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¡®Aloine Havea, a caring mother of five and savvy business owner from ¡®Eua Island, Tonga, exemplifies resilience and determination. Together with her husband Andrew, affectionately known as Friendly, they run AJ¡¯s Store & Finance. Opened in 2019, the store quickly became a local hub, leading to an expansion within a year. ¡°You have to believe in yourself,¡± says ¡®Aloine. ¡°Set your goal, and ¡­ when you achieve your goal, you have to do another one.¡±

However, their thriving business faced a critical challenge when ¡®Eua¡¯s wharf, essential for receiving supplies from Tongatapu, was badly damaged, first by a succession of storms and King Tides and then by a tsunami triggered by the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai undersea volcano eruption in January 2022.

The impact on the family business was immense. ¡°[The] wharf is really, really important to us because we really need the big ship to board on the wharf so we can get our stuff from Tongatapu,¡±

¡®Aloine recalls the struggle of goods having to be transferred onto small boats offshore ¨C a very dangerous daily operation, ¡°The big ship was not able to come over to the wharf¡­ Not only [was it] very hard [it was] very dangerous.¡±

With funding through the Tonga component of the World Bank-supported Pacific Climate Resilient Transport Program ¨C a program to support Pacific countries make their transport infrastructure more resilient ¨C the wharf was restored by the Tongan government and most facilities were re-opened in later in 2022. Communities and families across ¡®Eua were able to get their lives and businesses back up and running. For ¡®Aloine, this meant being able to bring in supplies to help the recovery effort on the island.

And now that supply is back on track, ¡®Aloine and Andrew¡¯s next plan is to add new services to their business. ¡°We already plan to run a gas station. This year, we [are] currently working on that project,¡±  ¡®Aloine said.

Despite facing many challenges, ¡®Aloine is determined to succeed so she can support her family, especially their five children; the lifeblood of their business. AJ¡¯s Enterprizes is named after their youngest son, Andrew Junior, and the income they are generating is putting the children through school.

¡°The reason why we sacrifice a lot to make this grow is because of my family. We have planned for our children, where we can send them to school [to] have a good education [and] help them and their future family, where they can rely on themselves and know how to earn their own living.¡±

The plan is working. The success of their business has helped ¡®Aloine and Friendly achieve their greatest goal so far, supporting their eldest daughter through school and on to University in Hawaii. ¡°I was so happy when she received her letter of acceptance, that she's going to the university because we planned for it so many years ¡­and she's there!¡±

It¡¯s not just ¡®Aloine and Friendly¡¯s family that is benefitting from increased development on ¡®Eua. As a lifelong resident of the island, ¡®Aloine has seen many positive changes made possible by an increasingly connected world.

¡°The good wharf really helped the development of this island because it's really helpful for shipping ¡­ the stuff for construction,¡± ¡®Aloine said. ¡°It really raised the standard of living because ¡­ people can easily ship over what they want from Tongatapu to ¡®Eua.¡±

But over her lifetime, ¡®Aloine has also observed new challenges, like the changing climate on the island, reflecting, ¡°We recognize it lately, something [is changing]. The cold season that we used to have in my island; it doesn¡¯t feel cold anymore.¡±

With the wharf redevelopment factoring in the likely impacts of climate change on ¡®Eua to make it more resilient to climate impacts, ¡®Aloine¡¯s business and plans for her future are less likely to be disrupted again. And like the rest of her community, she is hopeful about the future.

¡°Tongan people; they are brave enough to earn their living ¡­ whatever situation they are at,¡± ¡®Aloine said. ¡°Whatever comes, they can endure it. That's what make them really a Tongan.¡±

This project is part of the World Bank-supported Pacific Climate Resilient Transport Program. The $338.6 million program, which supports governments in six countries through eight projects, is upgrading vital transport infrastructure ¨C roads, maritime sites (ports, wharves, and jetties) and an airport ¨C to help make communities more resilient to extreme weather events and climate change.

The entire program is funded through grants and credits delivered through the International Development Association (IDA) ¨C the World Bank¡¯s fund for the world¡¯s most in-need countries.