Tonga: "The Country is grey, and it is hard to breathe"

Caritas Tonga team, with Cardinal Mafi at the Caritas Oceania Forum in 2019

The following report on the aftermath of the 15 January volcanic eruption in the Pacific comes from a staff member of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. Tonga was worst affected, being covered by volcanic ash and hit by a tsunami.

Telecommunications - phone, texting and internet - with Tonga were cut off for almost a week after the volcano and tsunami. Even now coverage is patchy and hampered by intermittent and unstable power supply on the main island. From the capital, Tongatapu, they are struggling to connect with those in the other islands of Tonga.

Over the past few days, we have been able to make daily contact with the team at Caritas Tonga to hear their updates. We were encouraged to hear that they are safe, but are concerned by their updates. For those of us who have been to Tonga (a three-hour flight from New Zealand) we know it as a lush, green and vibrant land. Suliana Falemaka, the Director of Caritas Tonga, has told us that "the country is grey". This is incomprehensible, but reminds us that the relief and recovery from this disaster will take many months, if not years. She has told us that the Diocesan and National Caritas offices and areas outside are still covered in ash, which is very hard to clean. Due to the very hot temperatures, and no rain, the dust is making it hard to breathe.

Whilst the first critical need was water, and Caritas has been able to provide support to communities with our warehoused supplies, the impact on food and agriculture is significant too. The added complications of COVID restrictions mean that the logistics for providing these essentials are challenging. Despite these challenges, Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, Bishop of Tonga and President of Caritas Oceania, has sent a letter to all the parishes in Tongatapu requesting donations of food items and crops where possible, to be donated to the Ha'apai islands (primarily those people on the main island of Ha'apai, and those that have been evacuated from other locations). Caritas Tonga is the focal point for the distribution of these items, which will be collected and then transported to Ha'apai.

The other desperate need is for counselling. There is a clear need for psychosocial support for these groups, in particular the people who have been evacuated from the Mango and Atata islands to Tongatapu

There are counsellors within the Catholic Church and Caritas Tonga who have been asked by the Diocesan Disaster Team to keep the Tongan government informed about how serious the need is for counselling, and how they can meet this need.

Across the Pacific, the Caritas Oceania region - comprising of Papua New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Aotearoa New Zealand - Catholic communities, parishes and schools are supporting the relief efforts with prayer and fundraising.

Links:

https://caritas.org.nz/

www.caritas.org/