Giving and receiving in Samoa

Blenheim electrician Wayne Chapman says what he knows about power tools could be written on the head of a pin. But he learned fast in Samoa as he helped to rebuild homes and lives. CLAIRE CONNELL reports.

Even when you're more than 3000 kilometres away from New Zealand, some things never change – men still like a cold beer on a scorching hot day.

And Blenheim electrician Wayne Chapman is no exception.

Mr Chapman, along with nine other builders, electricians and plumbers, recently returned from Samoa, where he spent two weeks volunteering in the Habitat for Humanity New Zealand's "Samoa Hope" programme, to help make a difference in the aftermath of the September 2009 tsunami.

An 8.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the Samoan coast at 7am on September 29, triggering a four-storey-high tsunami that killed 180 people in American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

Between November 2009 and June 2010, up to 300 tradespeople, 150 handymen and 150 unskilled volunteers will be required from New Zealand as part of the Samoan Government's organised project, to help with projects such as building fale (traditional Samoan pole houses).

Mr Chapman, a qualified electrician at Cresswell Electrical, arrived on the island on December 7 into hot and humid conditions in the village of Lepa.

The tiny village of about 80 to 100 people was one of the worst-hit areas and most of its inhabitants live under roofing iron or tarpaulins.

After working long days in the scorching heat helping to build roof frames, Mr Chapman and fellow workers would often head down to the nearby beach – the location of a now-destroyed resort – for a cold swim and, in particular, a cold beer.

"By crikey, by half past four, all you felt like was a cold drink of some description. It was very pleasant to enjoy a cool swim and a cold beer."

Over the two weeks Mr Chapman was there, eight fale were built, three complete with electricity.

Initially expecting to put his electrical skills to use, Mr Chapman found the team had other ideas and he was put to work building roof frames, something he had little experience in.

"What I know about power tools and how to use them you could write on the head of a pin. It was a very quick learning experience for me."

Local men helped out where they could but Mr Chapman found they struggled on complicated and numerical tasks, and there were language barriers.

"But give them a hammer and a four-inch nail, and in three strokes that nail would be in, and the framing that they were building was absolutely spot on.

We were there not only to do, but to show as well," he says.

Four fale have been finished from scratch since Mr Chapman's team arrived, with eight completed in total. More will be built in the coming months.

Watching the people turn on the light switch in their new home was something magical, Mr Chapman says.

"It was fantastic to see the lights going; they were going to move in that night, even though the concrete was still pretty green from being laid the day before.

"They were pleased, just absolutely pleased because they were getting a fridge the following week."

One man in particular was "over the moon" to get out of his makeshift shelter and into his new house with his wife and three children before Christmas.

But the effects of the tsunami are still raw – something a new home goes only a small way to helping. Two women Mr Chapman spoke to said they would never go into the water again, and didn't even want to see the ocean.

Many children also feared the ocean, but during Mr Chapman's visit began to tentatively enter the water again.

"It was a stinking hot day and I thought, 'I'm going for a swim'.

So I walked down through the children and splashed them. Well, talk about having three dozen kids piling on top of you!

"That was quite exciting for me to see these kids back in the water and enjoying what they were doing. But I think it's going to take a long time."

What also took a long time was clearing up the debris still lying around.

"When I first arrived and looked around, the rubbish that was still sitting, it just felt like nothing had been really done. It felt like people were too shell-shocked and just couldn't bring themselves to start tidying up."

But by the end of the second week, big improvements had been made, thanks to the tireless work of both visitors and locals.

The standout of Mr Chapman's trip was the generosity of the Samoan people.

Every day, five Samoan women from the church hall where the 25-strong group was staying would prepare a large cooked breakfast and other meals, and do the washing.

"I left [New Zealand] feeling like we were going to be the ones giving to them, but in actual fact what we got from them was quite incredible.

"Everything they owned was washed away. It was them giving back to us, even though they didn't really have any stuff to give us."

These same women gave every worker a handmade, brightly coloured cotton shirt that included hand-stitched button holes.

Mr Chapman's best day was on the building site, rather than in the workshop, when Samoan locals cooked a pig on a spit roast as a sign of their appreciation.

But there is still a lot of work to be done, with repairing homes the first step to building people's shattered lives. Habitat for Humanity workers will be there until at least December 2010.

Arriving back in Blenheim on December 22 to wife Rachel and their three adult sons was "emotionally overwhelming" for Mr Chapman.

"Coming from where I had been, there was nothing but such huge generosity – to be home where we have just got everything."

"It was probably the best experience I'll ever have. The satisfaction of knowing I've done something for somebody else ... and to me, that was the important thing – doing it because we can."

For more information about the Habitat for Humanity New Zealand Samoa Hope programme, go to habitat.org.nz or call 0800442248.

- The Marlborough Express