Alice Keke and Ruth Keber during the final lunch with Sorovanga Primary and NZRV. Photo/Luke Tyrrell
Alice Keke and Ruth Keber during the final lunch with Sorovanga Primary and NZRV. Photo/Luke Tyrrell
Bay of Plenty Times photojournalist Ruth Keber was in Vanuatu as part of the New Zealand Vanuatu Rebuild team for nearly two weeks. Today she shares her final thoughts on her experience in the devastated third-world nation
I have been back in New Zealand just over a week after the whirl-wind adventure with New Zealand Vanuatu Rebuild - in which all of my senses were overloaded.
Now I am home it is a relief to know a glass of water from the tap is not going to make me sick and the insects flying past me are not going to give me malaria.
From the smoke which choked capital city Port Vila dawn to dusk, to tasting some of the first produce being sold on the roadside after Cyclone Pam devastated the nation to, of course, the warm smiles of the Ni-Vanuatu people - I miss it all.
Our team, 18 volunteers from across New Zealand and Australia, was able to take on several different projects across Efate, Vanuatu's main island.
We re-roofed a women's centre and a women's block of toilets in the small sea-side village of Eton, rebuilt two classrooms and the foundations for another classroom for Sorovanga Primary School in the Black Sands community and re-roofed a school building and toilet block in the village of Mele.
In each community we went into each NZVR volunteer was touched by the humbleness of the Ni-Vanuatu people around them.
Some of the people we met had absolutely nothing. They did not know where their next meal was coming from or when they will be able to work again.
Yet, they all gave us so much - their time and energy, the last of the food they had, but most importantly their hearts.
The devastation we saw was heart-breaking - shipping containers blown across car parks like tumble weeds across a beach, hundred-year-old trees being ripped from the ground and crushing homes, and cars and yachts dumped on the beaches.
There is no doubt it will take years for the nation to rebuild.
But one thing is clear - the resilience and determination of the Ni-Vanuatu people.
Before we left for Vanuatu, some of us had been told stories about how little the Ni-Van people wanted to work and help themselves.
But we saw the opposite to this. Wherever we were, people would come and help us to help them rebuild their country.
They turned up to work before anybody else did, worked harder, ate less food and took fewer water breaks. And they were the last ones to stop working in the afternoon.
I literally had to stop one local called Willie several times and put a bottle of water or snacks in his hands before he would do it himself, yet he was clearly exhausted and needed a break. Vanuatu will rebuild itself. It just needs a bit of help.
Luke Tyrrell with Willie Keke in the front of one of the classrooms they built together.
Ruth Keber joined a number of others in the New Zealand Vanuatu Rebuild team. Three of them from Tauranga give their account of their experiences
Graham Macgregor, 67, Gate Pa
Graham Macgregor, 67, Gate Pa.
Why did you want to go on the trip?
"New places, new people and I had the time."
What were your first impressions on arriving in the Pacific nation? "I thought the situation wasn't as bad as we had been informed - it was worse. There was food and water on Efate but individual shelter was the main problem. It was heart-breaking to see people with only a tarp as shelter and nothing else. However, the Ni-Van people are really resilient and naturally very happy and smiley."
What did you learn? "The Ni-Van people are self-sufficient and can make do with the natural resources on their islands but these were wiped out and are pretty much non existent after Cyclone Pam."
A favourite experience from the trip: "Being able to give books, pencils and pads of paper to one of the schools we had been working with. One of the head teachers, Daniel, said quietly to me, almost with tears in his eyes, 'We lost everything'. I definitely felt my input made a difference, and I was able to make a difference to individual people's lives, too."
Luke Tyrrell, 29, Mount Maunganui
Luke Tyrrell, 29, Mount Maunganui.
Why did you want to go on the trip?
"I really enjoy being able to give back to others. You have to do it every once in a while."
What were your first impressions on arriving in the Pacific nation? "It was just shocking. Houses were destroyed, trees were ripped from the ground, the ripped-up trees were smashed on to cars, shipping containers were rolled along carparks like tumbleweed in the wind. It was incredible to see that power nature can unleash."
What did you learn on the trip? "The Ni-Van people were so humbling. Seeing them with nothing but still being able to get out of bed every day and help us witht he building... was incredible. The suffering in their communities is so big but they still continue to be happy like Willie a friend I made. He has nothing but would turn up to work everyday and work alongside me rain or shine. I think he touched a lot of people."
A favourite experience from the trip: "The last thank you ceremony they put on for us. The community has nothing but gave us all so much, which was again so humbling to see. Each NZVR volunteer was given Vanuatu sarongs and other Ni-Vanuatu trinkets. When we all said goodbye, each person in the community looked you in the eyes and thanked you from the bottom of their hearts for helping them. It was truly mind-blowing knowing we made that much difference."
Ferry Farmer, 48, Papamoa
Kerry Farmer, from Papamoa, loved meeting Ni-Vanuatu Willie along with the rest of the NZVR team.
Why did you want to go on the trip?
"I had friends send me through information on the cyclone even before it hit, it was predicted to be nuclear. I kept an eye on it, tracking it, as it kept coming towards New Zealand. After the storm hit I wanted to help but I didn't know how - I had seen all the devastation through the media. I happened to glance at a copy of the Bay of Plenty Times in the supermarket and got in contact with the team."
What were your first impressions on arriving in the Pacific nation? "Flying in, the devastation from the air was horrendous. Just the sparseness of the vegetation was devastating. However, the smiles of people even though what they had been through was so humbling - you see how simply they live and how happy they are."
What did you learn? "Too many things really. For us it is a really small thing to give but it does mean so much to them. It was very grounding. We were told before we left the Ni-Vanuatu people were very laid-back but I saw the opposite there. They wanted to be working, working alongside us, helping and rebuilding their communities, too."
A favourite experience from the trip: "Meeting Willie, what an amazing kid. He has so many hopes and dreams but no job to go to so won't be able to make them possible. But every day he turned up to work with us and it didn't matter what you showed or taught him, he picked it up so fast and was so eager to learn more. He even came to the airport to see us off. He's just all heart."
