‘Here, look at this.’
Young mum Neslyn points to a pile of giant purple sweet potato on the ground: ‘This is the first harvest of sweet potato we planted after Cyclone Pam!’
It’s a rare moment of celebration for Neslyn, who’s had a tough time after her homeland of Vanuatu was smashed up a year ago by the fiercest tropical storm to ever hit the South Pacific nation.
In the first few days after the storm, food was in short supply. Neslyn survived by eating coconuts that had fallen in the storm and by salvaging what she could from her garden.
To make matters worse, she came out in sores and suffered diarrhoea because the water supply was contaminated after Pam.
‘The food [from a Tearfund’s partner] came just in time,’ said Neslyn, who along with other families in her community of South East Ambrym received three distributions of supplies.