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‘I felt powerless’ – news from Vanuatu, Tanna island

Helen Manson, from Integral Member TEAR Fund New Zealand, is currently in Vanuatu gathering photos and stories for the Integral response to Cyclone Pam …

‘Masau Kinia sits on the rubble of his home on Tanna island’
Photo: Helen Manson, TEAR Fund New Zealand 

“My name is Masau and during Cyclone Pam my wife, two children and I moved to a safe house in the middle of our village. There were 92 people inside with the men on the outside holding the house down. My heart was pumping as I tried to hold that house up so my wife and children would be safe. We had nowhere else to hide. I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to die’. I remember thinking to myself that if this storm gets any longer or any stronger, I’m going to die. I must have stood outside for four or five hours. At one point I looked over and saw my house falling to the ground before my eyes. Nothing can prepare you for that. The hurricane has power I don’t. I felt powerless.”