Islanders gathered on Sunday to mourn victims of the South Pacific tsunami that obliterated entire villages on the shores of American Samoa and Samoa, leaving at least 176 dead.
Monsignor Ioane Vito celebrated the first Mass of the day in a 19th century Roman Catholic cathedral on the waterfront of the Samoan capital, Apia, urging the congregation to unify to rebuild from the disaster that devastated the opposite side of Upolu island.
"Don't dwell on it but rebuild our lives together as a community," Vito said at the Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral. "Pain will unite us, and unity will give us strength."
Unity also was the theme on American Samoa, where residents were set to hold a national prayer service that territorial Governor Togiola Tulafono said would bring the community together.
It will be held at the headquarters of the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa, the largest religious denomination in the US territory.
Families were still coming to terms with the sudden losses inflicted by the tsunami waves that roared ashore after an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8.3. The disaster claimed at least 176 lives in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.
Villagers in remote areas of American Samoa were waiting for government officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assess damage to their homes and shops before they can start to clean up.
Jina Jang, a high school junior whose family runs a convenience store in Fagatogo town, and her father were sweeping water-logged papers, cancelled cheques and family photos into piles in front of their home and store. Broken store shelves sat under the store's collapsed aluminium roof.
"We're waiting for FEMA and others," the 17-year-old student said. "They said, `Don't touch anything yet,' so we're just waiting."
Scores of grieving people made a heartbreaking decision during the weekend to sign over victims of the tsunami to the state for burial rather than take them back to ravaged villages for traditional funerals -- a radical departure from Samoan tradition.
Government minister Fiana Naomi said on Saturday she expected about half of Samoa's 135 victims would be buried in mass graves of up to 20 in a new cemetery in the capital Apia on Thursday following a memorial service in a nearby sports stadium. The state would cover the costs.
"Usually they're very large communal ceremonies, but this is memorializing this event to serve as a constant reminder to us that we need to be prepared for natural disasters," Naomi said, tears welling in her eyes.
Some were concerned about bodies staying so long in the city's overcrowded morgue.
Ben Taufua, who buried nine members of his family in the hills above Lalomanu last week, was unhappy that some had been inadequately chilled in a commercial cooler.
"Eight members of my family were found on the first day. When we went to pick up the bodies, they were worse than the bodies that were just found 48 hours later," he said with tears in his eyes.
"It was very, very sad." Faisimalo John Muaitau, a resident of Apia, said his family had agreed to bury their three victims in the new cemetery.
"It wasn't an easy decision," Muaitau said. "But we feel that what the government is doing is making a memorial for them and that is a good thing."
