A major shipment of World Vision aid arrived in tsunami-hit Gizo on April 6, where thousands of people have fled in the wake of the Solomon Islands disaster.

The World Vision aid, which arrived by boat, includes urgently needed tarpaulins, mosquito nets, blankets and other basic items.

Shelter and protection from malaria is a priority, as well as stemming the rise of diarrhea in the camps. There are fears of disease spreading rapidly in the crowded conditions.

A specialist water and sanitation team were visiting the more remote camps and setting up basic hygiene facilities. A World Vision nurse has spent the last few days conducting health assessments in camps and in the more remote villages. Efforts were also underway to secure clean water for the camps.

Gizo is in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, where almost half the population of 90,000 have been affected by the tsunami. The official death toll has been put at 38, but that figure is likely to rise.

Most of the villages World Vision visited in its initial emergency assessment were deserted, with the people too fearful to return, and in many cases with nothing to return to.

Tanya Rad, a World Vision worker at the scene, communicated the concerns of her colleagues.

"Unless we can get some supplies of clean water, sanitation and hygiene kits into these camps and villages quickly the outbreaks of diarrhea that we are now hearing about will become life threatening," she said on Friday.

"In one village they were so desperate for food they were retrieving rice that had been washed into a swamp and were trying to dry it out. In many parts people are simply surviving off coconuts while they wait for help to arrive."

Tanya also reported seeing several dead bodies in the swamps near the camps.

"The shock has not left us yet, it has been devastating," one man from Titiana village said.

Another woman from one of the IDP camps in Gizo spoke of the chronic shortage of water.  "There is only a small stream to take water from but this is not fit for drinking. Yet we are drinking it anyway, what alternative do we have," she said.

Many of those worst affected by the disaster are children as almost 42 percent of the population are aged under 15.

Yet there are remarkable stories of survival. One group of villagers were on the beach when a tidal surge hit a nearby point, giving them enough time to run for their lives to safe ground. And an Australian volunteer doctor found himself assisting at a birth twenty minutes after arriving at the makeshift clinic.

For more information or media interviews please contact Martin Thomas in Gizo, Solomon Islands on 00 677 794 025 or +8816 4143 8194.

Latest news from Alertnet

World Vision's work in the Solomon Islands