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Pacific Peoples Partnership and the Pacific Resilience Fund Help with Samoa Measles Outbreak

March 9, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

A gift to help the family was made to a mother in her early twenties upon the loss of her baby to measles.

By David Williams, PPP Board member, with Muavae Va’a, PPP President

Photos courtesy of Muavae Va’a.

When Pacific Peoples’ Partnership initiated a special fund to deal with emergent situations, little did we realize how valuable and timely this idea would be.  A tragedy, one brought about by human folly, makes our recent use of this fund particularly poignant.

The Pacific Resilience Fund (PRF) arose out of the observation that to fulfill our mandated role properly as the one Canadian NGO linking the peoples of Canada and the island nations of Oceania, we would require the means to respond quickly and appropriately to needs brought about by climate change and other problems. Our goal was for communities to be able to apply directly to the fund to finance small to medium scale initiatives that increase social, cultural and physical resilience.

A grandmother received a financial gift on behalf of her family.

The Samoa measles outbreak was not the first use of the PRF. It had already been used in both Fiji and Vanuatu, but this came very close to home for PPP president Muavae (Mua) Va’a because Samoa is his home country and he has many relations there. Indeed, Mua had already experienced tragedy when he lost seventeen family members in the 2009 tsunami. At that time he also assisted with relief efforts, returning to Samoa from his home on Vancouver Island with volunteers to help rebuild the village of Aleipata.

Measles should be a thing of the past, but instead a tide of propaganda from anti-vaccination zealots combined with some improperly prepared vaccine that killed two small Samoan children to create a tsunami of a different sort. Two nurses had mistakenly tainted the vaccine by mixing it with a muscle relaxant instead of water, according to a story in the newspaper, Samoa Observer.  All this created a climate of fear among Samoan parents that led to many children not being vaccinated. And so the virus took hold.

By October 2019, only 31% of the population had been vaccinated with a single dose. That’s half of what is required to prevent the spread of the disease once it is present in a community. To achieve what is known as “herd immunity”, an immunization of 95% is required for such a highly contagious disease. Samoa had less than one-third the vaccine coverage rate it needed to prevent a disaster. To make matters worse, at the time of the children’s deaths the government halted the measles vaccine campaign for ten months while it investigated. This was against the advice of the World Health Organization.

On November 17th. the government declared a state of emergency. By mid-December 2019, Samoa had 4,819 measles cases and seventy deaths, most of them children under five.

Sadly, what happened in Samoa is part of a global trend. Vaccinations have dropped precipitously while measles has grown exponentially, up to 300% in the last year. War and highly organized anti-vaccination propaganda campaigns are the main causes.

Mua first heard of the outbreak through social media and local newspapers. Hearing of one young couple’s cry for help from Nofoali’i Village following the loss of one child and a plea to protect the rest, Mua knew he had to go. By the time he was ready to leave, his own grand nephew was dead as well.

In the village of Mutiatele, Muavae Va’a brings condolences and a gift to his nephew and his wife upon the loss of their son to measles.

In the village of Mutiatele, Muavae Va’a brings condolences and a gift to his nephew and his wife upon the loss of their son to measles.

PPP immediately began a campaign to build up the PRF with money that we could use to bring aid to stressed Samoan medical practitioners and suffering families. We got a quick and gratifying response.

When Mua arrived in Samoa in January, at least 5,700 people had been infected and the death toll had risen to 83. He quickly sought out allies through our partner organization, the Samoa Social Welfare Fesoasoani Trust (SSWFT) and the churches of this heavily Christian country.  Mua himself is a life-long missionary, impelled to service by his strong faith.

Working through SUNGO, the umbrella organization for NGOs in Samoa, linked to by SSWFT, Mua soon decided his first mission was to the village of Mutiatele where his grand nephew was so recently buried. It was there he heard of other places of great need, so early in the morning of January 8th, along with staff from SSWFT, he began a journey. Exhausting in the overwhelming heat yet satisfying, Mua and his crew met with 12 families in more than ten villages. He recounts how profoundly emotional this was, and so very difficult to listen to the many stories of loss from grieving parents.

