On January 8th, members from the Loloma Foundation 2009 team began arriving in Fiji to clear a container through customs and prepare for the arrival of the rest of the group that would number 14 for the Loloma Foundation's first medical mission in 2009. They did not expect the nearly five feet of rain and devastating floods that were to meet them.

So far at least 11 people have been reported killed from drowning and mudslides, though, given the isolation of many villages, this number is probably much understated.

As would be expected, the immediate impact is widespread, with damage to infrastructure. Homes, public buildings and businesses have been destroyed, with around 10,000 people living in evacuation centres. Roads and bridges have been washed away, effectively cutting off access for emergency workers and rescue teams. Electricity and water supplies have been cut and food supplies destroyed, washed away or are still underwater.

Sr. Patricia McLaughlin, a Daughter of Charity who works in the region, says that a lot of aid has come into the country but as always there is trouble getting it to the right people and in many centres there are complaints that people are being neglected. One picture on television showed ants, flies and other bugs all over the basic food so now there are warnings about all kinds of infection. ‘ I was in Tonga village with some Loloma goodies this afternoon and it was just so sad to see field after field of the poor people’s daily crops under water’.

The Loloma Foundation

The Loloma Foundation is a non-profit organistion that was formed to support the heavily burdened medical/dental system already in place in island nations of the South Pacific. The Foundation is authorized by the IRS to accept tax-deductible financial contributions.

The number of health professionals practicing in the South Pacific is at a breaking point, leaving a good portion of the population living on the outer islands with no primary medical or dental care. Aggravating this lack of care is the "brain drain" found in many underdeveloped countries - last year nearly one third of all health care professionals left the country of Fiji stretching the medical infrastructure even further.

The Loloma Foundation distributes medicine, clothing, school supplies, and other necessities to many agencies throughout the South Pacific, including Fiji, The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In 2007-2008 the Loloma Foundation treated more than 6,000 patients in remote areas of these countries.