7 Cyclone Winston: Catholic Women’s Faith …
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women found meaning in even the most painful experiences. Though their reality
was shattered by forces of nature more powerful than they had ever known before,
their belief in God’s love and care for them in the midst of the nightmare they
were experiencing, gave them strength and courage to endure, empowered them and
directed their actions.
Reijeli’s actions express what Ryle (2011, p. 73–74) terms as ‘spiritual agency’,
a powerful creative force that comes into being in the embodied experience of
the sacred. ‘Agency’ emphasizes the creativity, intentionality and inner ‘drive’ that
engenders this spiritual agency. To the person of faith, ‘spiritual agency’ is at the core
of what makes up the whole person, an integral and active component of a person’s
life, the way they relate to others and their surroundings, the emotions they experience, the choices they make, the way they face life’s challenges. It is such spiritual
agency that is central to the women’s experiences in Tokou and which directed their
actions during Cyclone Winston, empowering them to maintain and recreate social
and spiritual order and to effect change.
Women and Natural Disasters in the Pacific Islands
Women have crucial roles in society yet they are generally classified as disproportionately vulnerable. This is mainly due to traditional hierarchical systems dominated
by men, especially in Pacific Islands communities where women are subjected to
decisions made by men and often restricted from engaging in decision-making or
articulating their viewpoints in communal spaces (Charan et al. 2016). Traditional
gender norms in the Pacific also often constrain women from being able to make
decisions for themselves or on behalf of their families. Studies reveal that the culturally gendered roles of women in Pacific Island countries usually leave them more
exposed and vulnerable to disaster risks and higher mortality rates than men (Ear
2017; UNDP 2013).
In contrast, Clissold, Westoby and McNamara (2020) argue that while women may
often be viewed as vulnerable, they are also resourceful actors during disasters and
invariably play the critical role of ensuring that their families are safe and adequately
looked after. Women have unique skills in DRR and management yet these are not
usually acknowledged or sufficiently explored in many non-western contexts (Luetz
2008; UNDP 2013; UN Women 2014).
In countries like Samoa and Kiribati, the roles of women during disasters include
the security of the family, and preparation and storage of food, water and other necessities required during and in the immediate aftermath of these events (SPDRP 2002).
In Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam in 2015, women of Efate Island used their informal
networks to exchange much-needed goods such as food and tools with women from
different islands so as to optimize recovery (Clissold et al. 2020). In Malaita Province,
Solomon Islands, as described by Asugeni et al. (2019), it was the women of two
remote coastal villages who took the lead to build seawalls as an adaptation measure
to reduce coastal erosion. In matrilineal Chuuk, Micronesia, women, considered to
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women found meaning in even the most painful experiences. Though their reality
was shattered by forces of nature more powerful than they had ever known before,
their belief in God’s love and care for them in the midst of the nightmare they
were experiencing, gave them strength and courage to endure, empowered them and
directed their actions.
Reijeli’s actions express what Ryle (2011, p. 73–74) terms as ‘spiritual agency’,
a powerful creative force that comes into being in the embodied experience of
the sacred. ‘Agency’ emphasizes the creativity, intentionality and inner ‘drive’ that
engenders this spiritual agency. To the person of faith, ‘spiritual agency’ is at the core
of what makes up the whole person, an integral and active component of a person’s
life, the way they relate to others and their surroundings, the emotions they experience, the choices they make, the way they face life’s challenges. It is such spiritual
agency that is central to the women’s experiences in Tokou and which directed their
actions during Cyclone Winston, empowering them to maintain and recreate social
and spiritual order and to effect change.
Women and Natural Disasters in the Pacific Islands
Women have crucial roles in society yet they are generally classified as disproportionately vulnerable. This is mainly due to traditional hierarchical systems dominated
by men, especially in Pacific Islands communities where women are subjected to
decisions made by men and often restricted from engaging in decision-making or
articulating their viewpoints in communal spaces (Charan et al. 2016). Traditional
gender norms in the Pacific also often constrain women from being able to make
decisions for themselves or on behalf of their families. Studies reveal that the culturally gendered roles of women in Pacific Island countries usually leave them more
exposed and vulnerable to disaster risks and higher mortality rates than men (Ear
2017; UNDP 2013).
In contrast, Clissold, Westoby and McNamara (2020) argue that while women may
often be viewed as vulnerable, they are also resourceful actors during disasters and
invariably play the critical role of ensuring that their families are safe and adequately
looked after. Women have unique skills in DRR and management yet these are not
usually acknowledged or sufficiently explored in many non-western contexts (Luetz
2008; UNDP 2013; UN Women 2014).
In countries like Samoa and Kiribati, the roles of women during disasters include
the security of the family, and preparation and storage of food, water and other necessities required during and in the immediate aftermath of these events (SPDRP 2002).
In Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam in 2015, women of Efate Island used their informal
networks to exchange much-needed goods such as food and tools with women from
different islands so as to optimize recovery (Clissold et al. 2020). In Malaita Province,
Solomon Islands, as described by Asugeni et al. (2019), it was the women of two
remote coastal villages who took the lead to build seawalls as an adaptation measure
to reduce coastal erosion. In matrilineal Chuuk, Micronesia, women, considered to