'The Village was Like a Sea' - Cyclone Winston, Koro Island // Documentary
Summary
TLDRThe video script documents a relief mission to the island of Coro, Fiji, following the devastating impact of Cyclone Winston. Volunteers, after an 11-hour ferry journey, distribute donations of clothes, household items, and food across 13 communities. The script highlights the scale of destruction, the resilience of the villagers, and the rebuilding efforts. It also recounts the emotional journey of reconnecting with the community and the significance of the support received from the British Army and Rotary.
Takeaways
- 🚤 The team arrived on Coro after an 11-hour ferry crossing from Suva with a truckload of supplies.
- 📦 They carried 55 boxes filled with clothes, household items, and food rations intended for distribution across 13 communities.
- 🌀 The script recounts the experience of Cyclone Winston, highlighting the destruction and the community's resilience.
- 🏠 It mentions the tragic loss of life in Nirvana Village, where an elder's house collapsed during the cyclone.
- 📞 The team struggled to make contact with the leadership on the island for 36 hours due to no phone signal.
- 📞 A call finally came through to a working phone in Nirvana Village, allowing communication with the outside world.
- 🎥 The use of a drone provided aerial footage of the communities and their rebuilding process post-cyclone.
- 🏘️ The script describes the extensive damage to the villages, including the destruction of the Soviet Church in Namba Soviet.
- 🛣️ The team faced challenges such as a truck getting stuck on Coro Hill, which was resolved with the help of locals.
- 🏫 The script emphasizes the impact on education, with schools like Bonivas School suffering significant damage.
- 🙏 Personal stories from villagers express gratitude for the aid received and the community's determination to rebuild.
- 🌍 The script conveys a message of global support, with donations from the British Army and Rotary playing a crucial role in relief efforts.
Q & A
What was the purpose of the 11-hour ferry crossing from Suva to Coro?
-The purpose was to transport 55 boxes of clothes, household items, and food rations to distribute across all 13 communities on Coro Island.
How many villages were planned to be visited during the relief distribution?
-There were plans to visit 13 villages on Coro Island.
What significant event occurred in Nevanga Village during Cyclone Winston?
-The first person passed away in Nevanga Village when their house collapsed during the storm.
How long did it take for the leadership team to make contact after Cyclone Winston?
-It took 36 hours to make contact with the leadership team on the island after the cyclone.
What was the method of communication that finally worked to reach the leadership team?
-A phone call finally went through to a single working phone in Nevanga Village.
What was the impact of Cyclone Winston on the schools in Cora?
-Cyclone Winston caused significant destruction to the schools, including tearing down the vanilla kindergarten classroom at Bonivas School.
What was the role of the British Army and Rotary in the relief efforts?
-The British Army and Rotary contributed donations and resources that were distributed across the villages on Coro Island.
How did the villagers of Cora respond to the destruction caused by the cyclone?
-The villagers showed resilience, focusing on rebuilding and survival, and were grateful for the donations and support received.
What challenges did the team face while trying to distribute the donations?
-The team faced challenges such as a struggling truck on Coro Hill, which required manual pushing and pulling to continue their journey.
What was the significance of the drone footage in the script?
-The drone footage provided an aerial view of the communities, showing the scale of destruction and the progress of the rebuilding process.
What was the emotional impact of the cyclone on the volunteers and villagers?
-The cyclone caused significant emotional distress, with stories of loss and devastation, but also highlighted the closeness and support between the volunteers and the community.
Outlines
🚚 Arrival and Aid Distribution in Coro
The script describes the arrival on the island of Coro after an 11-hour ferry ride from Suva, with a truck loaded with 55 boxes of clothes, household items, and food rations. The goal is to distribute these supplies across 13 communities. The team recounts the experience of Cyclone Winston, highlighting the community hall's collapse and the tragic death of an elder in Nirvana Village. The script also details the efforts to establish contact with the leadership team after 36 hours without phone signal, and the successful communication through a single working phone. The aid is donated by the British Army and Rotary, and the team continues their journey, capturing aerial footage with a drone to assess the rebuilding process.
🤝 Building Connections and Delivering Aid in Tavora Village
The script moves on to Tavora Village, where the team aims to make new connections and deliver donation boxes to families. The impact of Cyclone Winston is evident in the destruction of both nature and community buildings, including the Soviet Church. The team faces a challenge when their truck struggles to climb Coro Hill, but with the help of locals, they manage to push it over. The script emphasizes the importance of determination and community spirit in overcoming obstacles, and the team's appreciation for the support received.
