Tsunami Relief
MicroDreams’ response to the September 29th tsunami in Samoa has been very comprehensive and extensive.
Direct Aid
Immediately after the tsunami, MicroDreams' Samoan partner, South Pacific Business Development (SPBD), conducted a detailed assessment of its members in the severely impacted
villages. They found that over 145 SPBD members had completely lost their homes and businesses. Many had also lost immediate family members; often young children or parents.
MicroDreams quickly sent funds to support SPBD's immediate relief effort to these families. An aid package worth approximately ST$400 was delivered to each family. The aid package consisted of 24 liters of drinking water, 24 cans of tinned fish, a very large bag of rice, a range of household needs (plates, cups, spoons), buckets, a machete, mosquito coils, boxes of matches, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other basic items as well as ST$150 in cash to each lady.
Each of these families truly deserved and greatly appreciated the assistance.
Cash for Work
MicroDreams launched a "Cash for Work" Program led by Associate Director Russ Tanner and Mercy Corps Emergency Program Manager Carol Ward. We worked with with local leaders in 15
villages to identify important clean up and reconstruction projects to complete. The leaders then selected up to 25 workers per village, and MicroDreams provided the proper equipment
(wheelbarrows, axes, shovels, rakes, paint, gloves, etc.) and the wages to pay each worker ST$200 for ten days of work.
Nearly 400 families received direct assistance through wages and thousands more benefited through rebuilt sea walls, safer beaches, cleaner villages, and reenergized local economies.
Coordination of Economic Reconstruction
The MicroDreams/SPBD team chaired the Samoan National Disaster Management Office's Livelihood Reconstruction Sub-Committee. In this role we helped to coordinate
the efforts of MicroDreams and other local and international aid organizations engaged in rebuilding local village economies.
Emergency Reconstruction Financing
MicroDreams is also helping fund SPBD's emergency home and business reconstruction financing. We are making loan funds available to scores of families in devastated villages
to help them re-launch businesses that have been destroyed and to begin the process of rebuilding their homes.
Our Sincere Thanks
These initiatives have been quite expensive and would not have been possible without the tremendous charitable assistance that we have received from each of you. Thank you to
the many individual donors who have supported MicroDreams' tsunami recovery efforts, with a special thanks to Mercy Corps (www.mercycorps.org) in the U.S. and Jasmine Charitable Trust in New Zealand. To all those who have supported us, thank you.
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