TANNA ISLAND – Young children have been the most affected in an El Nino-driven drought that is compounding the destruction caused by Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu.

One infant has died and there are unconfirmed reports of two other deaths in the north of Tanna Island, where the effects of the drought are most felt.

People are struggling to grow crops, water sources are drying up and people are surviving on meagre food handouts.

Hospital wards in Tanna are full of malnourished babies and their distraught mothers.

Deborah, one of the mothers, said her main worry was the lack of food. She feeds her baby nutrient-rich milk supplied by the hospital.

“The soil is very dry and we can’t plant anything, the only water left is for drinking, there’s no food,” she said.

Dr Robert Vocor, the hospital’s medical superintendent, said the drought meant locally grown fruit and vegetables were scarce.

As a result, many people were living on government handouts of rice, noodles and tinned fish.

“We have a lot of patients around here especially kids and children who have the problem with nutrition and we have a lot of malnutrition cases,” he said.

Dr Vocor said the emergency supplies do not have the nutrients growing babies need. The hospital treated 19 malnourished babies in recent weeks.

“By six months we should be introducing solid foods to babies or children which then helps with the growth because they can’t live by breast milk alone,” he said.

“But the problem with the El Nino thing, it’s becoming a problem where we don’t have the root crops.”

Nietu Marcel from King Cross primary school said his students were sick and struggle to concentrate in class.

“The children’s hygiene is not very good because they can’t wash their hands or clothes,” he said.

He said many were suffering from diarrhoea and other stomach complaints after drinking dirty water as rivers and creeks dry up.

At the Imaio village in Tanna’s north, what was once a fast flowing, deep mountain creek is now barely a trickle.

Gaston Theophile from CARE International said the aid agency installed two water tanks to help villagers capture whatever little water possible from the creek.

“This is a previous catchment. Before you had a big pool here and you have a big flow rate so everybody can have their water – now as you see there is no water in this creek,” he said.

There is barely enough water to weigh the tanks down to keep them from blowing over. There is none for drinking, cooking or watering food gardens.

Villager Richard Tasi said their plight was becoming increasingly desperate.

“We have no water in the village so we face difficulties of fetching water,” he said.

Subsistence farmer Anauda Johnson said all crops were destroyed during Cyclone Pam and now with the drought, there is nothing left in the garden.

Cyclone Pam, which struck in March this year, shredded the trees and Johnson said the lack of shade meant that what little rain that does fall is quickly evaporated by the sun.

“My main worry is my kids. I’m restless at night worrying about where I’m going to find food for my family,” he said.

Village locals in Imafen village are also preparing for the next cyclone.

They are building traditional cyclone shelters, low-set structures made of rough-hewn wood and thatched grass that they believe are stronger than bricks and mortar.

Elder James Kaso said all they had to sustain their work was the government handouts of rice and tinned fish.

“The government gave us food but it’s not enough. Lots of people are going without,” he said.

In neighbouring Papua New Guinea, the government has come under fire for its drought relief program after weather conditions put more than two million people at risk of famine and disease. - ABC