Yesterday we heard from Cedric Schuster, Coordinator of Greengrants’ Pacific Islands Advisory Board, who lives in Samoa. Cedric was in Boulder, Colorado, last week for Greengrants’ Global Advisor Retreat. Just after he returned home, the September 29th earthquake and tsunami hit, devastating southern Samoa where about 20 percent of the population resides. More than 120 are reported dead in Samoa.
Cedric reports that while he and his family are safe and made it up to the mountains to escape the waves, one of his friends lost 12 members of her family. Today he is delivering supplies—water, food, clothing, and tents—to displaced survivors, contributing to a large international relief effort.
While international aid is effectively reaching many right now, Cedric expects that the Pacific Islands Advisory Board will look to support communities dealing with rebuilding and other challenges once aid begins to slow down in several weeks’ time. Over the next week, he is planning to visit some of the communities that Greengrants has supported to assess their needs. Cedric and the Advisory Board will coordinate future Greengrants support with the Samoan National Disaster Relief Committee.
If you would like to support these communities in Samoa, please contact us. We will be posting additional updates from both Samoa and Indonesia as we receive them from our colleagues.