Sitting thousands of miles away, one Bainbridge Island couple watched the weather radar helplessly as Cyclone Pam crept closer to a land they love.
Pam plowed into Vanuatu last week with sustained gusts up to 90 mph, shredding villages and flattening businesses, schools and homes. Remnants from the March 12 disaster now scatter the South Pacific island’s terrain, which has devastated at least half of the population of Vanuatu.
“It’s absolutely terrible,” said Jason Sovick, who has set up a GoFundMe account in hopes of flying over to help.
The island is the native homeland of Mere Sovick, Jason’s wife. Many of Mere’s relatives still live on Vanuatu, an island off the coast of Australia that was devastated by the powerful cyclone.
Her family is safe, but the community is not.
Now, the Bainbridge Island couple is asking the public to help them help others.
“The thing is, I’m married to someone from there and that place is a part of our life,” he said. “Not being there just seems like a tragedy, not to be able to go help out in a place I know so well and for people I love.”
The Sovicks have a small window, however, as he is a teacher for the Bainbridge Island School District and can only go on spring break, which is a mere two weeks away.
While it is not something the couple could have planned for, they feel strongly the need to assist in any way they can, even if it is just for a short time.
His break is from March 27 to April 5. Despite the short notice, he’s received $1,350 of his $8,000 goal in one day.
At the very least, he can buy his wife a plane ticket there, he said. The money will fund airfare and lodging to travel to Vanuatu. Anything raised above that will be used to purchase supplies for children such as diapers and clothing.
As an educator, he said he’s happy to stand in any classroom to fill in for teachers. He also speaks the local language — Bislama — a skill he’s picked up during his many visits to the area.
“It’s so stressful what they’ve been through,” Jason Sovick said. “Everybody is worried about food and water. Being there to support people is another big thing. I see that as an advantage for going.”
Aside from being his wife’s native homeland, Sovick has links to the area dating back to 1995 when he served as a Peace Corps volunteer at Malapoa College in Port Vila.
Further adding to their ties, his wife founded Melanesian Women Today, a nonprofit focused on contemporary issues impacting the lifestyle of women and families in the area. One particularly high priority project on this trip would be finding funds for the women’s market in the middle of town. It’s an enterprise that has been destroyed but provides income for roughly 20 families.
“Everything is just wrecked,” Sovick said.
Radio and telephone communications with outer islands have yet to be re-established, according to a March 16 report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In total, 24 have been killed and more than 3,000 residents have been displaced.
“Vanuatu is used to disasters but the indications are that Cyclone Pam has caused unprecedented damages,” said President Baldwin Lonsdale in a press release issued on his behalf by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. “Bridges which link Port Vila with the rest of the island have been destroyed.”
While the Sovicks have shed many tears over the loss their family has experienced, they also are crying tears of joy for the amount of compassion they’ve already seen online.
“It just brings tears to my eyes to think that people dug into their own pocketbook when things are tight,” he said. “It’s not easy to part with your money. It’s really touching to see the outreach from people already. Really touching and really encouraging.”
To donate supplies, email Jason Sovick at jason@sovick.com or visit www.helpsovick.com for more details.
