A Tonga response donation drive at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium has been overwhelmed with hundreds of people showing up in support.
Tongans rally at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium to support families back home in the wake of a massive volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami. January 2022 Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis
The stadium - usually a wave of red in support of Tongan rugby league - has become a relief response base in support of families affected by the tsunami and volcanic eruption.
Eight shipping containers donated by Matson South Pacific Shipping are set up at the venue and are filling up with donations for the Kingdom.
It's now a three to four hour wait to pack containers full of emergency supplies at the Aotearoa Tonga relief committee event.
It's been so busy, organisers have asked people to come tomorrow in order to deliver and pack their emergency packages.
Hundreds of people have been lined up since 7am in their cars packed with emergency supplies.
Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
Mepa Vuni waited for more than two hours and said many people had taken the day off work just to show up.
"I haven't spoken to my mum since the eruption on Saturday. We are all doing this for the time being. We have been queuing here for more than two hours. People have been queuing since 7 o'clock," she said.
RNZ Pacific spoke with Katesi Ahotaeiloa, who said her elderly mother is blind and injured and had to be carried to safety on the island of 'Eua when the tsunami waves hit.
She managed to contact her parents in Tonga yesterday, for the first time since the eruption.
The Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee is coordinating shipping containers at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium to be filled with donations, including emergency supplies from family in New Zealand to relatives in Tonga. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis
She said they want Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's help to relocate their relatives from Tonga to New Zealand after their homes were destroyed by the tsunami.
She said they deserve a chance to come to New Zealand.
"That is my hope - I wanted them to come here. That is what I wish for. My mum is sick. Please, hope they can come here, get another chance."
Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
Lamei Filipe was also waiting to deliver emergency goods, and said her family had been left with nothing.
"My niece, uncle, aunty, sister, grandpa and grandma have been left without a home following the tsunami."
She also spoke with her sisters and their children in Tonga yesterday. Although she was devastated to hear the impact the event had had, she was relieved to hear they were alive.
"They are safe and are all right but yeah, everything is gone. The house is lost and gone and everything is gone in our village in Kanokupolu."
People with family in Tonga are allocated a 44-gallon drum to send Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
Lack of food may be issue for months
Items being asked for are non-perishable foods such as rice, sugar, cabin bread, canned meat, and water, small cooking utensils, batteries and torches.
Priority will be given to people with family in Tonga, with each family being allocated a 44-gallon drum to send.
Co-Chair Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiiki said lack of food may be an issue for months, so it was important any donations did not expire before July 2022.
Dempsey Taukeiaho, 10, helping with donations for the Tonga Tsunami relief effort Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
The committee is also considering Covid-19 safety protocols when sending the emergency packages, to protect Tonga which remains free from the virus.
Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee secretary Pakilau Manase Lua said priority donations will be given to people with family in Tonga and will arrive early next month.
Areas of Tongatapu like Kanokupolu and Kolomotu'a, 'Atātā island, 'Eua island and many smaller islands in the Ha'apai group have suffered extensive damage to homes and businesses.
Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
Some islands have had most if not all homes and buildings completely obliterated.
"The Tongan government have a plan in place to prioritise the worst affected islands like Mango, Atātā, Fonoifua, Nomuka. They were completely smashed and hammered," he said.
Committee co-chair Hon Jenny Salesa said the ship which is heading to Guam will stop over in Tonga enroute and leaves mid-next week.
The relief effort is giving many Tongan families in New Zealand a chance to turn worry into action while they wait to re-connect with loved ones, Lua said.
The donation drive will continue tomorrow, Saturday 22 January at Mt Smart Stadium from 9am to 8pm.
Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
