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Situation Report: American Samoa
 Snohomish County Chapter American Red Cross volunteer Tim Serban was deployed to American Samoa Friday, October 2 as member of the National Red Cross Response Team. Tim is the Director of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and has been a volunteer with Red Cross since 1999. His first volunteer training with the Red Cross was in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. Tim is thumb-typing these reports to us using his I-pod mobile device when connections are available.
DAY 1: Saturday 10/3/09
Action report briefing from military included warnings about tsunami washing sand away uncovering many unexploded WWII ordinance, advising volunteers to shut off cell phones immediately, mark the spot and call the military EOD teams. Not expected and not grounded here in the island.
We arrived via USAF C-17 "Spirit of Kamehameh" into American Samoa after an 11 hour hold in Hawaii and a 5.5 hour flight. We came to our shelter, an outdoor, covered gymnasium aptly named Ionnnes Paules II (John Paul II) at 4 a.m. A quick rest and wake at 7 a.m. off to the HQ--a tent with a warehouse and office that was created by welding two 40 ft cargo containers together side by side.
Connected with Mental Health, Client Services and Partner Services leads. Was informed about VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster) meeting at 1pm with Partner Services. Attended Partner Services meeting/call with National VOAD. Local UCC (United Church of Christ) Pastor and key local leaders, 10 people including FEMA and DSHH Reps. Addressed need for emotional support of those impacted. Plan to go out tomorrow to support men in grief with another MH (Mental Health) ARC member. LBJ hospital to refer those who have been hospitalized and released to us to follow, especially men and those who have lost children for follow-up.
Also was able to check and confirm two local families living in high impact areas were safe and well. They were families of staff from my home hospital in Everett.
By the way I have connectivity in, where else, the only McDs (McDonalds) on the island and primary source of sustenance for us. (They also use Karl’s Jr’s. for wi-fi access).
Tim Serban, ARC SRT lead DRO 560 Samoa
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| Tim Serban, ARC volunteer from Everett WA hugs mom of 6-year-old Vaijoresa Uputaua Niuaveve Fiatiao, killed in A. Samoa disaster |
Tim Serban consoles Taitasi Fitiao, mother of Vaijoresa Uputaua Niuaveve Fiatiao, 6, who was killed in the recent A.Samoa disaster |
DAY 2: Sunday 10/4/09
Following a local invitation to attend Mass at Christ the King parish it was truly moving as it was the community's first Sunday service since the earthquake & tsunami.
Action items of the day. After teaming up with local Mental Health resources in the community I went on to an area of Leone, A. Samoa. Being male support people, we we're tasked with the job to attempt to reach out to key men in the local community who have faced the greatest loss ever, their children.
How, as a father would you face the grief of losing your children fleeing their school to try to make it home? How would you handle the deep grief of not only losing your home but also facing the reality that you could have lost your entire family and how do you celebrate the fact that all survived except your little angel, your only daughter who was just six years old? These were just some of the realities we walked into today.
I can say one thing that really connects with kids is the fist bump and blow-up. If you don't know what it is, ask your kids or grandkids. We met with a teacher of preschoolers who is facing the reality of school starting tomorrow and what to say or do to help them process the grief of who doesn't end up showing up for school and the fear that those who didn't show may not be ever coming back.
That will be our call tomorrow, as we have been requested by local leaders to begin to meet with teachers and helping them address their grief just before stepping into the classroom.
Then there are us men. Two of us, another Washington State Red Cross volunteer and myself the epitome of a grandfather and "younger" father who have found a team approach in supporting men in grief and helping them know it's "for their kids sake" and their own that they get help.
We are considering ways to connect leaders in the communities with those who are in shock and trying to survive. Coming by this Friday will be the work of two families to have the funerals of their children, which means digging their own child's grave, all of which are in the front yard of the family home. Then bringing family together and hosting them in what would have been your home, but is now uninhabitable and there are not many options for alternatives, tradition, culture, honor, and history mandate that, for one to have honor that they would do these things.
