Making a Big Difference in a Small Nation

Sam and Jess (Patterson, C’09) Bell founded Kaleva Yachting Services in 2009 to service yachts visiting Vanuatu, an island nation northeast of Australia. They couldn’t have imagined, at the time, that the luxury boats their business depends on would one day double as lifesaving vessels, but that’s exactly what’s happened in the wake of Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu with devastating force in early March.

The Bells were not in Vanuatu when the cyclone hit, but they hurried back to help superyachts deliver supplies to hard-to-reach areas. At a bit of a distance now from the initial disaster, they have shifted their focus to helping island residents rebuild. Read about the Bells’ efforts in The Christian Science Monitor’s People Making a Difference column.