In March 2015, I was in Port Vila while it was smashed by a massive category 5 cyclone named Pam. Winds reached over 300km/h, and homes were literally ripped apart.
(By some kind of miracle, the house I was in was totally undamaged).
In the days following, I was privileged to be a very small part of bringing relief to some of the people impacted by this catastrophic weather event. Outside of the city, where buildings were less sturdy, the damage was astonishing. Entire villages were flattened, sand covered coastal roads, gardens were totally destroyed and livelihoods lost. Continue reading →