Call it part of the grief work, families with loss often are working tremendously hard and they do have the love and support of amazing community family commitment. All will surround them; the prayer of this community is a constant source of strength. They welcome every bit of support and advice for caring for their kids their children and themselves. The little we provide is much when you have limited access to such support.
Today? One of those once in a lifetime over the top days that change your life because you walk with people in places of loss and when we leave we see a bit of hope and a child who with silent smiles wishing
you Tofa! (goodbye) with a fist bump-blow-up!
Tim Serban, ARC SRT lead DRO 560 Samoa
DAY 3: Monday 10/5/09
Today began at 6 a.m. as we were requested to partner with Key DOH psych leaders to start at two schools, one elementary academy and one vocational high school. It (school) starts today and many emotions of the teachers and students for the first day back.
300 students at an elementary school and one colleague covered this location; I covered support to 400 students at the high school through the morning. They had an assembly and I was the presenter on handling the grief, stress and emotional aftershocks of a disaster. The students were open, honest and asked deep questions. Many were personally impacted and those who lost a family member came up to me directly to process their grief.
Following the assembly at the high school I went back to the elementary school and was invited into a 6 grade class who had lost their classmate. They asked open questions about their fears, their concerns and their hopes for the family of their lost classmate. They decorated pictures and outlined the depth of this loss and how they experienced the shock of the earthquake and tsunami.
They will be making a site visit with their classmates and teacher, to the site where she (their classmate) was swept away and they will sing songs and leave flowers in hopes that one day her body will be found. Such depth and incredible honesty with what they need in order to grieve, is equivalent to adults.
The rest of the day was spent processing with teachers. Even the 5- year-olds drew amazing pictures of their face after the tsunami and bird's nest grief assessments. The faces: half were smiles and the others were sad. When asked, the sad (faces) were Mad at the ocean and happy faces were Happy that their homes were safe.
Still unpacking, next plan for coming day, possibly based at LBJ hospital to assess support needed for families at the morgue operations. First priority, those in greatest need.
Tim Serban, SRT lead DRO 560 Samoa
DAY 4: Tuesday 10/6/09
Today began at LBJ Hospital in Fangatonga village toward the center of the Island. The responsibility to assess the situation at the hospital mortuary which is clearly overwhelmed. We have a mental health person staffing two phones in a fairly large chapel space. All calls from the Island and "Off Island," as the locals call it, come through here.
We were invited to bring male support to key victims and families with adult males as there are no male support team caregivers on the island yet. We went to homes and supported strong Samoan families who had lost family members or those who had witnessed the deaths of many.
On our way down a devastated road in Pago Pago Village , a boy in his teens ran across a debris field to get our attention. When we stopped he asked, "can you come back and see my father, he needs to talk to us.” We did and it was deeply moving, as (he told us how) his sister died in the tsunami and how she was found by her sister-in-law and cared for with the greatest dignity a person could receive. To witness the tears of a strong Samoan man were just so deeply touching, as we will be seeking to reduce the fear of tears of our brothers on the Island.
Today, we were called "forever family of the Samoan people" and if today was the last it would have been so worth it. After teaching the kids yesterday there's not a place we go where there's not someone waving thanks. And as the day wound down in Pago Pago , I had received an email from home, with a request from the Mainland Washington (unlike) that I have never received before. I did not know her, nor do I think we have ever met, but this unique request (came) after reading an article in the local paper about my trip…she called my home asking if I was ever in Pago Pago Village, would I check on the grave of her beloved brother who had died in the early 1960s and she had heard that the cemetery was destroyed in this Tsunami. So since we were already in Pango village we had just about an hour to get in and get out if the area. Having no idea where it was, we set off and located what appeared to be one of the only public cemeteries on island. We first observed devastation, headstones tossed by the tsunami and many were broken. I parked the car, said a brief prayer, and as I walked I was welcomed by the sight of the marker with his name on it. It was perfectly intact.
And as the sun shined brightly on this late afternoon sky between two massive jungle-like mountains, I made a call to the woman in her Everett area home, and after introducing myself I stated, “on behalf of the American Red Cross I am calling to inform you that I received your message and as we speak I am standing at the foot of your Brother's grave site…while the cemetery has sustained damage, your brother's resting place is safe and secure and has sustained no damage whatsoever.” And as I heard the tears of gratitude, I let her know that we are honored to bring her this news and I have taken pictures of her brother’s grave which I will be able to share with her personally upon my return in a few weeks.
