Around 60 RSE workers arrived in Auckland on Wednesday on the first flight out of cyclone ravaged Vanuatu. Photo: RNZ / Jonty Dine
A RSE worker from Vanuatu says all the money he earns in New Zealand will be sent back to help rebuild his country after it was struck by a two category four cyclones in 48 hours last week.
The cyclones caused extensive damage and plunged parts of Vanuatu into a state of emergency.
Emanuel Roslyn flew into Auckland with around 60 other workers on the first flight out of the country on Wednesday afternoon.
His father's home was flattened, leaving him sheltering in Port Vila.
"It was really really bad...Only a day separated the cyclones so there was no time to even try and fix your home because there was another one coming," he said.
The decision to leave for seven months so soon after the cyclones was hard for everyone, Roslyn said.
"Some of them thought 'oh maybe we shouldn't go', but I encouraged them, I said it's an opportunity for you to go there and earn money and then you can rebuild your home. It's hard...but we have to [do it]."
Ron Weslymoses has been coming to New Zealand as an RSE worker since 2008 and was also onboard the flight.
Damage from Cyclone Judy on 3 March. Photo: World Vision
Some parts of Vanuatu remained without power and families were struggling to find food, unable to salvage enough from destroyed crops, he said.
"We depend on the food we grow in the gardens but it's all damaged. Everyone eats bananas, taros and yams but they're all damaged," Weslymoses said.
"Some have ten people in the house...five or six children in their family, so it's very difficult to be honest."
He felt very lucky to work here when many back home had been left without a job in the disaster zone.
"We have had no electricity for the past few days. No telecommunications. The government is trying their best to build up the networks but it is [happening] very slowly."
Each rebuild was becoming harder, with more intense cyclones hitting each season.
"We start building and then two or three years later, another cyclone comes and damages [everything] again, and then we have to rebuild again...It's getting worse."
Roslyn believed the people of Vanuatu would get through it and were already coming together to help one another.
"Wherever you go there, you still see people smiling. That's one of the things that's unexpected when other people come [to help]. They've been through two cyclones but they're still smiling...We still have a good spirit," he said.
People were grateful for the aid and support from neighbouring countries like New Zealand and New Caledonia, he said.