🌪️ Cyclone Winston's Aftermath and Community Resilience
The script recounts the personal experiences of the villagers in Nabuna and Vatulele, who faced the devastating effects of Cyclone Winston. The cyclone swept away belongings and disrupted lives, but the community found solace in the survival of the coconut trees. The team visits Bonivas School, which was severely damaged, and emphasizes the importance of supporting the next generation of Fiji through aid and donations. Personal stories of loss and resilience are shared, highlighting the community's strength and the importance of life over material possessions.
🏡 Returning to Affected Villages and Continuing Support
The team revisits villages affected by Cyclone Winston, including Nasau, Matavekai, and Sina Village, where they had previously volunteered. They express gratitude for the community's support during the cyclone and the subsequent relief efforts. The script describes the villagers' relocation to higher ground and the ongoing rebuilding of schools and community centers. The team also acknowledges the challenges of weather and terrain during their journey, but remains committed to providing support and aid.
🏁 Final Village Visit and Gratitude for Support
The script concludes with a visit to Mundu Village, the final stop, where the remaining donation boxes are unloaded. The team expresses their heartfelt thanks to the British Army and Rotary Fiji for their contributions, and to the volunteers and supporters who made the distribution trip possible. They look forward to future visits and reiterate the importance of the community's resilience and the ongoing need for support in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cyclone Winston
💡Relief Efforts
💡Community
💡Distribute
💡Villages
💡Donations
💡Rebuild Process
💡Drone
💡Survival
💡Volunteers
💡Fiji
Highlights
Arrival on Coro after an 11-hour ferry crossing with 55 boxes of aid supplies.
Aim to distribute aid across 13 communities affected by Cyclone Winston.
The community hall and many houses were destroyed during the cyclone's peak intensity.
First contact with the leadership team on the island after 36 hours of no communication.
Donations from the British Army and Rotary enabled aid distribution.
Use of a drone to capture aerial footage of the rebuilding process in the villages.
Tavora Village, a new community for the Think Pacific team, symbolizes making new friends and family.
The scale of destruction from Cyclone Winston, including uprooted trees and damaged community buildings.
Challenges of rebuilding, especially in terms of community housing and infrastructure.
Struggling to get the truck up the Coro hill, demonstrating the 'Fiji way' of problem-solving.
The importance of the coconut trees for survival during the cyclone.
Impact of Cyclone Winston on schools, including the destruction of the vanilla kindergarten classroom.
Personal stories of survival and loss from the cyclone, emphasizing the value of life over material possessions.
The strong community spirit and resilience in the face of disaster.
Return to Vatilla Village, significant to the Think Pacific team, and the ongoing relief and rebuild efforts.
Weather challenges during the distribution trip, including rain and cloud.
Visit to Sinovia Village and the relocation efforts of the community away from the coast.
Final stop at Mundu Village, unloading the last of the donation boxes and expressing gratitude to donors.
Transcripts
[Music]
all right
[Music]
so we've just arrived on coro after the
11 hour ferry crossing from suva
um we're loaded up in the truck here 50
yard 55 boxes
um of clothes household items some food
rations uh the aim being today to
distribute across all 13 communities
here on coro so we're going to head down
the island starting candy side
um all being well 13 villages we'll be
back at the ferry tonight ready to head
back across
naka
[Music]
um
only two house left and all of those
house
here in the cyclone coming they go in
this house
some of us is in the seats and the kids
going down
some of us in the community hall
and the community hall going down and uh
nine or
nine nine o'clock to ten o'clock
on that morning cyclone becoming the
strongest and a lot of
people in the village which is going to
save our lives
up there okay
okay um
so second stop um is nirvana village
nevanga village at the time of winston
um was perhaps most notable for the fact
that this was sadly where the first
person passed away
uh during the storm itself news of the
death here of an elder whose house
collapsed on top broke very early within
the cyclone um
and obviously caused a huge amount of
upset both in nevada and across the
island
um for us nevanga will always be the
place where we finally
spoke with our leadership team here on
the island after 36 hours
of trying to make contact with no phone
signal uh you know
trying radio stations media outlets um
provincial offices government workers
finally a cool rang through a call rang
through to the village behind me
the only phone working on coro we
managed to get word down
to to our leaders um in tour to a
village in the volunteer team and semi
uh took a four-hour walk the next day uh
four-hour walk to a phone call
a phone call that one was one of the
biggest moments um i think certainly
for myself i think civic for the
families for the friends
um you know once we knew um for certain
that that everyone was was safe and well
um obviously with the community back in
into a tour um so it's great to be able
to come and give a small offering