Today was clearly another one of those "deeply moving life-changing bookmark days."
A day that I will be unpacking for a lifetime.
Tomorrow, Wed. we will begin again with the children who lost their classmate, they will go with their teachers for a site visit to the location where their 11yr old classmate last lived. She was lost with her mother when the waves came through.
And the children will bring part of themselves to leave at the site. Then we will teach teachers about grief and the preschoolers and then my Mental Health colleague will go back to a high school to train teachers about Psychological First Aid. And I wrap up tomorrow with a few site visits to families and then work with leaders of Teen Challenge on Samoan TV at 6:30pm
All my best. Tim
DAY 5: Wednesday 10/7/09.
We never know...
So just when you think the nerves are settling down on this island of grief, you experience what we experienced today, a Tsunami Warning as we were working with the fears of the early childhood educators.
Their school students, homes, and people were lost, and the grief was very evident as the emotional concerns were palpable the minute we looked out the classroom window to see a sea of children in uniforms pouring out of their schools and all walking quickly down the road uphill towards us. Before we knew it a teacher called out another Tsunami, "it's real it's not a drill, everyone get to higher ground now." Within a minute all were piled into cars and into the backs of pickup trucks on their way toward the jungle mountain tops.
The clouds hovered like fog around the top and as we followed a steady stream of vehicles driving up the mountain. Every 100 to 200 feet a young man stands holding a metal hammer-like bolt next to an empty, rusty oxygen tank suspended above the ground. Each is beating a steady and constant sound like a gong that echoes through the village. Just as one sound fades another gets louder….
Throughout the entire area, people pour out of their villages on foot and we make it to the top of the hill in time to hear the Tsunami Watch change to a real, more serious tsunami warning and when we thought we had 2 hours they shorten the time to impact to 50 minutes and from the top of the mountain you see tankers and fishing ships and the occasional sailboat head out of Pago Village lagoon and they move out at full power, and in the silence of everyone around you, you know they are straining their eyes as far out over the ocean to see the waves approaching. All communications are shut down due to jammed phone lines.
All emergency evacuation plans end at the top of the mountain as you are with a new family, just you and them. Are you about to be a witness to another devastating blow or are you just going to wait? You can hardly keep from triple dialing those you love and we began to share numbers of our loved ones back on the mainland in case one of us gets through. This time it was me, Carla my wife, answered and I let her know I was safe and she was the lifeline for four other people from the mainland.
Thank you for being our voice to say we were okay.
One earlier story before, it was our trip with 6 graders to the site where their classmate died and I can hardly not think that if this were earlier we would have been at the waters edge with 11 yr olds as they sang their Samoan Farewell song on their 21 ukuleles. I may send that song soon.
But it was a very deeply precious moment as the whales breeched in the sea behind them, something that rarely is seen in this area and rarely seen as one whale came very close and blew its spray and the kids got their sign from their friend that she is safe and at peace. A sight that no one could experience without the gift of tears, and so I send this across the sea with the echo of the day still playing in my mind and the beauty of the love they have for those they lost.
Tim Serban, SRT Manager, DRO 560 A. Samoa
DAY 6: Thursday 10/7/2009 - Short & Sweet
Began the day with one plan and schedules changed. There were visible signs that the previous day's Tsunami Watch/Warning had more than rattled the nerves of many. Teachers and students alike were impacted.
People are shakey and the students are nervous too. I even believe that one of the last things I said to a group of teachers was that they needed to be honest and truthful and if a student asked could this happen again? Then we need to tell the truth and say we don't know. It could happen but this what we are doing to be safe and need you to let us know what helps you to feel safe.
Today mostly in Pago Pago Village with families and individuals in need:
The emotional aftermath is very real.
It is great working together with excellently trained Mental Health members and collaborating partners within the Community.
No one is an Island . Sleep is calling soon.
Tomorrow the funerals of the children of the Samoan village of Leone.
