SchoolAid Appeal for Children in Samoa and Sumatra

Launch of Australia-wide schools response to Samoa and Sumatra natural disasters

Our Australian community has woken to the tragic aftermath of two devastating events on the shores of two of our neighbouring nations – Samoa in the Pacific and the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

SchoolAid is launching an emergency appeal today in response to these two tragic events affecting our international neighbours. The Samoa and Sumatra Emergency Appeal provides the opportunity for Australian school students to support the children impacted by these two natural disasters, so close to our Australian shores. 

Hundreds of people are feared dead in Samoa and American Samoa after a tsunami hit the islands yesterday.  Many small villages have been completely destroyed leaving up to 15,000 people - families and children - homeless and stranded.

A Tasmanian woman and a Victorian school teacher along with a six-year-old girl have all died in the tsunami – reminding us how closely these tragic events of neighbouring countries impact our own communities.

Within 24 hours of this disaster in the Pacific, a massive earthquake on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has destroyed the city of Padang and it is feared more than 1,000 people might be dead and thousands more are trapped in the rubble under collapsed buildings and homes. Many schools are completely destroyed.

SchoolAid calls for the collective and combined effort of students across the Australian school community to respond to these crises affecting their peers – as you go to your October holiday break, it could be as simple as making tomorrow, Friday 2 October, a mufti day with a gold coin donation to the SchoolAid Samoa & Sumatra Emergency Appeal. 

If every school across Australia did this we would raise over $1 million to go towards the emergency needs and recovery needs for children survivors of these two disasters.

The Australian Primary Principals Association is right behind our Samoa and Sumatra Emergency Appeal – join us in making a difference and register your school's involvement in the Appeal at www.schoolaid.org.au/sign-up.php and together we can support children and students facing the loss of loved ones, their homes and schools.  United as one collective schools community, we can make a huge difference!

If you have previously registered for the Victorian Bushfires Appeal, or Burma, China Emergency Appeals, please login and add the "Samoa and Sumatra Emergency Appeal" to your existing profile.

Turn your compassion into action – it can be as simple as announcing a mufti day for your last day of term!

Your school's contribution can be directed to one or other or both of these events.

The SchoolAid Team