Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Fiji hopes to promote the initiative of collective community effort known as solesolevaki in areas severely affected by STC in the Northern Division.
The NGO recently distributed basic food items to people on Kia Island in the villages of Yaro, Daku and Ligau as part of its STC Yasa food security and livelihood project funded by the New Zealand Aid Program.
The program aims to assist about 700 homes in 15 affected communities in the coastal areas of Macuata. ADRA Fiji program director Ana Alburqueque said collective community effort could foster the need to return to psychological normalcy.
As part of the assistance, people on the island also received a chainsaw to help with debris and immediate communal clean-up to address the imminent health risks of leptospirosis, typhoid, dengue and diarrhoea (LTDD).
In a statement, ADRA Fiji said they made further basic food items distribution to support food security and livelihood under the USAID funded COVID-19 Mitigation and Preparedness in the Pacific in the province last week.
“A total of 11 communities are expected to benefit from the assistance, targeting over 300 households in the province.
Funding from this project has been aligned also as TC response as all these communities were impacted by the Category 5 cyclone,” ADRA Fiji said.
Food security and livelihood assistancal includes distribution of agriculture materials such as wheelbarrows, greenhouse nettings, cane knives, forks and blades, seedlings and trays, chainsaws and protective wear, spray cans, chemicals and hosepipes.
Yaroi Village headman Kemueli Lautiki said the basic food items distributed to 38 homes in the village was great assistance after their farms were destroyed by the cyclone.
