A fundraising campaign designed by Tonga’s Olympic flag bearer, Pita Taufatofua, has amassed more than $310,000 after the massive volcanic eruption on Saturday.
Known for appearing with his torso smeared in oil at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Taufatofua created a page on the campaign website GoFundMe, verified by CNN, on Monday (17) after the disaster.
According to the GoFundMe page, the funds will “go to those in greatest need,” as well as repairs to infrastructure, schools and hospitals that have been damaged.
“As you all know, a massive tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption devastated Tonga…we are seeking your donations to help our island kingdom,” the website says. “Your help and support in these difficult times is greatly appreciated.”
Describing the eruption as an “unprecedented disaster”, Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni added that “a mushroom of volcanic ash” extended and covered almost all 170 islands – of which 36 are uninhabited – impacting a population of over 100. One thousand people.
Taekwondo and cross country skier Taufatofua posted on his Instagram on Wednesday that he still hasn’t heard from his father, the governor of Haapai, who was on the main island of Tongatapu at the time of the eruption.
Taudatofua added that, however, his family’s home on the island of Haapai still stands.
“I just learned that our family on the island of Haapai is safe and that our house there, “Fuino”, is still standing! She is over 100 years old and has been through many cyclones and now a tsunami.”
“I still haven’t heard from my father or our family in Kotu and the lower islands around it.”
olympic hero
Taufatofua represented Tonga in taekwondo at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and in cross country skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
What made him a viral personality, however, were images of him at the opening ceremony in 2016, shirtless, smeared in oil and wearing a traditional Tongan headdress on his hip, while waving his country’s flag. In South Korea two years later, defying the cold, Taufatofua did it again.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Taufatofua delighted fans once again, appearing shirtless and smeared with the Tongan flag, but with a co-flag bearer, Malia Maile Paseka, who competed in taekwondo.
Taufatofua was training taekwondo and trying to qualify for canoeing at the 2020 Games, a sport he was learning in honor of his ancestors, as well as for environmental reasons.
“I want to bring awareness to the oceans, to our planet and to make people see that what is happening on our planet is something that we should all be aware of,” Taufatofua told the CNN.
“I love being in the ocean, being in the sea. It’s a sport that excites me. I haven’t learned it yet, but it cheers me up at the same time.”
However, he did not rank in kayaking, meaning he competed only in taekwondo.
Even so, Taufatofua still made history by becoming the first person to compete in three consecutive Olympics since the start of the Winter Olympics in 1924.
On his GoFundMe page, the 38-year-old said he is at a “training facility in Australia”.
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil
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