SamoaSOS

On 2 October 2009, 25 year-old Kiwi Hamish Coleman-Ross boarded an early-morning flight bound for Apia. The night before he left, a Facebook group Save Our SAMOA S.O.S was born and a grass-roots fundraising effort began. With almost 300 members, Hamishfs story has captivated many. On a crusade to help our friendly pacific cousins in Samoa, Hamish was determined to make a difference. Armed solely with his own savings and the generous financial support of friends and family, he has changed lives. He bought jandals for survivors with no shoes and delivered water to a man who had lost 8 family members. During his first couple of days in Samoa, Hamish visited the village of Salepanga. He spotted a group of people sitting amongst the rubble of their former home and business. The forlorn faces were those of the Legalo Family who were proprietors of a Bar and Fales at Fao Fao Beach before the Tsunami struck. Thanks to the family's quick response and incredible bravery as the wave hit, a large number of tourists were saved, among them seventeen New Zealanders. So moved by the plight of the Legalos, Hamish phoned friends and family in New Zealand with a dream to rebuild the bar. His hope was to provide a sanctuary and place for people to gather, to unite and to pull strength from one another for the days and weeks ahead. The New Zealand Operations team swung into action raising $1700 on Thursday 8 October in just 12 hours thanks to a massive online appeal on Facebook group and via email. Arrangements were made to have the cash transferred straight to Hamish as it came in and he purchased the wood needed to rebuild the bar. Luke Dallow of Sale Street Bar organised donation of a fridge and arrangements are in place to have the fridge shipped up to Samoa. When the bar opens its doors today Saturday 10 October at 3pm NZEST, it will be the first business on the decimated southern coast of Samoa to commence operations after the devastating Tsunami. All this thanks to the dedication of one man and the grass-roots support generated back home. When asked why he chose to re-build a bar rather than concentrating on supplying clean water and providing hot meals directly to the people, Hamish responded gWhile organisations like the Red Cross have done a wonderful job, aid-type relief is by its very nature always a temporary solution. My dream was to help provide the people of Salepanga with the means to rebuild their livelihood and give these people back a sense of community.h Hamish believes the bar will generate only modest profits. The real benefits, he believes, will come back to the villagers of Salepanga through new jobs and a regeneration of tourism. gInstead of focusing on relieving immediate problems, I wanted to give the villagers something that would help them over the long term.h