Running With Cheese

As you know, for the last three years I've been taking groups to sing on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa, specifically to Saleapaga village. As you also know, Saleapaga was among the worst hit by the tsunami last week, and while most of my friends there, including the Legalo family, Reverend Uaea and Sa are safe, the gentle and lovely Nai and her family have perished. Nai, the angel of the toaster, the lovely soprano voice, and the forgiving dance instructor. I see Nai and Sa having an afternoon nap together spoon-fashion, on a table in the Fao Fao dining room...

For those of us who have been on that coast, we can imagine how easily the villages were destroyed, and how hard it would have been to escape, and I'm feeling shattered by the loss of Nai and of the whole village. Everything is gone. For pictures of the aftermath: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/image.cfm?c_id=1&gal_objectid=10601041&gallery_id=107708


My friends Sa on left (she and her children are safe) and Nai.

My former choir the Honeybees have already donated $3000 to Saleapaga via Singabout. If you want to donate, here are two options:

Jennifer Richardson (from Singabout,who has organised my tours to Saleapaga) will pass on your money on directly to Saleapaga: you can make a credit card payment via the payment page of the Singabout website -
https://singabout.worldsecuresystems.com/payments.html
or if you're in Australia, direct debit to - EFT Westpac, SINGABOUT BSB 032 021 Account 77 1804
Please send in an accompanying email with your payment details.
Go to the Singabout website here for more up-to-date information: http://www.singabout.com.au/_blog/Singabout_what%27s_happening

Manda Jost has set up a special PayPal donation account to help the Legalo family of Saleapaga, who operated FaoFao and lost everything in the tsunami. The website is http://copper.wnmu.edu/~jostm/faofao.html.

Beyond financial:
SAMOA TSUNAMI APPEAL AND RELIEF TEAMS
The South Pacific Islands of Samoa and American Samoa have been devastated by a tsunami that hit the islands on Tuesday September 29th. An earthquake measuring 8.3 caused waves between 3 and 6 metres and hit the south-west coasts. The official death toll currently stands at 144 and is expected to rise. The implementing project partner will be AOG Samoa.

TEAMS
If you are interested in participating in a relief team effort covering a minimum of one week and prepared to do whatever is required please contact the ACC World Relief office and register your interest. If you can offer specialist skills or experience please specify. Call Sarah on (613) 9837 2277 or email info@accworldrelief.org

Fa'afetai lava