World Vision Canada

Published purpose

March 2015 - Cyclone Pam struck Port Villa, the capital city of Vanuatu, as a severe Category 5 storm on the evening of March 13th. The storm is estimated to have brought sustained winds of 250 km/hr, with gusts as high as 320 km/hr. During landfall, satellite photographs showed the storm covering virtually all of Vanuatu, a sprawling archipelago of 83 islands and 260,000 people. An estimated 166,000 people have been affected by the storm, including as many as 60,000 children. While Cyclone Pam affected most of the country, the provinces of Shefa, Tafea and the eastern parts of Malampa and Penama are emerging as the worst impacted areas, where up to 90% of buildings and structures have been damaged or destroyed, including the majority of schools and shelters. With DFATD’s support, World Vision Canada is helping to meet the emergency shelter and education needs of cyclone-affected families and children. Project activities include: (1) provision of transitional shelter kits to 500 households; (2) delivery of technical training in “build-back better” shelter techniques to targeted households; (3) distribution of emergency education kits to 100 schools (reaching 4,000 cyclone-affected children); and (4) delivery of emergency teacher kits to 100 teachers.