The 9 tiny Islands that make up the state of Tuvalu is located between Fiji and Hawaii, close the equator and with a landmass of just 26km2. Nearly 10,000 Polynesian people live on these islands and have lived in harmony with the emerald green seas around them for thousands of years.
In just 10 years however the sea has risen dramatically, and they have lost at least 20 meters of land as well as suffering from dramatic and damaging flooding. Sea water has damaged their crops repeatedly now and the Islanders have felt the fragility of their situation. Ground water is contaminated and much local food is now inedible.
One of the extraordinary consequences of the floods has been the search for food. Now the Tuvalu people are importing much of their once healthy diet. They import highly processed, rich in protein foodstuffs from the Australian and Japanese mainlands. This has meant that for the first time the people of Tuvalu are suffering 21st Century diseases such as blocked arteries, diabetes and heart conditions.
Photographer Shuuichi Endou and his wife Yuko Endou shown here, are campaigning to raise awareness of the effects of climate changes on their way of life. Shuuichi has been methodically taking pictures of the Tuvalu people and has created an unusual picture album of 1,000 locals with messages for the outside world. Each person photographed is logged onto a database and a computer link up receives messages of support from around the world.
The project aims to create a better understanding throughout the world community that the crisis of climate change is no longer a projected problem of the future but a threat of immediate urgency.
Noatago, a 53 yr old fisherman asks the world, "Please stop the wasteful discharge of greenhouse gases. Please grant my simple dream."
Support the people of Tuvalu by logging on and sending a message of hope to Noatago and Shuuichi and the inhabitants of Tuvalu. You can see your link from around the world reaching their tiny islands online at http://www.10000.tv/
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