Emergency Disaster Relief for Moturiki Fiji

Bula (hello) to all of our supporters!

Continual progress is being made and the communities are slowly getting themselves back on their feet.  While many continue to live in tents, they do have food and clean water now. Mostly they are helping each other.  The sweet potatoes are growing and coconuts are healing and beginning to bear again.  As I reported last time, we decided to focus on food security over building materials, in order to make better and more equitable use of limited funds.

We sent materials for four mobile rearing pens, which were put together on site, and the 300 chicks we initially sent are already out foraging, and so we can send more chicks as soon as the communities tell us they are ready.  We have had to send some feed, but the communities are becomng more self sufficient as they learn to make feed out of local resources. We are now growing morniga tree seedlings at the farm- to bring to the communities soon.  

Last month we sent materials for a chicken house for the Moturiki primary school, but we don't yet have enough reources to help the other three villages with this, so they are making do with damaged roofing iron and timber salvaged from the piles of hurricane generated rubble.   Koto our communtiy officer has recently viited the comunities for follow up and we will be posting that information as it comes in.  

We do have a great example of a local materials chicken house, with Global Vision International, the UK based volunteer group stationed on Caqalai island (Moturiki District).  Several from GVI were trained in Happy Chicken methods five months back, and they have raised up a hundred chicks to adulthood and are now getting increasing numbers of much prized eggs.  GVI is working wih their volunteers in the communities on issues of health, sanitation, and recontuction, and we are working with them. They recently opened up their "Happy Chicken Palace", a wonderful and creative chicken house and coop, with access to foraging.  The photos show that event, wtih community chiefs invited and with me a chief guest to cut the ribbon!  Great fun and good food too!   GVI Fijian staff in particular are educated in the happy chickens to the point where they can help with problem solving and advancement in the communitie.  Kolo and Taione are particularly shining stars in the project. 

Thanks again for your kind and generous support,

Loloma bibi,

Austin