Having the shape of the letter I, there is one covered entrance in the center of the building with the coat of arms visible in the front.With three distinct floors, the building is considered to be interesting piece of architecture as it is built in accordance to the nature, where more natural light is going within the premises of the structure in order to preserve electricity, which in bigger part is received by the solar panels which are spread across the entire roof area.With the distinguishable white color, orange colored corners and blue roof, the Tuvalu Government Building is definitely one of the most interesting architectural landmarks of the small country, which is hoping to receive more and more visitors before it could disappear from the rising waters of the Pacific Ocean.Photos under Creative Commons license, courtesy of
A sleepy, sanguine air permeates day-to-day life, as locals watch the lapping of the waves move ever closer.“Come what may,” locals say again and again, quoting the prime minister, “God will save us.”The largest building in the capital, Funafuti, is Government House, a three-storey white monolith that houses the offices of the country’s MPs. © www.alluringworld.com, 2020. In addition, international law also applies in Tuvalu. Sometimes I feel scared of the ocean,” says Sione, who adds that she is leaving for the sake of her kids.“Maybe one time Tuvalu will disappear. They want to keep behaving as if we don’t exist, as if what’s happening here isn’t true. Even if the locals could plant successfully, there is now not enough rain to keep even simple kitchen gardens alive.Scenes of Funafuti: a typical home, and freshly caught fishThe Frank family spend around AU$200 (£105) a fortnight on groceries, a bill that keeps rising as the fruit on the trees that ring their modest home – breadfruit, bananas and pandanus – fail to ripen, and fall to the sandy ground, inedible and rotten.The fish too, the stuff of life here, have become suspect. When planes aren’t expected, children ride their bikes and play volleyball on the country’s airstrip, while young courting couples take lazy laps on their motorbikes.In the afternoons, people snooze in hammocks for hours, and light campfires on the beaches to fry fish and keep the mosquitoes away.
But I believe that younger generations intend to migrate for the sake of the future generations.”During storm surges or the highest tides, the Pacific Ocean bubbles up from the sandy soil under Enna Sione’s small yellow house. The buildings located on Fongafale include the offices of the government ministries and the government agencies such as the Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau, the Tuvalu Meteorological Service, the National Bank of Tuvalu, the offices of the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation and the Tuvalu National …
Sione, her husband and four children are planning to migrate to New Zealand in the next two years – to join more than 2,000 of fellow Tuvaluans already resident in the country; a migrant population that doubles every five years.“The weather has really, extremely changed. When I came back I immediately noticed the difference. Initially a non-believer in climate change, like many older people on the island, Setani has slowly become convinced of the science as her daily life becomes tougher with every erratic movement of the sea.Nausaleta Setani with her nephew in a makeshift structure they use for sleeping, near the Funafuti lagoon“The weather is changing very quickly, day to day, hour to hour,” says Setani, 54, paradoxically soothed and disturbed by the ocean lapping metres away from her hut.“I have been learning the things that are happening are the result of man, especially [from] other countries. Tuvalu’s official government policy is to stay on the island – “come what may”.Plans for adapting to climate change include the ongoing – and much delayed – construction of a sea wall to protect the administrative centre of the capital, The local town council has a plan to dredge and reclaim land at the south of Fongafale, raise the land 10 metres above sea level, and build high-density housing. Suria Eusala Paufolau (left, or above on mobile), acting chief of public health, says cases of fish poisoning began to climb a decade ago; around the same time the weather really started to go haywire.Climate-related illnesses that have increased on par with the changing weather include influenza, fungal diseases, conjunctivitis, and dengue fever, according to the hospital’s research.Higher daily temperatures are also putting people at daily risk of dehydration, heatstroke and heat rashes, Paufolau says.“Generally the local population does not see the link between climate change and health. We can’t let them.”Fiji has repeatedly offered land to the Tuvaluan government to relocate their population 1,200km south, an offer the Sopoaga government has not accepted. Most of the islands sit barely three metres above sea level, and at its narrowest point, Fongafale stretches just 20m across.During storms, waves batter the island from the east and the west, “swallowing” the country, in the words of the locals.