How locals led the recovery from the Vanuatu earthquake

My name is Andrew Nayo, and I am the Chairman of the council, here in Britano. On 17 December an earthquake devastated many communities in our main island of Efate.

Tragically, some lives were lost. Many homes were badly damaged, their gardens were destroyed, and their livelihoods taken away. Families are now struggling to put food on the table. Worst of all, our entire community lost access to clean water.

The pipe that provided our community of 130 houses with water was damaged in the earthquake. The six water taps we relied on were reduced to a dribble. So, people had to travel 15 kilometres to wash their clothes and fetch water to bring back to their families.

Not only was it a long trek with heavy water bottles, the water itself was not safe. It was mixed with the waste coming from people using the spring.

Then, a landowner cut our access to the spring and we had to rely on what rainwater we could collect in small containers. The only water tank was broken. We had to wait for rain to come for it to fill, and even then, the tank was not clean, and neither was the water. We had some food, but not enough, and many people were getting diarrhoea as a result. Some kids had scabies, and others were going hungry. That was the situation here following the earthquake.

When the earthquake struck, much of the aid and attention was focused on Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila. Many rural villages like Britano suffered just as badly, but as residents were left waiting for basic supplies, they feared being neglected and forgotten.

Relief came in the form of a team from Vanuatu Red Cross, the first on the scene in Britano. They quickly set about conducting a health assessment and distributing emergency water. They were the first people to help us, and offer my community something to hope for.

They quickly reported back to headquarters. Soon after, a team arrived to assess our needs. We told them, “We urgently need help to restore clean water.”

They brought us two 6,000-litre water tanks, and installed them on a solid foundation of rock and concrete. It was a difficult project, because our community is in a hard-to-access location with rocky ground – and getting permission to build required Britano community leaders to negotiate with landowners for permission to install the project.

The people in our small community are so grateful to get the two water tanks because we now have the most important thing we need to rebuild: clean water on site.

The Red Cross support in Britano was about more than just water. It was about recognising the experience and suffering of a community that felt forgotten by the outside world.