Aid for Samoa Continues to Pour In

150,000 pounds of relief goods have been shipped from Salt Lake City to Samoa to help with relief efforts there, after a tsunami devastated parts of the island on September 29, 2009.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to provide help, now even looking at homes that will need to be rebuilt.

Because of the structure of the Church and its lay clergy, members automatically know how to organize to help in an emergency.  All worthy males hold the priesthood, organized into quorums, and men and women are assigned to watch over assigned families on an ongoing basis.  When a general emergency occurs, members are able to assess the needs of the community quickly and get information passed up the line to priesthood leaders and then to the central leadership of the Church.  The humanitarian aid and welfare organizations of the Church rely on contributions of time and funds from church members.  These efforts are also ongoing, so that there is a constantly maintained supply of emergency goods ready to be shipped to disaster areas at a moment’s notice.

Within two hours aid was already arriving locally as coordinated by local Samoan priesthood leaders.  A Church-chartered DC-10 aircraft filled with relief supplies took off from the Salt Lake City International Airport Oct. 6 and arrived in Western Samoa that same day.  The bulk of the air shipment consisted of essential provisions needed by victims who were, in some instances, left with nothing besides the clothes on their backs: food, hygiene items, clothing, bedding, mosquito nets, wheelchairs and crutches.  The Church partnered with Islamic Relief to cover the cost of chartering the cargo plane.  Islamic Relief has developed a relationship of trust and friendship with the Church while working together in the aftermath of catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina.

When the air shipment arrived in Apia, Samoa, a team of workers that included full-time missionaries unloaded the massive payload, placed the various items on trucks and moved them to the Church’s warehouse in Samoa (formerly Western Samoa). Items in the first wave of the relief shipment were then transported to affected regions to be distributed by the local priesthood leaders to members and others in need. The remainder of the supplies were warehoused and will continue to be distributed to those in need under the direction of priesthood leaders.

Canned, boxed and bagged food items from the shipment included corn, peaches, rice, pears, beef stew and dried milk (LDS Church News, October 17, 2009).

Samoans living in less impacted regions appear to be returning to their normal, daily routines, he added. The missionaries continue to be utilized in more troubled areas.