um today uh thanks obviously to the
donations from the british army and
rotary
and we'll continue our journey round
coro kind of next stop
tavua village naka
um
[Music]
uh callum's going to launch the drone an
opportunity to get some aerial footage
scenario shots of the communities
um just have a look at the kind of how
the village is starting their rebuild
process
from above
[Music]
[Applause]
hey
so third stop um today is tavora village
a chance
in many ways to make new friends and new
family think pacific haven't yet
had a team living and staying within
tavor um but
you know one of the one of the blessings
that things such as winston bring is
reaching out to new family and new
friends so it's fantastic to be here
today
to see these little ones um let them see
a drone and some footage but also of
course deliver the donation boxes
for the kids and for the family members
[Music]
[Music]
so here in number soviet number sobe the
the chiefy village
um for the vawa to keena here on cora uh
something that strikes me
about the cyclone on any visit is just
the scale
look at the scale of the destruction and
the impact of it um kind of behind me
can see
that the tree roots of what was once a
huge tree on the seashore
um entirely uprooted and put down
by tropical cyclone winston and then as
you kind of slowly
go through the village um it was not
just kind of trees and nature itself
but of course the community housing and
you may think oh well
some of the the weaker structures may
struggle um but obviously
in the background there you can see the
soviet church
which was once the largest and most
proud of the community buildings here in
namba soviet
um and in itself obviously almost
entirely destroyed
so the scale of the destruction but also
of course the challenge of the rebuild
really does hit you so clearly and so
starkly every time
you have the the opportunity to come and
see the villagers
um here on cora and of course across
fiji
okay quick update uh we've hit the coro
hill
um it's a hill obviously climbing nice
and up and high before you head down
towards vatilele
and our truck is struggling um so we're
on about take
15 at the moment we've tried pushing
we're looking at pulling we've got the
camera out
he's gunning for it fingers crossed on
this one
[Music]
[Music]
next plan move all of the weight or some
of the weight to the back of the truck
um and then we reckon we might be in as
you can see the sweat is beading
after a couple of days of rain and wind
it's now belting hot so i'm working up a
good sweat
all in the name of getting up and over
the corro hill good times
not good
we're up as you can see we're up we made
it
um and proof again that you can have all
the best kind of technology in the world
what we really need is some graphs of
determination
and some very kind lads bouncing on the
back of the truck and shoving it up a
hill uh it proves once again
the fiji way is often the very best way
thank you very much fellas
really appreciate mate
thanks cheers
[Music]
around the village it's almost like a
sea
this you can see what this
was it was everywhere it swept away all
the
our belongings and all the goods that
make us
survive was swept away we are fortunate
enough that
the coconut were falling from the
fall from the during the cyclone the
place that make us so we
drink and we eat the flesh we want to
say thank you very much for your
attention
it's okay so just leaving uh naboona
village nambuna village you just
go to vatulele where our six month team
uh spent a huge amount of time we came
to know nabuna through the community
rugby
and community netball fixtures which
were as competitive as they always are
in the communities it's nice to come
back
see the guys today they were also the
guys very kindly helping us
get our truck up and over the hill um
and of course they were able to give us
uh a brief discussion there and an
interview there on kind of the impact of
winston and their
relief and rebuild efforts here in the
village
so i'm standing um at bonivas school and
in particular i'm standing within what
was
the vanilla kindergarten classroom
behind
and in the carnivore and you can see
again examples of the destruction
uh winston did not just tear down and
rip apart communities but also the
schools across the island of cora
so in terms of future aid future
donations every single penny that's
being donated
by so many so far away i please do know
that it's spent
in the most worthwhile cause and that
causes the next generation of fiji
and providing them the best possible
opportunities for their future
banaca we're learning to survive in hard
way
and uh i would like to take his time to
thank
the three pacific they came to our
rescue
they brought they bri he brought clothes
and
all the things that we need the first uh
wind that came it was like from 10
o'clock
it blew my the roof of my kitchen off
to me it was a new house i saw there's a
bit of sunshine that came maybe it was
the
eye of a cyclone to me that is the first
time i've experienced
that and then i was just like on that
building standing there
and i saw my clothes like all coming up
in the wind
and those clothes was all in my drawer
and all of a sudden i saw all my walls
like
flowing away and i was like crying like
hell i was really crying and crying and
i knew all the things that i've owned
all my possessions all my belongings are
gone
i have nothing left it was just me and i
said okay
even if i have nothing here i knew
the gift that i have which is the life
that i have is still here with me
we were looking outside and we were
