Lived realities of battling climate change by the people of Moala Island in the far flung Lau group, and surrounding isolated communities, will be the centerpiece of Fiji social worker Usaia Moli’s stories when he addresses government officials and supporters in Australia.
Mr Moli is on a Climate Speakers Tour in Australia this week representing the experiences and voices of his people.
“I am humbled to have been chosen to represent communities across Moala, Fiji and even the Pacific. To share the stories of District Councils of Social Services who have not only lived on the frontline of climate change but have voluntarily supported adaptation and mitigation efforts at local levels to our Australian family,” said the Cakova villager and vice president of the Fiji Council of Social Services.
“I want the world to know what it’s like to walk knee deep in what once was a sandy beach.
“What it’s like to consider category three or four cyclones as a normal thing, and when every development in our community is centered around disaster.”
He said it was no wonder that despite the advocacy efforts of Pacific governments, very little funding had reached communities like his in Moala.
“We keep hoping that all this talk will translate to better access to finance for stronger seawalls, classrooms, nurses’ stations and climate resilient crops in our village, Cakova.
“As a volunteer disaster responder, I don’t want to see the devastation I saw in Cogea Village, Bua in northern Fiji in 2020 repeated in other rural communities.
“I want to ensure that communities have access to climate finance facilities that will help them build more disaster resilient homes and farms.”
Mr Moli is one of three speakers from the Pacific touring Australia with the support of Oxfam Australia.
He said Oxfam Australia’s idea to get grassroots people with lived realities to speak to a range of people, including members of the Australian parliament, media people who work in the environmental sector and supporters of Oxfam Australia, “is a great one given that rural dwellers and isolated communities hardly ever get the opportunity to participate in policy spaces”.
He said while climate change had become the region’s most critical development challenge, with advocates lamenting its impacts on Pacific communities on the world stage, not many lived that reality.
Mr Moli is expected to speak to supporters and government officials in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra over the next three weeks.
