The 29 September 2009 earth-quake and subsequent tsunami devastated Samoa, causing the loss of more than 100 lives and the destruction of entire villages.
Presbyterian churches responded to the disaster with an outpouring of prayer and practical support, including fundraising events, supporting appeals by aid agencies, and filling shipping containers with useful supplies. Our Pacific Island Presbyterian congregations were deeply affected by the disaster and responded generously; PIPC Newtown collected donations totaling $15,500 just for the Red Cross appeal.
Some of our health, engineering and building professionals worked voluntarily in tsunami-ravaged Samoa for weeks and months at a time. Army chaplain Ra Koia went to Samoa with the NZ Defence Response Team. A doctor, dentist, dental assistant and six young people, all from St Paul’s Presbyterian in Invercargill, joined a Youth with a Mission Samoa-bound relief ship; when they arrived, the health professionals found such demand they worked 12-hour days for several weeks. The youth group also had full days and nights entertaining children and painting school playground equipment.
Ross Copeland, a member of Greenlane Presbyterian Church, Auckland, used his civil engineering expertise to make a significant difference. Sponsored by his employer Mainzeal Property and Construction, Ross spent two weeks in Samoa heading up New Zealand aid organisation Engineers without Borders’ work to restore the country’s main fresh water pipeline, which runs along the southwest coast of Samoa’s main island, Upolu. Ninety per cent of the pipeline was badly damaged in the quake.
Ross left for Samoa less than five days after the tsunami, and Greenlane Presbyterian asked him for advice on the most useful help they could give. Ross suggested the church purchase a much-needed electricity generator for the Engineers without Borders water restoration project. Greenlane bought the $2,500 Honda generator using a combination of its funds and a special collection, as well as raising other money to send.
Ross says that the church’s generosity continues to help those most affected by the tsunami; at the end of the water project, the generator was passed onto Habitat for Humanity to assist those volunteering their time building houses for the homeless. Habitat hopes to build four houses a day, eventually housing 450 families.
Shortly after arriving in Samoa, Ross phoned Greenlane Presbyterian to ask if anyone could help with a problem: he had found a volcanic lake and wanted to know if the volcanic water could be made safe to drink. The Rev Heather Coster says, “this request threw us at first; it was a real learning curve as it wasn’t an area any of us knew anything about. So we did research, contacted scientists and found out that it was indeed possible to make the volcanic water drinkable.”
In March, Ross will return to Samoa with engineers from UNICEF Australia to review the situation and follow up on new water system design options.
He says that after two weeks of intense restoration, the pipeline still had some problems. “There is a limited time the water pump can operate each day as it can overheat, and also if too much fresh water is drawn, salt water enters the lens and makes the water brackish. Another cause for concern is leakage from cracks caused to the pipe by the earthquake and illegal connections”.
Finding new sources of drinking water is another challenge, Ross says. “Residents from affected villages have moved inland to higher ground, and these displaced villagers are building houses where there’s no water infrastructure in place to meet the new sudden demand.”
Ross says that the main pipeline could not have been repaired without generous support from small organisations, including Greenlane Presbyterian, as well as sponsorship from large companies such as Mainzeal Property and Construction, donations of $56,000 worth of fittings and valves from Hynds Pipe Systems and more than $90,000 of pipe line from Marley New Zealand. Two plumbers, Sean Walker and Troy Rayner, were supplied by DL Good Plumbing of Auckland.
By Angela Singer