Michael Anderson's Page

Great post Michael. We lived in Samoa for 2 1/2 years from 2004 (we're in Cambodia now). We woke halfway round the world to news of the tsunami and spent the next day hit repeatedly by waves of emotion as we tried to contact friends and piece together news from the internet. I was particularly worried about one friend who lived near Sinalei which was badly effected. I eventually saw her picture on a New Zealand news website carrying a sink up the beach and knew at least she was alive.
Physical recovery and rebuilding is one thing but as Samoans find it hard to be open about their feelings and there are very few trained professional Samoan therapists or psychologists, I think the emotional rebuilding will take much longer. I still feel incredibly sad that some of the beautiful places, including picture postcard Lalomanu beach, that were such a big part of our lives have been scarred and that the Samoan people usually so quick to smile are hurting so much. We didnt lose any of the friends we still keep in touch with but many of those friends did lose relatives and some have horrific stories that are now a part of their memories. Mum sent me this link yesterday http://www.3news.co.nz/Campbell-Lives-Samoa-Christmas-Special-part-one/tabid/367/articleID/134748/Default.aspx
of Lalomanu beach today(there are 3 parts). I thought you might be interested.Tanya