Tim
Tim Serban, SRT Manager, DRO 560 A. Samoa
Sent from my mobile device
Situation Report:
American Samoa Week 2
Snohomish County Chapter American Red Cross volunteer Tim Serban was deployed to American Samoa Friday, October 2 as member of the National Red Cross Response Team. Tim is the Director of Mission Integration and Spiritual Care with Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and has been a volunteer with Red Cross since 1999. His first volunteer training with the Red Cross was in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. Tim is thumb-typing these reports and sending them home using his I-pod mobile device--when connections are available.
Here are his reports from Week 2 - beginning Saturday, October 10, 2009:
Notes From: Tim Serban
American Red Cross Spiritual Care Response Team (SRT) Lead
Disaster Relief Operation (DRO) 560-Am. Samoa
DAY 8: SATURDAY 10/10/2009
The day began with a referral for Spiritual Care and Mental Health to support a family of a two year old who was apparently having dramatic reactions since the earthquake. We both have experience working with kids and know the age-specific reactions and signs of trauma in children. But there is simply something that has to be asked about what could the reactions look like in a child 2 yrs old?
We even wondered if the child's reactions could be a reflection of a parents reaction to an earthquake. Not so in this case. The child will run away and hide at night or when a loud noise happens the child cries, gets nervous and tries to find safety often being very attached to the parents. One of the first things my Mental Health Colleague did was bring a Teddy bear for the parents to give the child and the hold the child had on the bear was remarkable. We taught the parents the basics, be watchful in their play, be sure they eat sleep and breathe. By the time we left the child was play! ing and laughing with another sibling. The bears in both children's arms.
Next back to Leone for a followup visit following the funeral of their daughter that was held yesterday. Mom slowly healing from her injuries says that she was waiting for our return today because she had something for us. She reached into the only backpack she owned and pulled out the very last two buttons with her daughters picture on them and the phrase "God only picks the best flowers for his garden." She said she saved these buttons for us and she wanted us to have them. She said, "if I had a picture of you both I would have put them in her daughters backpack that was buried with her because she deeply appreciated the support."
She asked us what we thought of Samoans burying their family members in front of their houses? I said it was a bit surprising at first but on the mainland many families go to the cemetery to walk, and think and be one with their loved ones and the thought of always having your family close and right before you on your family property every day would be a special gift.
Next was another special journey to complete a circle that I was called to complete when I left the Mainland. To connect with a woman who had lost her husband on their sailing yacht. Until yesterday I was not clear how to locate her. In our work at an Elementary school we just happened to speak to the principal who said she had a cousin she had never met who just happened to be in the Port of Fangatongo on the day of the Tsunami and her husband was swept off their ship as the first of four waves came rolling into this narrow harbor.
He was topside loosening the lines from the boat so they could move into the deep water and she was below deck starting the motor. An incredibly harrowing story of survival. She and her adult son described their moving experience of the burial at sea.
A man who was quiet and not wanting to be part of a lot of attention…they simply lived their lives quietly and so to their honor I will leave the rest to their personal journey to Honor, unpack through the years ahead. Her dilemma now? They need to find a way to get the yacht back to Florida before cyclone season begins.
Tim
Tim Serban, NACC
Lead Spiritual Care Response team American Samoa
Disaster Relief Operation 560
DAY 9: SUNDAY SRT DRO 560
Today a bit of a mild day, White Sunday celebration in every church in American Samoa and at the Catholic Parish near our shelter Christ The King parish, when word from Pope Benedict XVI came to the people here through a letter from the Pro Nuncio of New Zealand. The people were given a very special papal blessing and in his message a blessing and prayer of strength and support to the recovery workers; the entire congregation was deeply touched.
And during the presentation of the gifts once again the young people brought beautiful lei's and I was presented with one with purple flowers. After Mass I let the pastor know I planned to bring the papal blessing to a Mom who was Catholic, unable to leave her house due to the injuries of the tsunami and having lost her daughter she felt much anticipatory grief with today's coming White Sunday. The pastor removed his yellow and white swirled lei and gave it to me to bring to this Mother from the Pope and Him.
