Tuesday 29 September a magnitude 8 earthquake struck off the south coast of Samoa just before 7 in the morning. The following tsunami was so close that there was little chance of any warning. The damage was extensive, with whole villages wiped out. In Samoa 143 people died. The stories of the survivors are both harrowing and amazing. In November a New Zealand Baptist team visited Samoa. As we heard the stories and saw the damage, we realised that the miracle was more people didn’t die.

Satitoa, on the southeast corner of the island of Upolu, was one of the worst hit villages. The school was completely destroyed. If the tsunami had hit during school time many of the children would have died. Naturally the community don’t want to rebuild in the place where they experienced such terror and loss. The whole village is moving up the hill away from the immediate sea front.

BANZAid, working with the Samoan members of our New Zealand Baptist churches, applied to NZAID for some of the funds that the NZ Government was offering through non-government organisations (NGOs). As we talked about possible projects they strongly requested us to rebuild the Satitoa school. The new school will be an important part of the village’s move to a safer site. It will be a community facility and a civil defence centre for the future.

There has been a fantastic response from New Zealand Baptist churches. Two 40 foot containers of relief materials were collected in October.The Baptist team led by Rodney Macann with some of the New Zealand Samoan pastors and a BANZAid team of Paul Thompson, Phil Bull and Neil Hamilton visited Samoa in November to deliver the containers and to sort out the requirements for the school building project. We were warmly welcomed by everyone from the Prime Minister and Government of Samoa through to the village matais (chiefs) and the local school children. We were privileged to be invited into homes where people are still shocked and grieving.

We are pushing this project as a matter of urgency. Temporarily the children are being bussed to a neighbouring school, where tents are used as emergency classrooms. BANZAid has a grant from NZAID’s Humanitarian Action Fund for the Satitoa School project. This will cover approximately half the cost of the project. The other half will need to come from donations. Contributions can be sent through your local Baptist Church (marked “Samoa Tsunami Project”) or directly to BANZAid, P O Box 12149, Penrose, Auckland 1642; or email info@banzaid.org.nz for more information.

• Click here for more photos of the tsunami hit area of Samoa