Paper short abstract:

Lack of communication and the difficulty local communities have in accessing information can be a dangerous combination in times of emergency. This paper draws from ethnographic research in Vanuatu and discusses rumours following Cyclone Pam. It calls for an increase in communication.

Paper long abstract:

Four years of disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs have recently concluded on Futuna, a small island in Southern Vanuatu, yet there continue to be minor clashes between the NGO running the program and the local community.

Community disaster committees have been created, trainings and workshops have been held, tools and equipment have been distributed and there have been numerous evaluation workshops and questionnaires: the DRR program has been a success. Nevertheless, communication has been an issue through not enough recognition being given to local ways of being. Such issues become critical in times of emergency. Thus in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam, that hit Futuna on 14th March 2015, a lack of communication and a lack of access to information meant that rumours ran rife.

During the time the country was declared in a State of Emergency, feasts and large communal meals were banned and markets were closed. On Futuna, it was rumoured that village grocery shops were also banned from ordering in produce, resulting in a shortage of rice, the main form of subsistence at that time. Rumours were also circulating to the effect that aid would be removed or stopped if there was no evidence of its use.

There will always be inequality in the power dynamic between aid givers and local communities, but greater communication can help ease this and turn local communities into more equal parties, less dependent and better informed.