Steve Millward (from left), Anne and Jim Dowman at the Habitat NZ resource center, Lepa. Photo: Savali

Pacific.Scoop
By Tupuola Terry Tavita in Apia

The team of New Zealand volunteers from Habitat for Humanity has hit the tsunami-torn grounds at Aleipata running.

Well, building…

Savali caught up with the 10-member team at Lepa where they were busy hammering down their resource center building.

Led by Te Poki native Jim Dowman, Habitat New Zealand, in partnership with Samoan government will be building some 274 homes at Lepa and Saleapaga, Aleipata and Falealili in the coming months.

“We are already building our design models and should finish our first house in a week,” said an upbeat Dowman.

The standard  house design agreed to by government and its reconstruction partners is sturdy and ideal to Samoa’s climate, he said.

“It’s very solid and, since it’s open-air, it’s ideal for the high humidity you have here.”

Higher ground
All the houses would be built on higher ground, he said.

“In fact I don’t know of any houses that will be built on the coast.”

This team – as is every building crew under Habitat for Humanity NZ – is made up entirely of volunteers.

“We have an electrician, a plumber, carpenters and your jacks-of-all-trades,” says Anne Dowman, Jim’s wife and also a regular volunteer on Habitat missions.

“Everything is voluntary. We paid for our way over, food and up-keep we also pay. We do not want to put any burden on our hosts.

“We have volunteers from Auckland, from Christchurch, Arrow Town, Tokoroa, Taupo and other parts of New Zealand.”

More will be arriving next week.

Regular jobs
“Many have regular jobs in New Zealand and are on leave. When they return home, others will arrive to continue the work. We will have as many as 20 volunteers from New Zealand on the ground at any one time.”

Two volunteers would be distributed to each affected village where they will work alongside village labour, Dowman said.

“At full scale, we should average about three or four houses completed per day.”

And Dowman and his team are calling on village assistance in providing labour.

“We understand that many of the able-bodied men are working on the clean-up or their family gardens but we need all the labour assistance we need.”

He said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi last weekend spoke to the village mayors and matai councils and church congregations requesting labour assistance for them.

“We had about 10 fellas this morning for about four hours but they left again as I think they have other work to do,” Dowman said.

Standard house
The standard house will measure 7.2 x4.8 meters, have a concrete floor and iron roofing. It will also have a separate bathroom-toilet-hand-basin unit.

“As we say in Habit, we build simple decent homes everybody deserves.”

The team has just completed building an ablution block and expanded kitchen facilities at the Lepa EFKS church hall where they are based.

“I have to say that our hosts here at Lepa have been great. It’s a beautiful country, a beautiful place and such lovely hospitable people. We have no complaints whatsoever.”

Habitat for Humanity NZ is a faith-based not-for-profit organisation that works with local communities based on goodwill.

“We may be faith-based, but we have volunteers and work with communities that don’t necessarily have to be of the Christian order,” said Anne Dowman.

Tupuola Terry Tavita is editor of the Samoan government newspaper Savali.