I went to their house just down the road and together husband and wife were on their porch resting in the shadow of their daughters burial site. I humbly came to Mom and said on behalf of our Holy Father and the Pastor of Christ the King Parish I bring you these leis and extend to you the prayers of our church and from Rome for you, your family and your daughter. I presented her the leis and one to her husband.
White Sunday which is such a celebration of children has taken new meaning in this home, and the mere thought that a prayer from the Holy Father was extended to them, has made such an incredible difference when words and actions often fail us. They were touched deeply and again lifted in spirit.
Peace this White Sunday American Samoa, Peace the world cannot give!
Tim
Tim Serban, NACC
Lead Spiritual Care Response team American Samoa
Disaster Relief Operation 560
Day 10: Monday is a day off.
Day 11: TUESDAY 10/13/09
Well today the plan was to start at the Samoan Community College and provide support to students and staff -- but when we arrived it was amazing the work they had already undertaken to support the students who returned back to school. Early reports are that at least 50 students and teachers have been impacted. We began planning the support and may look at some future teacher training ahead.
Then we received word from South Pacific Academy about the planned funeral for the 11yr old student and her mother. The daughter has not yet been found. The funeral Mass was very powerful, to see the support of the Korean Community and Samoan Community was a true gift.
There were at least six priests and the local bishop celebrating Mass. The teachers had asked that we attend as the students were attending as well. The husband and 8yr old daughter were surrounded with support and yet nothing could prepare one for the final farewell.
As a husband and father I could not help but feel the father's pain and husband's grief losing such precious loves of your life. You could feel the overwhelming weight of grief as the single casket slowly descended into its burial place in this Catholic Cemetery. Falling to his knees as the final Samoan Farewell song was sung in five-part harmony, broken by the deep grief of those who wanted to help lift him up, but everyone there knew, this was a husband's goodbye and a father's grief that simply needed to be his own. The moment broke all of our hearts and (as) the choir struggled to sing through their sorrow, he picked himself up, covered his face with both hands and took a deep breath as the service came to an end.
Once again with full dignity and honor this father and husband hugged his remaining child and then the family from Korea and around the world, closed around him in an endless embrace...
And the sun continued to shine... On the outside...
Tim
Tim Serban
SRT Lead DRO 560
American Samoa
Day 12: WEDNESDAY 10-14-09
If Friends are Friends Forever...
Our day began at 6am with the constant sound of torrential rains. The space we're in kept us sheltered from the direct rain but the wind and sound of huge drops of water pounding on the tin roof of this outdoor gymnasium with open walls on either side sounded like barrels upon barrels of marbles, then golf balls, dropping on it. Even with earplugs the roar was amazing. The water comes down in such volume that it easily overwhelms the drains. And when some of us awoke we had puddles around our cots.
So a quick change into the omni-dry shirts and we’re off. First to see our friends in Leone, parents of the little girl wanted one more visit. The grave now complete with beautiful blue and white tiles around the raised platform of her burial place. Her mother's hand and leg injuries from two weeks ago showed signs of physically healing. And Dad, for the first time appears to have completed one step also. The first of their sons has headed off to high school. And Mom speaks of wanting to possibly volunteer in the schools and read to children as a tribute to her daughter who loved when her mom read to her. We spoke of the possible struggles she may have but this is as necessary for her because she is already anxious about everyone going back to school.
Next we met one on one with key students who had experienced very specific significant losses. I met a high school student who had seen five people die. His unique perspective has the potential of isolating him because so few are even talking about what they saw. He openly spoke about how the night remains the very hardest thing for him. He can only sleep in the daytime. We explored some techniques to help him cope with the images and thoughts that are associated with such trauma.
Then the entire school had a memorial for three people who were classmates or parents of the children in the school. And among the music and tributes was once again sung the Samoan Farewell song and a song written by the artist Michael W Smith called "Friends."
In attendance the students, the family of the student who died with her mother and the child who lost her father. The tributes and the music were moving.
After the service the kids of the 6th Grade escorted the family of their classmate who died, back to their classroom to show the family the pictures they had put together around their classmate's desk. They stayed long enough to read every tribute.
