On the Fijian island of Serua, where water breaches the seawall during high tide and floods the village, boats are moored next to houses. As gardens are flooded by saltwater, wood planks are stretched between some homes to create a temporary walkway.
Village elders have always believed that they will pass away on this valuable land, where their chiefs are interred.
The 80 villagers are forced to make the difficult choice of moving as the community runs out of options for adjusting to the rising Pacific Ocean.
The village of Semisi Madanawa, where Semisi Madanawa is raising three children while wading through playgrounds, may need to move to Fiji’s main island in order to secure the future of the following generation due to flooding, erosion, and exposure to extreme weather.
He claims that the village elders are resisting, questioning whether reclamation of the land could prevent the sea from engulfing homes and ancestral graves on Serua Island.
The 38-year-old Madanawa claims that it takes time for an idea to become ingrained in us humans’ minds and hearts before we can accept impending change. We must decide because climate change is taking place.
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