Tsunami has changed the way we live

By Talimalie Uta 10 August 2017, 12:00AM

Life changing experiences come in different forms.

For Kaiva Sema of Lalomanu, the deadly tsunami of 2009 transformed his life and that of his family. Today things are not the same.

For example, he has had to relocate inland following the devastation.

 “The 2009 tsunami has changed the way we used to live,” he said. 

“Moving from coastal land to inner land has been very challenging.”

When the Village Voice caught up with Kaiva yesterday, he was working on his boss’s plantation at Lalomanu. 

Kaiva is a married man with two children.

But the tsunami was not far from his mind.

“It was a terrible day and I will never forget it,” he said. “It has changed our lives and we now live up here.”

The relocation has come with its own challenges.

Access to water is one of them.

 “At the moment, some families have received water and some including us are still waiting for water,” he said. 

“So we are using our neighbor’s water to meet all our daily necessities.”

“If not we use the waterfall or we fetch water from people living in the coastal area. We have a water tank but it is not healthy for us to use it.”

According to Kaiva, the cost of water is also expensive. 

 “The government has started a project on supplying water for us but the bad thing about it is that now it’s metered.”

“It’s good in other ways but for us, this meter system will limit our chances of using water.” 

Aside from water challenges, the father of two praises their Village Council for maintaining peace and harmony in the village.

He also spoke highly about the leadership of Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and said the government is doing a good job developing Samoa.

By Talimalie Uta 10 August 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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