In June this year 3 SEIA Committee members visited Vanuatu to assess the need for solar equipment on the islands of Tongoa and Efate and they were not prepared for the amount of destruction they were about to see.
Brick buildings were ripped off the foundation (photos above show 2 school buildings), iron steel trusses bend, iron sheets, hardwood trusses, and equipment were found more than 50 meters between destroyed banana plants and palms. Foreign Aid has moved on to other disaster areas and the people of Vanuatu are trying to rebuild their lives. An incredible hard task as the meagre income that they used to make is affected by the loss of banana and palm plantations as well as the loss of vegetable beds, their main goods to be sold at the markets on the bigger islands.
On Tongoa the majority of households have no electricity. The lucky schools that had a small solar system to provide some lights and maybe even running a laptop and printer are now faced with teaching in dark classrooms where there still is a building left that can be used or teaching in tents, generously provided by Unicef.
The first recipients of donated solar equipment are 2 schools on Tongoa Island and a Health Center on Efate
