The GX Foundation holds a ceremony in Vanuatu's capital Port Vila on July 31 to mark the completion of its disaster preparedness kit project in the Pacific Island country this year. [YANG HAN/CHINA DAILY]

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region supports Vanuatu's efforts to strengthen the community resilience  of over 30,000 residents, helping them better prepare for natural disasters.

On July 31, the GX Foundation, a medical humanitarian aid and charitable organization based in Hong Kong, held a ceremony in Vanuatu's capital Port Vila to mark the completion of its disaster preparedness kit project in the Pacific Island country this year.

The ceremony saw the participation of GX's representatives, student volunteers, and local residents, as well as Chinese ambassador to Vanuatu Li Minggang.

Since February, GX has distributed nearly 5,000 disaster preparedness kits to communities in Saama, Takara, Melemaat, Mele and Erakor. The kits are designed to support over 30,000 lives in Port Vila's disaster corridor.

"These kits are not ordinary aid packages," said Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of GX Foundation.

Noting the kits were designed according to local needs based on assessments done in collaboration with the communities, Leung said the tools in the backpacks, from water purification tablets, to crank radios, and medical supplies, are important to saving lives.

The project is "a clear example of what the Belt and Road Initiative means at the grassroots level", he said, adding that it also reflects Hong Kong's unique role under the "one country, two systems" principle to enable cross-regional collaboration.

Children in Vanuatu receive the disaster preparedness kits from the GX Foundation on July 31. [YANG HAN/CHINA DAILY]

The kits are designed to help local residents support themselves for up to a week after a disaster, reducing the risks of disease infection or injury, said Chan.

Kalpeau Vatoko, 74, coordinator of the Nakamal Meeting House of the Mele community, said the tools are useful to the local people and that he is grateful for the kits provided.

"I am using the radio now and it is very useful … (I use it for) news, especially when a disaster comes," said Vatoko.

Kaltatak Kwalokis, 65, one of the community leaders of Erakor community, said the educational material and training provided have helped the residents develop skills to protect themselves during disasters.

"Our hygiene standards are very low, so … after disasters, diarrhea is one of the most common diseases," he said, noting the instructions provided by GX are useful in teaching residents how to treat the disease.

During the ceremony, a group of 18 young student volunteers from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, who helped prepare and distribute the kits, also performed songs in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

Ernest Yau Sai-kiu (second right) conducts a disaster preparedness kit training session alongside other student volunteers for local residents in Vanuatu on July 31. [YANG HAN / CHINA DAILY]

As the students performed the song Beautiful Pacific Islands by Vanuatu's popular artist Vanessa Quai, the residents burst into cheers, clapping and singing along enthusiastically.

"I spoke to some of the people in the village who have come from quite far away … I am very glad that lots of people take our work very seriously and they come all this way to listen to our training programs," said Ernest Yau Sai-kiu, a 12th-grade Hong Kong student at English public school Winchester College.

Yau was one of GX's 18 Youth Ambassadors who went to Vanuatu in July to distribute the supplies and offer training sessions to the local community.

"I feel … I am actually doing something meaningful, something that I know will have a positive impact on their lives because they can take this (kit) and live in an emergency," he said.

Earlier this year, GX also signed a memorandum of understanding with Vanuatu's Ministry of Health on a national program to control malaria, dengue fever, and other mosquito-borne diseases.

GX has delivered about $1 million worth of life-saving initiatives, including over 79 tonnes of supplies. More than 100 humanitarian personnel from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong have been deployed to provide direct assistance.