In Lalomanu he found good use for the PPP’s Pacific Resilience Fund. The nurses at the small district hospital had for four years been forced to wash all bed linens by hand, a time-consuming and inefficient use of highly trained personnel. Word came back to us in Victoria that a new washing machine and boiler would transform the operation in the hard-hit hospital there. Funds from PPP were soon on their way and Lalomanu village hospital now has a new washing machine, dryer and boiler.

Muavae Va’a (left) and the CEO of SSWFT, Theresa Asiata (right), present the Lalomanu district hospital with a washing machine. Head nurse, Lani, received the gift on behalf of the hospital’s director.

This may seem like a small thing. It is not. Nurses are now relieved of this tedious duty and able to use their skills more appropriately in healing the sick. PPP has left a small but vital legacy that will be long remembered.

Working with many selected partners in South Pacific nations, we understand that it is important to listen carefully at the grass roots level to learn what the needs are. Often, larger NGOs go into small nations and communities with preconceived ideas of what aid should be. At its best this can be merely self-serving. At worst, it can actually do harm, resulting in a series of unanticipated consequences. Our more localized approach, where we don’t assume we know best, brought us this response from one of our Samoan partner organizations:

“ … here in Samoa, so we do have a list of families that their children died from the measles. We are grateful to Pacific Peoples’ Partnership and especially to your President for his kind contribution to our beautiful Samoa. I know for a fact your President understand and know exactly what our people needs so whatever your organization provide will appreciate.”

We all confront death. The certain knowledge of our own mortality is perhaps the tragedy of our species. But different cultures treat it differently. In the West we tend to hide it and allow it little space in our lives. Not so in Samoa. The dead, even small children, are on open display before interment. Many pictures of dead children, perhaps shocking to western eyes, appeared in local media throughout the epidemic. The dead find permanent resting places in plots and tombs in the yards of their families. They are kept close.

The Samoan measles outbreak is now over. Most children and adults have been vaccinated and are safe from this potentially deadly disease. Life lessons have been learned by a new generation that thought they were growing up in a world where this scourge had been eliminated. And Mua is back home on Vancouver Island more determined than ever to work with the staff and board of PPP to build the Pacific Resilience Fund so that we can deliver aid wherever it is needed in the island nations of the Pacific.

Acknowledging the death of her son during the outbreak, a PRF gift was presented to the daughter-in-law of the SSWFT CEO.

According to Mua, young families that have lost beloved children are being torn apart by grief and loss. Sometimes they turn inward and direct their anger at themselves or one another. Hearts are breaking and so are families. Such trauma does not end quickly, if ever, but it is a great encouragement for these families to know that people beyond their borders care about them. Mua says even he knows that his experiences working for these families has caused elements of post traumatic stress disorder in himself.

Canada, to its credit, provided significant aid to Samoa during the emergency, managed through the High Commissioner’s office in New Zealand, where Mario Bot recently departed as High Commissioner.

Late in 2020, the two authors of this report will be travelling to Samoa together. While in Samoa they aim to make solid connections with organizations like SSWFT and SUNGO that were so helpful to Mua and PPP during the emergency, for which they are here thanked. The two men will explore possible appropriate projects for the PRF in villages throughout the islands.

This will also be a journey through time for David. His ancestor, the missionary John Williams, travelled and lived throughout the Pacific two hundred years ago and was settled in Samoa with his family when he died in 1839 on Erromango, Vanuatu. John Williams’ influence throughout Oceania is still much in evidence and Mua feels that this aspect of the next visit to Samoa will be a celebration of sorts. They look forward to reporting back to PPP members upon their return.

Would you like to contribute to the Pacific Resilience Fund? If so, please click on this button to find out more and make a donation.

This article was co-written by Muavae (Mua) Va’a, PPP President and David Williams, PPP Board Member and Chair of Development. PPP would like to acknowledge the extraordinary leadership and compassion that our President Mua demonstrated in response to this terrible tragedy.  He and his family went over and above, donating personally and absorbing many costs towards this campaign.  Inspired by his devotion, a fundraiser will soon be held by members of his Tsawout and Tsartlip Family and Friends on March 30th.  

