Vanuatu

The majority of the community’s population of 136 people sheltered in evacuation centres during Cyclone Pam.

For community elder Meseb Homen, aged 62, the extent of the damage caused by the cyclone and flood is something he will never forget.

“I remembered the morning after Pam I came back and saw water everywhere, some houses flattened and as the day went by the water became mud and covered water wells, houses and gardens,” he said.

He said a few hours before Cyclone Pam struck, five men in the community had agreed not to evacuate for fear of looters.

Long dispela de long 2015 Vanuatu ibin bungim strongpela na bikpela cyclone PAM, em oli tok ibin wanpela stronpela cyclone na bikpela cyclone tru long kam long wanpela kantri long Pacific,na tu ibin wanpela bikpela bagarap tru long kamap long histry blong Vanuatu. 

Samting olsem 15 pipol lusim laif blong ol,na planti ol arapela pipol ibin kisim bagarap...wantaim tu planti  tausen haus blong pipol , ol skul na ol arapela bilding ibin kisim bagarap long dispela strongpela win.

The event was staged as part of the CNOSF's "Playdagogie - values of Olympism" initiative, which was first launched in Paris in January and aims to engage, educate and inspire youth through sport.

The project has been developed in conjunction with Play International, UNICEF and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee.

It uses the "Playdagogie" training technique, which aims to help children learn and grow through play, with the scheme designed to use games and sport to help youngsters build knowledge and develop life skills. 

The category five storm caused major damage to the island chain, all but wiping out tourist infrastructure like hotels and resorts.

Vanuatu's Tourism Minister, Joe Natuman, told Pacific Beat the industry is climbing back but it's not an easy task after something as devastating as Cyclone Pam.

Natuman says a lot of the hotels and resorts had to struggle and use their own resources to come up again.

He adds Vanuatu had to do a lot of campaigning in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia which are the main source markets to attract tourists back to Vanuatu.

But Caroline Mason saw the need for quilts.

“I started seeing it on television and the news, people lying on the ground with just pieces of tin over them, and I just thought, 'I wonder if I can do something’,” she said.

The ABC reports the grandmother from New Zealand started by collecting donations from her local quilt club, and asking friends to sew some simple bed covers.

But once she discovered how easy it was, she broadened her scope, and contacted all the clubs she could find across the country to ask for donations.

However, the Malampa Revivors’ captain gives full credit for his development as a player and leader to the support and pure drive of his young but devoted football club.

The towering 25-year-old joined the Luganville-based club when it was established in 2010 and has never looked back, wearing the blue shirt when the side became the most successful Ni-Vanuatu football club outside Port Vila, qualifying for the 2017 edition of Oceania’s premier club competition.

“The past seven years there has been good,” he said.

The Daily Post reported that Mr Germain had discussions with the Port Vila Municipality Council about bilateral aid and economic exchanges between Vanuatu's capital and the French territory.

Vila's Lord Mayor Ulrich Sumptoh said that his city and New Caledonia had enjoyed strong diplomatic relations over the years, resulting in Port Vila establishing sister city relations with Dumbea and Lifou.

This included a New Caledonian police mentoring programme for some members of the Port Vila Municipal Wardens.

The programme was set to expand in the Port Vila municipality.

Some 15 people lost their lives, many more were injured and thousands of homes, schools and other buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Pacific Beat reports the National Disaster Management office says it will likely be another two years before the country will be completely recovered, to the dismay of many.

But NDMO director Shadrack Welegtabit says it's important not to rush the rebuilding process if Vanuatu wants its communities to be able to withstand the next storm.

Infrastructure constructed in Vanuatu now must be able to withstand a category 5 cyclone.

A new kindergarten has opened after the old one was destroyed when Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu two years ago today.

World Vision built a cyclone-resistant kindergarten to replace the one destroyed by the cyclone Pam.

The building is also designed to be used as an evacuation centre where families can shelter safely in the event of future cyclones.

Joe Siri, the kindergarten chairman of almost three years, said the new building is a dream come true.

To mark the second anniversary of Tropical Cyclone Pam, I want to give the people of Vanuatu an account of where Australia’s contribution is making an impact.

I was not in Vanuatu during Tropical Cyclone Pam but I was actively involved in Canberra in determining how Australia could assist Vanuatu’s response.

Our first and foremost concern following a crisis of the scale of Tropical Cyclone Pam was for the lives and wellbeing of those affected.