Ben Aigamaua was on the phone with his sister in American Samoa when the second wave of the killer tsunami hit their home in Leone Village.

 

“She answered the phone from upstairs at our house,” said the Lambuth University defensive lineman. “She was safe, but the house, while still standing, was completely ruined.” His sister told him that the second and third waves that hit the island were the most destructive of the series.

 

“My cousin Leofva in California had called to tell me about the earthquake and that a tsunami was coming,” Ben said, “that’s why I called home.”

 

Asosaogalu “Sunday” Meaole, Ben’s friend from childhood and a linebacker for the Lambuth Eagles, wasn’t able to contact his family in Amanave Village.

 

“I couldn’t get through to my mother at first,” he said. “But my sister in Hawaii told me everyone got to safety.” The family’s house, built next to the beach, was swept away.

 

“My mom, dad and little brother are living in a tent on the property,” Sunday said. “Dad just got back from his second tour in Iraq. He was gone a year.”

 

Mr. Meaole is in the Army Reserves. When the tsunami hit American Samoa, he and his unit were in Hawaii waiting to be sent home.

 

“The Army flew him home right away,” Sunday said. The flight from Hawaii takes about five hours.

 

Ben’s family is living in his aunt’s house on the mountain behind their village.

 

“Yes, my mom and dad, my little sister, and my grandparents, are living with my aunt and uncle and their five kids,” he said, a shy smile intimating that the living arrangements might be a bit tight.

 

Sunday said he thought he should go home to help. “But my dad told me not to worry.”

 

His father told the pre-engineering student to, “Stay focused, stay in school, and stay strong.” Sunday is a fourth year senior with one more year of football eligibility at Lambuth.

 

Ben’s family gave him the same advice.

 

“Dad told me to stay and graduate, then come home,” said the fifth year senior. A sports management major, he hopes to open a fitness center on the island when he returns.

 

But the economy of American Samoa, according to AP news reports, was troubled even before the tsunami hit.

 

The two largest employers are tuna canneries, Chicken of the Sea and StarKist. Directly or indirectly, the canneries are said to be responsible for about 80 percent of economic activity on the island.

 

One of them, Chicken of the Sea, was already going to close its facility at the end of September and move the operation to Georgia because it was no longer profitable to operate in Pago Pago.

 

SamoaNews.com reported that a federal law enacted in 2007 mandated the same minimum wage be paid to island workers as that paid in the United States. The island Chamber of Commerce says that over 2000 employees lost their jobs.

 

As for the other large employer, StarKist, the tsunami wiped out the power plant that supplied the cannery. The Associated Press reports that StarKist is shipping 10 generators to Pago Pago to supply electricity until the local power plant can be rebuilt.

 

But even before the tsunami, the cannery was losing money and in survival mode. StarKist general manager Brett Butler says since January about 700 employees were laid off, reducing the workforce to 1800.

 

Recovery from both the natural disaster and the economic disaster will be difficult.

 

Relief efforts on the island are in full swing and have been since the waves receded. National Guard troops have been flown in from Hawaii with blankets, water, communication equipment and trailers. FEMA first responders and other government agencies and private individuals have been supplying food, tents and medical care. Navy helicopters off the USS Ingraham have conducted search and rescue missions.

 

Ben and Sunday’s families are safe for now, but they need some of the necessities of life...such as water.

 

The Lambuth University family is accepting donations. Hal Freeman, Director of Human Resources at Lambuth, said he checked with Fort Campbell to see if the Army, which has been flying supplies to Samoa and the Philippines, would take water and supplies directly to the Aigamaua and Meaole families.

 

“They couldn’t,” he discovered. “So I called Wanda Stanfill at the Red Cross. She’s been very helpful. She said it would be best to send money.” The International Red Cross supplied Freeman with the exact address for Western Union in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

 

To date, through donations by the student body, faculty and staff, Lambuth has sent over $100 to each family. “Just to get them through the crisis,” Freeman said.

 

Freeman said that if any United Methodists would like to know more about helping the families, to check with him. His address is:

Hal Freeman

Director of Human Resources

705 Lambuth Blvd.

Jackson, TN 38301.

 

You can contact Freeman at freeman@lambuth.edu or call 731-425-3217. For news from Samoa, go to www.samoanews.com . Videos are at www.Youtube.com .