While the international community is mobilizing and humanitarian aid has begun to arrive, individual initiatives are multiplying in an attempt to raise funds to help the 100,000 inhabitants of the Polynesian archipelago recover from the disaster.
Tongan rugby players, many of whom play in Europe, are on the front line. Among them was UBB mainstay Ben Tameifuna who kicked off a pot, following in the footsteps of Wasps player Malakai Fekitoa. The clubs are also associated with the image of the Rugby Club Toulonnais, which has two Tongans in its ranks, Lopeti Timani and Tane Takulua.
A 40km high smoke mushroom
“Tonga needs all the help it can get“said Ben Tameifuna in an interview with AFP a few days after the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano. Tonga is a small country, with few resources so this situation, in addition to all that is already happening, is going to have a huge impact.“According to NASA, the eruption of the volcano threw up a mushroom of smoke 40km high.
– Justine Hamon
Cut off from the world for several days following the rupture of the internet and telephone communications cable, Tonga has begun to launch the reconstruction site. This Monday, France announces that the patrol boat La Glorieuse has set sail for the archipelago with 10 tonnes of humanitarian cargo on board.
The kitty launched by the pillar of the UBB Ben Tameifuna.