Families of the Nanuku Nine gather for a commemorative Mass, holding photos of their missing loved ones in prayer and hope. Photo: Fr Frank Hoare SSC
We’re Going Fishing
One morning at the beginning of May 2026, nine men ranging in age from 20 years to 57 years said good bye to their families in Nanuku, an informal settlement in Suva, Fiji. They readied the boat they had hired from a local lady and set out towards the island of Kadavu to fish in waters frequented by them. They rested at a lighthouse on the way. One of them phoned a friend from there who advised him to get permission from the local owners of the area they would fish in. “No, we don’t need to do that because we often come to this place to fish”, was the answer. None of them have been heard from since.
The boat was found in waters off the main island of Viti Levu a few days later. There was no indication of what had happened to the men. The Fiji naval service and a helicopter searched the area where the men were last heard from and the area towards which they were going for three days. They had no success and regretfully gave up.
The Families
The nine men were closely related. The eldest was Osea and with him were his three sons, a nephew and other relatives. All the men except the youngest of Osea’s sons were married. Two of the wives are pregnant. Other wives have multiple children. Nanuku is an informal settlement in low- lying marshy ground close to the sea. The houses are mostly tin shacks built close together. A few people who have electricity share it with their neighbors.
Community Prayer
Ten days later a special Mass was held for the men in the Columban parish of St Pius X, Raiwaqa. All the wives, children and relatives of the nine men were present, bringing framed photos of their lost ones. The large congregation heard Fr Vincent Ratnam, the parish priest, speak words of consolation and hope. The choir and people sang from their hearts. Afterwards a large crowd packed the Methodist Hall in Nanuku to eat and drink together as a community.
The parish community invited the grieving relatives to the parish hall for a commemorative function about a week later and parishioners donated food, clothes and money generously to the families. Some parishioners requested a team from the Department of Social Welfare to visit the families and enable them to get a monthly allowance.
Trauma Counseling
I invited a group of counselors to visit the families in Nanuku with me on two successive Saturdays. The trauma counseling was to help them to support each other by sharing their grief. The wives, some with babies in their arms, shared in one group. Three men, two of them brothers and fathers of some of the missing men, shared in another group. A third group was made up of supportive relatives and friends.
Some of the wives cherished the hope that their husbands might still be alive. Others told of neighbors speculating about what traditional taboos the men might have broken for this tragedy to have happened. Grandparents spoke of the pain of seeing the effect on the children - some young ones waking up asking where are their dads. The three men said that they no longer felt like attending social functions. They just drank kava and shared among themselves.
A week later I listed some of the common signs of trauma to normalize their experience. I advised them to pay no attention to speculations about why the tragedy had happened. The wives all shared about how they were trying to cope. Some said they prayed a lot, others that they cannot pray. One twelve old girl, with tears in her eyes, asked who would now help her through secondary school.
Hardship and Love
With their breadwinners gone, the families are finding it hard to survive. Osea’s wife told me that she is selling her husband’s tools in order to provide food for her children. We distributed some money to the men’s wives. I wrote to the Minister of Women, Children and Social Protection, who is a friend of mine, asking her help to encourage a speedy registration of the families for social welfare. She replied immediately assuring me that she has a team working on it.
What brought most joy to the faces of the women during our counseling visit was the gift of a beautiful hand-made rosary in a pouch which one of the counselors gave to each woman. The rosaries were made during the previous week by her aunt. This aunt is suffering from stage four cancer, is barely able to walk, and spends her time making rosaries from materials bought on the internet. Her only condition in giving out the rosaries is that they not be sold.
The families of the Nanuku Nine are going through a heart-breaking journey. But they are being accompanied and supported by a community spirit that remains strong in Fiji. They need and deserve this support.
Fr Frank Hoare SSC lives and works in Fiji.
Related links
- Read more from the current e-Kaulotu - September 2026
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