These past few days have been hard. The village I visited in Fiji, Soso; which I blogged about in my previous post, was completely destroyed in Cyclone Winston. When I heard about the destruction of the village I had come to love, I was speechless. I saw many of these people, literally days before they died. It’s so sad and scary to think these people who had so little, could loose what little they had.
My friends who I traveled to Fiji with were equally devastated about the destruction of Soso, so we decided to try to do something about it. We’re having a planning meeting today, and hoping to organize a fundraiser to help rebuild Soso. I think taking something so negative and turning it into a positive is the best thing we could do in this situation. Once I leave New Zealand at the end of the semester, I would love to go back to Fiji and help them to rebuild.
On a more positive note, I am really enjoying my classes here in New Zealand. I am currently taking a Maori performing arts class, a gender and society class, and an epidemiology class, all of which I am really enjoying.
The destruction to the village of Soso: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-28/cyclone-winston-images-of-soso-village-aftermath/7205854