When cyclones rip through their island, villagers in Lume now have a safe place to shelter.
When cyclones rip through their island, villagers in Lume now have a safe place to shelter.
In April 2004 Vanuatu was hit by Cyclone Ivy. The cyclone destroyed many Rural Training Centre (RTC) buildings as well as decimating crops and rendering river water supplies unusable for days. People were injured, even killed. The UN reported malaria outbreaks in the cyclone’s aftermath.
Oxfam responded to ensure that in the event of another tropical storm, people in remote areas of the country would have somewhere safe to seek refuge. Working with our partner VRDTCA, Oxfam funded the design and construction of a new model RTC that was capable of withstanding such high-force storms.
In November 2011, the local community opened the new model RTC in Lume, in central Tanna.
A community hub
Tanna is a mountainous island at the southern end of Vanuatu archipelago. Lume RTC is in a remote hilly region of the island, where roads are sparse and unsealed.
Although a tourist industry is emerging in the coastal areas of the island, enticing visitors with traditional cultures and spectacular volcanic scenery, the industry has yet to penetrate inland areas of the island and employment prospects there are limited. This leaves most people in Tanna to survive on subsistence farming, growing taro, cassava, coconuts, bananas and mangoes in communal gardens.
Lume RTC provides a critical service, it’s a place where people are taught lifelong skills that will help them earn a living. Lume houses a carpentry workshop, a sewing room and outside is a cooking area and communal garden where people can grow crops. It has developed into the heart of this isolated community and any cyclone damage would set back classes and result in the loss of a vital village space.
Cyclone Jasmine
A severe tropical storm, Cyclone Jasmine caused major problems for Tanna when it raged though Vanuatu’s southern islands in February 2012.
The category four cyclone generated winds of up to 165 kilometres an hour, leaving a trail of destruction that included damage to people’s homes, gardens and water supplies. Coastal areas were hit particularly hard, with gale force winds and tidal surges ripping concrete piers from the ocean, uprooting trees and destroying tourist facilities.
But the people of inland Lume were safe: the cyclone-proof RTC was left unscathed.
A local place for shelter
The RTCs are built by and for the community, and people knew the one in Lume would be a safe place to stay during the storm. Forty locals, including the RTC teachers, flocked to the centre upon hearing Lume was in the cyclone’s path.
They sheltered there for days, protected from the furious storm by thick-set concrete walls and deep foundations. The centre’s water tank provided essential fresh water during their stay and the centre is equipped with a first aid kit.
Jimmy Tom, a teacher at the RTC, said: “People were really happy to go and shelter there. They were safe, they were given meals and they are all likely to return there in the event of another storm.”
People in Lume now have somewhere safe to turn. They have a community centre that is resilient and in which they can continue learning essential skills in the aftermath of severe storms.
- Find out more about the role of RTCs in Vanuatu
- More on building cyclone-proof RTCs
Lume RTC under construction:
