Background

The tourism industry is the mainstay of many people in this small village on Manono Island. Now they have lost their livelihoods. Sunset View Fales is a family-run beach fale accomodation that can be back in business within six weeks with your help.

Sunset View Fales has four fales still standing along with a water tank.  They lost their boats, six guest fales, and their cooking and dining facilities in the tsunami.  They can reopen if we help them purchase a boat, get their water system working again and build a small cooking and dining fale. This will mean immediate income and help in a sustainable recovery from the devestating events.

What we need to buy to make this happen:

All these items are available in Samoa and we can have this beach fale back in business. Also note, that these are our own estimates of what the project will cost and it may change.

Since their opening in 2005, owners Leota and Sau Leiataua have run a steady business bringing tourists out to the peaceful island of Manono and offering them a package deal holiday including fale lodging, homecooked meals, and snorkeling. Leota says that he always considers the guests at his fales family and he treats them as such. Although he doesn’t use the internet himself, he is pleased to report that many people who have stayed at Sunset View have logged on after their holidays and recommended the Sunset View to others.

The Leiatauas are eager to rebuild and begin serving again, and they aren’t the only ones who are awaiting reopening. Sunset View is at the heart of the Manono village economy. Around the island, Leota is known for his generosity and people in need come to him with their financial concerns. He says he always gives the money that is requested of him if he has it. Sunset View is also responsible for drawing customers onto the island who then support other villagers’ enterprises. Leota says many people ask him why he doesn’t open a shop near his own fales, as well. He tells me that it is not his idea to take all the business but to create more for others. “I want to share,” he said. It is no wonder, then, that many young men from the village have already pledged themselves to help with the labor needed to get the fales up and running.