL Directors, Greg and Beth Ann Carlson, that all the translation teams reported to local VBT Chairman, Pastor Joshua that all of their gardens were destroyed and homes flattened. We know this includes our translators in Yanemilen Vilej, and we assume it includes the village as a whole. We assume that if there were serious injuries that these would have been included in this report. So, we are praising God that everyone seems to be safe even though our friends' homes and sources of food were completely destroyed. From images I found on satellite, it appears that the church we all built in 2006 out of timber, plywood and iron roofing withstood the wrath of Pam and acted as a refuge for the village. Satellite images also show that most, if not every one of the local-material houses were flattened. Our house looks to have lost at least the back wall, garage, porch and perhaps part of the roof.
Our friends in Tanna are incredibly hard-working and resilient. They know how to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. They know how to make do with very little.
It has been hard to get a clear idea of what exactly is happening on the ground in Vanuatu. I have been slow in posting a link like this because I wanted to have a clear idea of how we can be most helpful to the ni-Vanuatu who are trying to rebuild their lives. The Vanuatu National aid effort has been very well-organized and executed, though at first many were worried that the food would never come.
*If you are interested in helping the immediate National Aid effort in Vanuatu, you can do so through trusted organizations like
- World Vision: http://donate.worldvision.org/cyclone-pam-relief-fund
- Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/emergency-response-to-tropical-cyclone-pam/#donateBottom (look for the "donate now" link)
*If you are interested in helping get resources specifically to the hands of the Southwest Tanna people, this goFUNDme site is for YOU. The goal National relief effort is to get those impacted by Pam back on their feet with relief food for now and gardens which should start yeilding crops in 3 months from now. They are also distributing tarps for temporary shelter. We are collecting here to be able to get things like nails to rebuild housing, food, and other needed items into the hands of the people we have all grown to know and love. We plan to get nails to "our" people right away and be on the ready to provide food once the national effort wanes a bit.
More about our story:
For ten years we called Tanna, Vanuatu our home. The people in our village and surrounding area became like family to us as they took us in and taught us how to live in their remote, untouched paradise. Our Tanna family supported us when our children were very sick and we them when illnesses and injuries struck their families. We grew to know each other very well as we labored together in the daunting task of translating the New Testament into the Southwest Tanna language. Our hearts will always be in Tanna.
On March 13-14, category 5 Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu. It was the largest storm ever to make landfall in the South Pacific. It destroyed nearly all the homes and gardens on 20 + of the 82 islands in Vanuatu, including our island home, Tanna. It is now two weeks later and we STILL have not heard directly from our village, not for lack of trying. Communications were wiped out by Pam. Restoring service to such a remote place is, obviously, a challenge.
We heard indirectly through SIL Directors, Greg and Beth Ann Carlson, that all the translation teams reported to local VBT Chairman, Pastor Joshua that all of their gardens were destroyed and homes flattened. We know this includes our translators in Yanemilen Vilej, and we assume it includes the village as a whole. We assume that if there were serious injuries that these would have been included in this report. So, we are praising God that everyone seems to be safe even though our friends' homes and sources of food were completely destroyed. From images I found on satellite, it appears that the church we all built in 2006 out of timber, plywood and iron roofing withstood the wrath of Pam and acted as a refuge for the village. Satellite images also show that most, if not every one of the local-material houses were flattened. Our house looks to have lost at least the back wall, garage, porch and perhaps part of the roof.
Our friends in Tanna are incredibly hard-working and resilient. They know how to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. They know how to make do with very little.
It has been hard to get a clear idea of what exactly is happening on the ground in Vanuatu. I have been slow in posting a link like this because I wanted to have a clear idea of how we can be most helpful to the ni-Vanuatu who are trying to rebuild their lives. The Vanuatu National aid effort has been very well-organized and executed, though at first many were worried that the food would never come.
*If you are interested in helping the immediate National Aid effort in Vanuatu, you can do so through trusted organizations like
- World Vision: http://donate.worldvision.org/cyclone-pam-relief-fund
- Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/emergency-response-to-tropical-cyclone-pam/#donateBottom (look for the "donate now" link)
*If you are interested in helping get resources specifically to the hands of the Southwest Tanna people, this goFUNDme site is for YOU. The goal National relief effort is to get those impacted by Pam back on their feet with relief food for now and gardens which should start yeilding crops in 3 months from now. They are also distributing tarps for temporary shelter. We are collecting here to be able to get things like nails to rebuild housing, food, and other needed items into the hands of the people we have all grown to know and love. We plan to get nails to "our" people right away and be on the ready to provide food once the national effort wanes a bit.
Organizer
Mendy Stone Nehrbass
Organizer
Fountain Valley, CA