And we saw a young boy who was afraid to go back to school three days ago, there with his friends at school in his class.
And as we wrap up our fifth hour with these kids we head out in the late afternoon to the Western end of the Island to the village of Poloa through more torrential rains. Here we meet a family of boys, one who is 16 who had only this year learned to drive. Their village is high above the waters far from the threat of a tsunami. Yet a father's concern for his neighbors and his son’s willingness to head to the waters edge to bring families to higher ground was truly heroic.
And yet when they were near the bottom of this sole jungle mountain road, they met people telling them to quickly turn around. The father turned his car around gathered people and sped up the mountain road, not knowing that his son was trapped turning around this large SUV when the waters hit him. He quickly helped a woman who had fallen from a truck and then he began to run on foot up the mountain as the tsunami waters pushed his still running vehicle sideways towards him. Separated for just a short while, the father at the top of the mountain road realizes that his son has not yet returned. So he gets back into his car and heads down the mountain to save his son. When he reaches him running half-way the boy jumps into the father's car and says "the water hit my car."
For Dad, the worst thing for him was not knowing where his son was. And for the son, it was thinking that he might not live. Once he was safe in his home he simply collapsed. We spoke about his fear, his other friends and simply how scary this was for he and his Dad. His Dad said he hadn't had a chance to let it out since the tsunami. As a family they had been busy preparing for the wedding of the older son which was scheduled for the weekend after the tsunami hit. All their family started arriving for the wedding two days after the tsunami. The wedding happened and now they finally had time to reflect on the impact of it all.
And Dad shared that "the hardest part as a father was getting to the top of our winding mountain road and waiting for my son to arrive and him simply not being there."
He said, "it was just taking too long" as the tears flowed down his face. This moment with everyone gathered around the room and us around the dining room table was incredible as father and son shared how much they mean to each other.
(...and a friend will not say never, because the welcome will not end. And a lifetime's not to long; to live as friends. No, a lifetime's not too long to live as friends...)
Tim
Tim Serban
Spiritual Care Response Team
DRO - 560 American Samoa Tsunami
Sent from my mobile device
DAY 13: THURSDAY 10-15-09
"When you spend your day with children you are renewed"
Under the shadow of Rainmaker Mountain was where we began and ended our day today in the village of AUA, with 300 students from the middle school just east of the capital of Pago Pago. Here students from K-3 (3yrs old) to 8th grade attend school and a 6th grade teacher noticed the great need among her students and heard about our support in other schools, high schools and the Community College. So the principal graciously welcomed us not only into one class but opened the entire school of 350 students to us. We started with 6th & 7th graders then 3rd & 4th graders, then 7th next 8th grades and finally 1st & 2nd graders and the day was done before we covered 5th grade. So we will be back here tomorrow.
So what was most significant about these kids? All were either at school or home at the time of the earthquake and beneath a huge mountain with a nearly completely vertical drop. And almost all saw a landslide happen as the sheer rocks fell when the earthquake happened. Then by the time the tsunami hit almost all were safe high up on the mountain. Among those in this school there were family deaths. No students lost but many have friends who lost homes or know at least two people who have died.
Across the board our message was to process the fears, speak of safety planning and above all provide concrete ways for everyone who says the nights are still the hardest. The emotional aftershocks are still causing sleepless nights and apparently just two days ago another aftershock was felt by many on the island and especially by the kids. The little ones simply start to cry.
So our plan for nights include a model provided by my colleague who is an excellent and most highly trained retired mental health expert from Spokane, WA. He suggests to each grade the Plan A Dream method, helping kids and adults alike to plan their dreams. Rather than simply letting thoughts and images of the earthquake and tsunami fill their minds just before bedtime, we suggest that they draw their favorite place or image or happy dream and put it under their pillows and before they go to sleep think about the happy picture. We go back tomorrow after their first night's trial so they were told to give us a thumbs up or thumbs down tomorrow if it works.
One child in our talk asked if we had found his cousin yet who is 6yrs old and still lost. What a tough moment.
More later. Peace.
Tim
Tim Serban
Srt lead American Samoa
DRO 560
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