1. Namoriki Rotitaake and Lost Trees

2. Meet Namoriki Rotitaake. He is a fisherman
who lives near Eita village in South Tarawa, Kiribati. **

3. More than 15 of his family members live together in a brick
house on the sandy ground. There is not a lot of room in their
home for everyone so they are looking to build another home.

4. Water is all around them.
Namoriki’s family and his neighbours actually live on a sandbar within a lagoon.
Water is all around them.

5. Namoriki has a small boat and enjoys fishing in the lagoon.
When there is no fish, he travels further to Abaiang where there are more fish.
His family gets to enjoy eating some of the fish while the rest are sold.

6. In 2013 his family got a water tank
In 2013 his family got a water tank. This has helped the family collect enough water to provide for their needs.

7. When they first moved here over 10 years ago there was no lagoon.
Back then there were many coconut and pandanus trees.

8. After a bad storm their sea wall broke and sea water rushed in creating a lagoon.

9. Many of the trees died as the soil became very salty as a result of the water flooding in.

10. Namoriki is forced
to work hard to rebuild the sea walls around their home to hold back the rising sea levels.

11. It is like an ongoing arm wrestle where land is claimed back from the sea for it only to be taken by the sea again in the future.

12. It is not easy to plant trees and vegetables in Kiribati especially if the soil keeps getting salty.
Even if the soil is good it would take seven years for new coconut trees to produce coconuts again.

13. Let’s remember to be thankful for all that we have.
Keep Namoriki and his family in your prayers.
Think of ways you can take action to have a positive impact on the changing climate in our world.
Photo Credits: Cathy Bi