File pictureInternational agency Oxfam is sending an emergency response team to Samoa today to help meet the urgent needs of people affected by yesterday’s tsunami.
Oxfam will be working alongside its Samoan partner organisation, Women in Business Development Inc. (WIBDI), in Apia, to prepare for an appropriate and co-ordinated response.
Director of WIBDI, Adimaimalaga Tafunai, based in Apia, said they have three teams out today assessing urgent needs and delivering water, food and clothing to those worst affected, and welcoming the arrival of Oxfam staff with their humanitarian expertise.
“The devastation is frightening,” says Tafunai. “Every family has been affected. One of my staff members has lost 13 members of her family.”
Oxfam and WIBDI are working closely with the Red Cross, UN agencies and Samoa’s National Disaster Management Office.
Oxfam expects to help coordinate the supply of clean water and sanitation and has emergency supplies on hand for up to 10,000 people once the specific needs are identified. These include: buckets, tarpaulins, hygiene kits and mosquito nets.
More than 120 people were killed when a series of tsunamis triggered by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake swept across the South Pacific. At least 100 people were killed in Samoa. An unknown number of tourists from New Zealand and Australian, who were holidaying in Samoa, were suspected to have died.
Oxfam will be working alongside its Samoan partner organisation, Women in Business Development Inc. (WIBDI), in Apia, to prepare for an appropriate and co-ordinated response.
Director of WIBDI, Adimaimalaga Tafunai, based in Apia, said they have three teams out today assessing urgent needs and delivering water, food and clothing to those worst affected, and welcoming the arrival of Oxfam staff with their humanitarian expertise.
“The devastation is frightening,” says Tafunai. “Every family has been affected. One of my staff members has lost 13 members of her family.”
Oxfam and WIBDI are working closely with the Red Cross, UN agencies and Samoa’s National Disaster Management Office.
Oxfam expects to help coordinate the supply of clean water and sanitation and has emergency supplies on hand for up to 10,000 people once the specific needs are identified. These include: buckets, tarpaulins, hygiene kits and mosquito nets.
More than 120 people were killed when a series of tsunamis triggered by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake swept across the South Pacific. At least 100 people were killed in Samoa. An unknown number of tourists from New Zealand and Australian, who were holidaying in Samoa, were suspected to have died.