Filed Under: Human Rights, Solidarity, South Pacific Tagged With: CFLI, Health, Measles, Samoa

Samoa takes on the world – Go Samoa!

May 30, 2019 by April Ingham

Samoa takes on the world – Go Samoa!

By Mua (Muavae) Va’a, President, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership

From the time I was a small boy growing up in Lotopu’e, a village in Samoa, I played rugby.  Everybody did. We played in school even when we didn’t have the equipment. Back then, Samoa was a powerhouse in the sport and we idolized our national sport.  I continued to play after I moved to Canada in 1991. I taught my sons the game and one of my greatest memories is playing on the same team as my older son. He was 16 at the time; I was 43 and about to hang up my cleats.   He went on to play on the Canadian Under-20’s team, and played for the BC Bear in the national championship in 2017 where they took gold and still plays at the premiere level locally. My younger son came thru the cross root level rugby and had a chance to represent BC in the national championship from U-14 all the way up to the U-18. It’s been a joy to pass on our national sport to them.

The Samoan Canadian community brings out their Samoa flags.

Even when I was playing, I became involved in coaching.  I have coached club Jr teams, high school, regional and some for the provincial junior teams. Few years ago I had the privilege to be liaison member of rugby Canada for the Samoan national 15 team; it was a great experience. So, of course, I was there for the 2019 International 7’s tournament at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. It’s a special time.  The tournament takes place over two days, a Saturday and Sunday.  This year BC Place was full on Sunday. I was there along with 55,000 screaming fans cheering for their favourite teams.  It was an experience that was hard to forget especially with our home island team on the field playing their hearts out for our country.  

Our neighbour island team, Fiji, was also on the field; it was great to see so many of their fans joining the fun.  Samoa and Fiji, the two smallest countries in the tournament, represent the South Pacific very well.  And, of course, their die-hard fans weren’t hard to spot in the stadium as the teams battled with teams from Canada, France, England, the United States and other much larger countries. Despite the difference in size of our countries, we stand up very well with these larger teams.  Fiji came in 3rd and Samoa 5th in the annual 16-nation tournament.

Mua Va’a with famous Canadian Rugby 7s player, John Moonlight, at BC Place Stadium.

The pride we feel in our team is strong.  Seeing them in action tugs at our heartstrings and reminds us of home.  With that connection, it’s natural for the Samoan community to want to be involved when the Samoan Rugby 7’s come to Canada.  They’ve come every year for the past four years and join fifteen other teams in the tournament. And every year the Samoan community of British Columbia hosts a dinner for our national team.   

There aren’t very many of us in BC, only about fifteen families, but the tournament gives us an opportunity to renew friendships and learn about family members at home.  We feel it is important to extend a welcome to the players when they are so far from home.  This year’s event was held at the home of a member of the community in Vancouver. It was so nice to see our community come together for a time of fellowship, sharing our appreciation for the team that represents our homeland.  This year the evening was filled with celebration, a dinner – including Samoan traditional foods – and music. The community took up a collection and a financial gift was presented to the players along with t-shirts and chocolates to take home to their families.  All in all, it was a great evening of fellowship and the opportunity to honour our Samoan rugby athletes. 

I had a chance to sit down with two members of the team to ask them about their experience.  I can’t identify them because they are under contract and can’t speak for the team, but they could speak from their hearts about being on the Samoan national team and playing in the tournament.  One said, “It means the world to me. A chance to represent my family, my village and my country. I’ve always dreamed of one day representing my country in the world arena and now that dream has come true.”  The second player, echoing the first about representing family and country, added that it was a great chance to gain experience at the international level.

The Samoan community demonstrates plenty of enthusiasm when the home team comes to town.

Both players said they hoped that playing in the international tournament might lead to professional contracts.  A contract would help their families at home.

It was only a brief conversation, but I was able to tell them how proud I was of them and the rest of the team.  It was a joy to see them playing hard for our country. And I told them I look forward to seeing them again when the team comes back to Canada for the next tournament.

Filed Under: Arts & Culture, South Pacific Tagged With: Rugby, Samoa, Sport

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For 45 years, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership has supported the aspirations of South Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples for peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and community development.

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