Contact: Claire Starkey, New Zealand Red Cross, Communications Assistant, 04 471 8257, claire.starkey@redcross.org.nz

MEDIA ADVISORY, Apr. 10 /Standard Newswire/ -- While New Zealanders enjoyed a sunny Easter, three Kiwi aid workers were in the Solomon Islands, helping assist those affected by the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

The effects have been both emotional and physical. Rosemarie North, a New Zealand Red Cross information and media liaison officer, is currently based in Gizo, one of the areas hardest hit.

She has been visiting affected villages and has been shocked by her surroundings.

"Large stretches of the green western coastline of Ranongga Island were slashed with red, where landslides carved into hillsides.

"Further north, the earthquake lifted hundreds of metres of coral reef by up to three metres, killing the delicate organism," she says.

With more assessments being completed - including those by New Zealanders Victoria Fray, Andrew McCallister and Douglas Clark, the situation is coming to light.

In Gizo, 50% of gardens remain in tact, but fishing, a source of income as well as food, is still limited due to a loss of boats.

In Buri village on neighbouring Ranongga Island, no one in the 700-strong village has been brave enough to return home except to fetch essentials.

Even if their homes are undamaged, they would rather sleep under canvas outside.

However they would rather be near their old homes so they can fetch what they need, tend their vegetable gardens and keep up normal community life.

On Monday April 9, the Solomon Islands Red Cross and a team from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies visited Buri to assess people's needs and deliver water containers, rice, biscuits and noodles.

During an earlier visit, they provided tarpaulins.

The Red Cross and International Federation will be supplying tools and materials to cover people's immediate shelter needs, and help them rebuild their homes and daily lives.