worried
what will happen in coral the wind was
so strong
we came up here the people were so
worried about their houses their things
their their families it
we never know that this will happen no
house and all
but fiji is stronger than mister
that's all thank you we're just leaving
from vatilla village
uh vatilla was home to our six month
team last year for 11 weeks
um so obviously a massive part of the
think pacific family both on cora and
fiji as a whole so it's been fantastic
to come back
and obviously give the donation boxes to
the village there's also two
returning volunteers in amongst the
village at the moment louisiana helping
out in the school and i think seeing
volunteers return
returning to their fijian homes and fg
and families is a testament to the
relationships that stand
and never has that been more true and
more important than post-tropical
cyclone winston
[Music]
wow
hey
[Music]
oh
[Music]
uh
i mean you're filming but
okay so it's quarter past one uh we're
pretty much halfway around cara now uh
just heading back down the other side of
corro hill towards two or two to the
village where our team were
obviously when cyclone winston hit um so
obviously looking forward to getting in
there
donating out the food rations and
obviously donation boxes from the
british army as well
uh
[Music]
hello
[Music]
okay
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
[Music]
so we're back here to a village um where
our volunteer team
went obviously tropical cyclone winston
winston hit so the team themselves
in the hills and the houses around was
where they took shelter with the village
members
uh and it's been you know a real joy and
a blessing to come back and offer
gestures of support to the community and
to the villagers
during the kind of relief and rebuild
process gestures made possible through
the nations of
the team their families but of course of
the wider of course the wider think
pacific family
and each time we come back it's a chance
to offer a small gesture
back to the community for their love
kindness and affection for our
volunteers both
on the day itself and the days
immediately afterwards when
the community's first thought uh when so
much destruction devastation around them
was to look after our team and make sure
that our team were cared for
and our team were fed and it was the
most humbling story to hear from the
volunteers that the day after the
cyclone
was one of in many ways the closest they
ever felt on project to the community
um so as we said to have trucks to have
donations to have gifts to have people
um
funding towards the think stuff
foundation so that we can come back and
support torture and support cora
means the absolute world
so it's fair to say that the weather has
taken a turn for the worst
during our corridor nations trip um
leaving nassau we've been met with some
pretty good cloud and rain uh so as we
unload the next few there might be some
wet slips and slides as we go
but a bit of rain doesn't doesn't make
any difference obviously everyone enjoys
the four seasons
within a day look at charlie the drain
coach
women's two kids
[Music]
so we just did a quick drop in the rain
and the rain at the matavekai
and made our way down to sinova village
um the
old original village you can see in the
background behind me
down the bottom but the community have
already started
relocating themselves onto the hillside
just out the back of the truck here
obviously the sense of moving up moving
away uh from the coast
on my left as well if we were to pan
around although weather won't quite
allow us
i can't imagine is galley vacuum bath
school which has been the scene of many
sporting a moment and youth and sports
um events for think pacific with the
inter-school island competitions
uh so it's good to be back um galley
back in power were here a couple weeks
ago
and of course to come and see cinderella
villagers and drop off the donation
boxes
[Music]
okay we made it as far as nakandu um
with the condi school in the condo
village just behind me
this was the home of our september 2015
team
who spent 10 very fun filled weeks
living within the village
and obviously it's taken a hit like so
many of the others today
um we're just walking through the
village then to find tarani down at the
creek
the community we're still in washington
splashing which i know the team will
remember well
um and the school itself is is reviving
as well it's great to see the kind of
posters up the banners up they've done a
great drugs awareness week that was part
of a national program
uh some sort of routine is coming back
so the boxes
are there the community's gonna the
tranny's gonna take them into the
village and we're gonna head to our
final village of mundu before heading
back to the ferry
[Music]
so we're here mundu village our final
stop today uh we've just unloaded the
final boxes
before we make our way around the coast
and back to the ferry uh just wanted to
say a massive nakavaca levu to all those
donating
to the british army who sent over the
containers and to rotary fiji
for making it possible for us to
distribute these items across the
villages
um it's always uh kind of lovely for us
and important for us to come back and
see our friends and family on coro
we look forward to coming back again um
but as i said to all those
donating and supporting huge winakka
vaca levu and of course to abby charlie
and mr drummond behind the camera who've
made today both worthwhile
and fun a huge thanks banana guys
you
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