Emergency Disaster Relief for Moturiki Fiji

Dear Donors and supporters,

A first matter of our relief work was the massive clean up that was required: trees blocked all the village footpaths and trails between the villages (there are no cars on Moturiki), and trees had also smashed into houses.  During our first visit, the communities requested chain saws, so we returned to Suva and bought three heavy duty excellent quality "Stihl" chain saws and distributed one each to the three villages.  We overspent the budget badly, but thankfully the funds came in later from your donations!  

Uluibau village borrowed the other two saws and used them to mill timber for reconstruction of houses, using the trunks of the felled trees- in particular the local "vesi" timber which is so strong and insect proof.  Many homes have now taken shape, with local timber and recycled tiber and with donations of roofing iron and nails from international aid agencies through the Fiji Government.  This has allowed us to place our focus on agricultural restoration, which was not getting any support from other agencies, rather than on building materials. 

Thus far we have been able to provide much needed sweet potato cuttings (a short three-month crop), pumpkin seeds, and peanut seeds to the villages.  We have also ordered and paid Fiji Agriculture for the transport and procurement of ten thousand improved coconut seedlings for rehabilitation of the damaged coconut plantations, which should arrive from Taveuni later this month. 

We also have a strategy to focus on small scale home poultry production, as we have additional resouces in our other Global Giving project:  Happy Chickens for Food Security and Environment.  We are now plannig a workshop for women from Moturiki Island, Tailevu province, and Koro Island on Happy Chickens for the disaster areas.  

Thanks again for your continued support!  

Austin, and the Corals for Conservation team