Vanuatu: Regrowing, rebuilding, still smiling

Kaltang and Aaron have big smiles; they’ve just spent the morning watching their Mum, Tamanu, work hard in their garden where small seedlings are sprouting.

It looks like a brand new vegetable patch; soil has been meticulously turned and seeds carefully planted.

It is only the fallen branches of nearby trees that hint this is not a new garden, rather a destroyed garden being replanted.

The island of Tanna was one of the hardest hit by Cyclone Pam in March, with villages flattened to the ground and gardens destroyed.

But looking at the new shoots on trees, repaired homes, and people’s smiles; Vanuatu is no longer a scene of devastation, it is a scene of hope.

The Naao family rely on their garden for food and also for profit. Cyclone Pam’s flooding rains and devastating winds made sure that nothing survived.

“The gardens were destroyed, but we started planting again one week after the cyclone,” said mother-of-six, Tamanu Naao.

“Some vegetables will take a short time to grow back, others a long time to grow back…but they will grow back.”  

Cyclone Pam may have brought out the worst of Mother Nature, but she brought out the best of human nature as the people of Vanuatu showed resilience and strength as they rebuilt.

Relief and development organisations who have a long-term presence in Vanuatu, such as World Vision, have been working closely with communities and the Government of Vanuatu to help rebuild.

Such organisations are working to ensure families have access to water, food and shelter, but also items like seeds and tools so families can re-establish livelihoods and rebuild lives.

Three months after Cyclone Pam and all around Vanuatu, families just like the Naao family, are rebuilding, regrowing and still smiling.