Tsunami Story: Paisha

Paisha : Samoana High School Student, 10th Grade, Village of Pago Pago

It was a bright day with no fain falling down, all my siblings were awake and getting ready for work. As ironing my uniform an earthquake got my whole worried and went out of the house. I life in a two story house and from on top we watched the ocean backed up leaving only the rocks and ground. Then it hit back towards the land and we all started to panic because my uncle was on his way to work and my mom was already down the road waiting for her ride to the Aua school. I ran back down for her and she was already walking up with my uncle coming too. We got back home and started packing our stuffs and helped my grandma out by carrying her into the car. 

We all went on top of the mountain where my other uncle stays at and dropped my grandma there and then we came walking back down to watch where the tsunami is going to reach at. Well, we couldn’t go back down our road and were weren’t that panic because each and every single family member of mine were all there together that day. I heard cars crashing together and big waves tearing houses one by one. When it was done were weren’t still allowed to go down, but we didn’t listen but we went down to look. My village was a mess!! The road was awful and there was a lot of dust. 

Then one of my boy cousins came up to our house crying to my uncle because his mom, little sister, babysitter, and himself were affected by the tsunami. While crying he told his dad about him finding my aunts body next to the road where it happened an loosing his little sister while the babysitter was calling him for help. It was a sad moment for all of us especially my uncle and my other cousin that were with us. Even though the road was blocked with ruined cars, trucks, and mud, we walked all the way to the east side at the end of Pago for my aunty’s body.

Right when we got there my aunty’s body was laying inside another family’s house. We started crying and saying things trying to calm ourselves down, but we couldn’t stop. My aunty was covered with mud and she was all cold up and starting to turn purple. All the crying came to an end that time and we started to go look for my little cousins body. We searched the whole place where it happened, but still no sign. Our hearts were filled with sadness and heartbroken that day.

The family that helped carry up my aunty called the ambulance and they came right when the road was cleared to take her to the hospital. We went back searching again and again, but still no sigh :( Later on that day all of my boy cousins along with my brothers came home with packages of sodas, juice, chips, detergents for laundry, and other stuffs from inside the stores that were taken by the tsunami. In the afternoon we went to the police station to claim that only my little cousin is still missing, then we came back home and had a family gathering in front of my grandpas grave.

The next day we went down the road and all the village people were helping out on cleaning our village. It was also a bright day and with no signs of raining. We went back home and my boy cousin (whose mom and little sister died) came running to his dad that he found his sisters body at the back of the market. My uncle cried thank our heavenly father for helping at finding my cousin. My boy cousin said she was still wearing her white top, blue blouse and her school bag getting ready to go to school :( It brought us more sorrow and pain, but happiness because we have her body.

The following day we helped out on cleaning and each day I went riding to Amanave, Onenoa, and Fagasa. Man I felt sorry for the family who had lost their house and their loved ones :( Oh..... what a tragedy!!