Samoan Islands Relief Project
(Tsunami Disaster)

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TACOMA MAN TURNS SAMOAN TRAGEDY INTO CAUSE

11:17 PM PDT on Tuesday, October 6, 2009
By CHRIS DANIELS / KING 5 News

Lui says her senior center was washed away before anyone had time to react. Her body was recovered a day later. "She raised 12 boys and three girls. She was a gracious, lively person." says Lui, "She just reminded us to keep smiling, it would be okay."

20-foot waves hit the Samoan islands after a Pacific quake. Wednesday, the Tacoma businessman will fly to American Samoa to bury his mother. After that, he says, he hopes to focus on rebuilding his childhood home country. He believes, as do others relief organizers, that construction materials will be vital to the immediate recovery of the American territory. "Some of the villages we saw are completely gone," says Lina Thompson of Federal Way-based World Vision, who is now on the ground in American Samoa. "I mean homes, and churches, and schools." Leasiolagi says he's now working with local churches to organize the effort, which he believes could take years. "This is tough times," he says, "but tough times never last. It's tough people that do."

LOCAL SAMOAN BROTHERS TO HELP WITH TSUNAMI AID

Horseheads, NY – Two brothers are pitching in to help the relief effort for their relatives and others on the devastated island of American Samoa. American Samoa is a territory of the United States and is located in the South Pacific about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. Emmanuel and Shammah Leasiolagi (Lee-ah’-see-oh-lahng-ee) have never been to Samoa themselves but they want to try to help their extended family and other island inhabitants recover from the series of earthquake-generated tsunami waves that took the life of their grandmother just days ago.

“Our grandmother prepares and serves meals at the Senior Center in Pago Pago,” (the capital area of the island that had the most devastation) says Shammah (19). “She had gone to the center early in the morning to begin meal preparations when the waves hit.”

Emmanuel (20) added, “Some of the stronger workers were able to climb to the roof. When the water began to take our grandmother the others tried to pull her up, but the water was too strong. She was swept out to sea. Her body was recovered days later. Our parents will be going back to the island to attend the funeral set for October 14th.”

Both full-blooded Samoan brothers were actually born in Elmira due to the fact that their father and mother, Rev. John and Litia Leasiolagi, were residents here for twelve years in the late 80’s and through the 90’s. John was employed by Kennedy Valve much of that time. The family of eleven now live in Tacoma, Washington where Rev. Leasiolagi established The Love Church of Puyallup ten years ago.

“We felt so helpless,” Emmanuel explained. “We are way over here near the East Coast and our family is all the way over on the West Coast and in the South Pacific. We felt like our hands were tied to be able to contribute to the cause in a meaningful way. Then we realized that we can actually help in the relief efforts from here.”

The brothers intend to raise awareness and also to raise funds to help send containers of building supplies, tools, hardware, shovels, medical supplies, canned goods and other non-perishables to the battered island. At least three containers are slated for shipping from Tacoma over the next several weeks. The young men also plan to volunteer to help man a nation-wide phone bank during certain hours of the day. The bank is connected to a toll-free donation phone number. They also want to put on a pig roast dinner here in the Southern Tier for the purpose of raising funds for the relief cause.

The brothers returned to the area a couple of weeks ago to serve in an internship for Love Aflame! Worldwide--an international ministry headquartered at The Love Church on Upper Lake Road in Horseheads.

New York residents wishing to make tax deductible financial donations may do so by contacting The Love Church at 607-734-2400, or by email at tlc@lovechurch.com, or via the web at www.lovechurch.com.