Terrible toll cuts deep
Behind Tofilau Henry PapaliiBourke’s smile you can see a deepening sadness as he counts out the number of children his funeral company has had to prepare.
In the space of two weeks, he has had to bury the equivalent of a classroom full of children.
Papalii-Bourke is the director of Ligaliga Fusi and Sons Funeral Services in Apia, a family-owned business which began in Auckland in 1983 and expanded to Samoa in 1994.
Since a measles outbreak took hold in Samoa, his funeral service has been busy preparing bodies of the young killed by the disease, building coffins and caring for the families of the young.
They haven’t had to prepare a body of an adult yet.
The Samoan Ministry of Health has confirmed that 60 people have now died of the virus which continues to kill the most vulnerable.
Fifty-four were children under the age of 15, while 25 were babies aged less than a year old. Three deaths have now been recorded for adults over the age of 19. The Samoan Government has ordered a two-day shutdown which begins today and will see the public and private sector closed as the country mobilises against the disease.
So far, Ligaliga Fusi and Sons Funeral Services has prepared 18 children for burial in the past two weeks. This includes both confirmed and suspected measles cases.
‘‘Twelve were confirmed and six were suspected – eight died at home,’’ Papalii-Bourke says.
‘‘We have offered this service for free for all the young ones. It’s something no parent ever wants to do. We are used to sending off our elderly people, people who have lived a full life, but when it’s kids, it’s a different state of emotion for families. You aren’t prepared for it, they’re just getting to know their babies that are just a few months old and then this. It’s not right.’’
The free service for families who have lost a young child includes embalming, a coffin and travel, as most of the children are taken back to their rural villages to be buried with their aiga (family) in family plots.
Further up the same road at Tofaga Malu Funeral Services, which specialises in coffins and hearses, they have run out of coffins for children.
Employee Mereane Apulu says they have had to order more in from America. The small display stands for children’s coffins are empty.
She says they have sold children’s coffins at a discounted price – seven in total have been sold.
‘‘We only have one coffin left and it’s an adult size,’’ she says.
In the space of two weeks, Tofilau Henry Papalii-Bourke has had to bury the equivalent of a classroom full of children.
‘‘It’s very sad. When the measles outbreak happened I put all my children in a room and wouldn’t let them out. Just wanted to keep them safe.’’
Papalii-Bourke is a father and has many nieces and nephews. As a matai (chief), he knew he had to act by giving back to his people.
Preparing the bodies of the young has brought back horrific memories for the funeral director who also worked through the 2009 tsunami, in which 149 people were killed.
‘‘It’s emotional because we have kids ourselves,’’ PapaliiBourke says.
‘‘And we have experienced this before, having to prepare children for burial during the tsunami. It brings back those memories and I’m just praying and hoping that it doesn’t get any worse.’’
When the outbreak spread, he says he knew he had to alleviate the pressure on families, many of whom are cash-strapped.
He believes poverty in the island nation is a factor in the measles epidemic. ‘‘This is a wake-up call for the people of Samoa and also the government, Samoa is a developing country,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s good that they take the vaccinations to the people. Poverty is the reason why a lot of people depend on traditional doctors and we shouldn’t disregard traditional medicine because it does serve a purpose and it helps in some ailments.
‘‘But then again some of the traditional doctors have to understand that there is no traditional method that has been proven to heal measles. The best advice is to have the kids vaccinated, and when they are sick take them directly to the hospital.’’