Fiji rebuilds
At times life is hard but what else can we do or where can we go? It seems as if it was only a week ago. I still remember every scary second of that day.
her second child. She told the Herald the new baby had brought happiness back to her home.
“I was affected then and now things are back to normal. At times life is hard but what else can we do or where can we go? “This is our home.” Pastor Mike Naisau from the C3 Church works closely with the Lovu Seaside community.
He said that, like Bano, most of the villagers had rebuilt their homes.
“Some have rebuilt even better houses. No one left the area. Other people are actually moving in.”
The village is an informal settlement about half an hour north of Nadi.
It is home to about 1500 people but it’s not an official village so its people get nothing from the Government.
However, after Winston the Government did provide for them, sending in food rations, tarpaulins, tents and some building materials.
“The general feeling [in the village] was that it was another disaster and life must go on,” Naisau said. “I think you saw that people were smiling while being interviewed [in 2016]. Their spirits are still high and things have normalised.”
Winston is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in Fiji and the South Pacific Basin in recorded history and killed 44 people.
International aid agencies mobilised quickly — Oxfam, Red Cross, Tear Fund, World Vision, Unicef, Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army to name a few — getting much-needed aid to the devastated areas.
The New Zealand Government committed $15 million to help deal with the aftermath of the disaster, with much of the money earmarked for reconstruction, such as rebuilding schools and medical facilities, as well as helping reboot the local economy.
More than 500 defence personnel were also sent to Fiji with hundreds of tonnes of aid in one of the biggest peacetime deployments New Zealand has undertaken.
North of Lovu Seaside is Rakiraki, one of the villages hardest hit by Winston.
The Herald met Salesh Kumar in the rubble of his home, where two nights before he lay over his elderly mother to protect her from debris from the collapsing roof as the cyclone tore the building apart.
His wife and daughter wriggled under a bed in the living room, clinging to the legs for their lives as it lifted in the wind and the rain pelted down.
Kumar lost everything and was faced with a huge debt — three weeks before the cyclone he had taken out a large loan to replace the roof of the family home.
A year on, the family are still trying to rebuild their lives and their home.
“A year after Winston . . . it seems as if it was only a week ago,” Kumar said. “I still remember every scary second of that day.”
He said he had nightmares about the cyclone for a long time but the psychological impact was finally fading.
“We now have learned to appreciate life much, much more.”
Kumar and his Read more stories and watch the videos at nzherald.co.nz wife, Premila, live with his mother, Vitya Wati, now 77, daughter Priyashna, 18, and another daughter.
“We still have not been able to rebuild our house,” Kumar told the Herald from Rakiraki this week.
“The labour rate is killing us. A normal guy who used to work for $15 a day is now demanding $5 per hour or even more. We have talked to so many carpenters but none of them are wanting anything less than $25,000.”
He said the Government had given him a $7000 grant to buy building materials, which he appreciated. But it was not enough. “But we also know there are so many other people affected and as such, our heartfelt thanks to the Government for the assistance,” Kumar said.
Wati, who has health complicati-
Hons, has been the centre of the family since Winston struck.
“My mum is doing just great,” Kumar said.
“Even at the height of Winston when I was covering her on the sofa, I didn’t let her realise what actually was going on, I kept joking with her, distracting her.
“I remember at one point when I thought perhaps we would die soon or get seriously injured because stuff was falling over, she was smiling and saying, ‘I am hungry let’s go eat dinner.’
“I felt like crying but actually was happy that she doesn’t realise the seriousness of the situation.
“Now mum is fit and fine and happy, thanks to my lovely wife and daughters ... love can turn all disasters into a heaven.”
After Winston, Kumar was worried that Priyashna would not finish her schooling. The top scholar lost all her textbooks and her school was destroyed.
But she is finishing her last year at high school and was helped by two New Zealanders to replace her books.
“She scored 379 out of 400 in her form six exam last year and is the head girl of the school this year, so she has done well despite Winston.”
Kumar said life might never be the same after Winston, but he was determined to carry on.
“Life after Winston is anything but normal, but I guess life needs to go on, and where there is love in a family, everything is going to be okay.
“We are stronger than Winston. We have adjusted to what we have on hand, and we are happy. Me and my wife’s priority are my mum and our two cute daughters and all three of them are doing good.”
“The last 12 months have been hard, but with the assistance from the Government and our well-wishers, life is okay.”
Kumar hopes to start rebuilding his family home by the end of the month.
“I will start and see how far I go. I also have to keep in mind that the house should be strong enough to withstand strong hurricanes.”
He wanted to thank everyone who had helped his family during the past year including the New Zealanders who donated money and supplies.
“I wish to wholeheartedly thank all friends and families for the help and support during the year, bless you all.” 5” Super AMOLED HD screen 1. 2GHz quad core processor