Progress in Makogai: Another House Ready for Move-In This Week

Progress is being made in Makogai. This beach house will be home to two adults and six children. Best of all - they will be able to move in this week! WELL DONE TEAM!!!

World ARC Rally Boat, S/V AIN'T FANCY, Donates Solar Panels.

The World ARC Rally passed through Fiji recently and Dirk from S/V AIN’T FANCY donated these solar panels and a MPPT controller to Sea Mercy. The panels were installed on the pastor's roof in Avea Island by volunteers in the Recovery Fleet.

Thank you very much AIN’T FANCY for your generous contribution.

Solar power provides cost effective and eco-friendly power to the remote villages of Fiji. Solar panels are high on our list of needed donations so, if anyone happens to be replacing theirs, please keep Sea Mercy and the people of Fiji in mind. 

 

Landing Craft "SEA MERCY" Is Launched and Gets Right to Work!

Cobra Boats and Marine Engineering launches the landing craft "SEA MERCY".

Two 250 HP engines.

Looking good  - time to get supplies loaded and head out to Makogai.

and they are off to Makogai.

Time to unload at Makogai.

  

 The quad and trailer (also designed and built by Cobra Boats) will take it from here. The combination of these two machines saves so much time and allows Sea Mercy to be much more efficient in their work. Thank you again to all of those who made this possible!!

SV Perry: Blog Post About Their Experiences in the Lau Group

A lovely article from one of Sea Mercy's Disaster Recovery vessels (S/V Perry) operating in the Northern Lau Group of Fiji.

Without the captains and crews support and hearts to help, there would be thousands of remote islanders without food, shelter, water and most importantly... renewed hope.

There are hundreds of stories to be told by those who have participated in Fiji ) vessels, volunteers and sponsors) following Cyclone Winston of February 20th. Our thanks to everyone who has given so much to those in need on the remote islands

Crew of S/V Perry: Matt, Jen, Conrad and Mark

Needs Assessment Reports

As the needs assessments start coming in from the Recovery Fleet, there are four needs that are common to all:

1.  Clean drinking water

2.  Roofing/gutter materials to be able to collect drinking water on an on-going basis

3.  Lighting

4.  School books and supplies for K-8

Drinking water: Sea Mercy has been able to distribute at least 10 powered portable watermakers along with solar panels to power them. These units are essential to bridging the gaps until roofs can be rebuilt and rainwater collected. Solar power requires no fuel except the sun which is plentiful and free in Fiji.

Roofing/guttering: In addition to any wells or natural springs that may be nearby, rain water is collected by a guttering system on the roofs of homes and buildings and directed to storage tanks. Most roofs were destroyed and tanks damaged during Winston. Materials are needed to rebuild these systems in order to maintain a reliable water source.

Lighting: A few villages have a community generator that they run for a few hours at night. Each family pays a portion of the fuel costs for the generator. Some generators were damaged by the storm and some are just really old. Many villages have only solar panels for power but many of those were damaged by the storm as well. Sea Mercy has distributed a couple hundred LuminAid solar lights and they have been very much appreciated by all. We could use a couple hundred more lights at least!

School Books & Supplies: Most of the school buildings were completely destroyed or damaged beyond use. All of the books and school supplies in the buildings were also destroyed. They also  have need of books for the libraries.

Thank you all for your continued interest in the recovery process in Fiji. I will be updating the "Needs" list on the blog shortly but cash donations are still the most effective way to help the beautiful people of Fiji recovery from the fury of Winston.

The Sea Mercy Quad/Trailer Program Is a Huge Success! by Richard Hackett

As we see with any purchase decision, there were some doubts about certain aspects of the Sea Bridge program regarding value and needs. The purchase of the used Quad and trailer was one of them. After our first stop in Makogai and the School Rebuilding project there, we immediately saw the value.

The village and school sits 1/3 of a mile from the beach (1/2 kilometer) and with over 25 tons of lumber, poles, aluminum sheeting, concrete and paint coming, imagine having to carry each item by hand to the building location?

Every time the Landing Craft would bring a load of materials, the volunteers and villagers would smile and tell us over and over again, "thank you for the quad and trailer" (I know my back was happy for it).

We will be wrapping up the Landing Craft deliveries this week and will pull the quad and trailer back to Port Denarau for servicing and reassignment. Thank you Cobra boats for the specially designed trailer and the quad to pull it.

Blog Post from Amelie IV by Meghan

Crew of Amelie IV: Matthew, Mark, Meghan, Marie-Claude

Amelie IV is one of the boats in the Recovery Fleet operating in the Lomaiviti Islands. They sailed with the fleet from New Zealand and have been doing and experiencing many wonderful things here in Fiji. This family of four consists of Mark, Marie-Claude, Meghan(14) and Matthew(16). Matthew is autistic and I only mention this as it comes into play in Meghan's stories of their adventures in Avea.

These first-person accounts give valuable insight into the Fijian people and culture, current conditions and the rewards of volunteering. They highlight the impact Sea Mercy is currently making in these remote islands and serve as a reminder of how much more work there is to be done.

Read Meghan's account of their experiences so far in Fiji on their blog Sailing Amelie .