Fia Ola: Grief recovery following a tsunami disaster in Samoa

Abstract

Natural disasters provide humanity with a setting in which to examine core dimensions of life. How people respond to and make sense of their experiences due to the ruptures of trauma and devastation remains vital in grief recovery. An earthquake of 8.3 magnitudes on 29 October 2009 triggered a galulolo (tsunami wave) that devastated parts of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. This calamity provided an ideal setting for a case study examination of how those directly impacted recovered from the devastation. In this article, the experiences of one couple in the context of Samoan grieving processes becomes the key focus. Disaster and grieving literature is examined to inform and provide interpretation to their experiences. It is through such an examination that this article seeks to makes an important contribution to understanding the complexities of loss and culturally patterned responses of Samoan people, like this couple, to disaster recovery.