More than 50,000 children in Vanuatu still need urgent help one month on from Cyclone Pam, says Save the Children.

Tens of thousands of children and families in Vanuatu continue to face crippling food and safe drinking water shortages just a month on from the mega storm that killed 16 people and affected more than half the population.

Help is still needed after Cyclone Pam left a wake of destruction in Vanuatu.

Tauranga teenager Courtney Tilby was on the island of Pentecost when Cyclone Pam tore through the islands.

'Unfortunately, most kiwis think that the cyclone came, aid arrived, end of story,” says Courtney. 'But that's simply not the case.”

Most of the villages affected have lost crops and their water supply, and Courtney believes it will take around two years to replenish everything.

Courtney has set up a Givealittle page to help raise money for the people in Vanuatu. So far the page has managed to raise $8385 of the $20,000 goal.

Read more of her story here.

Save the Children has so far reached more than 17,000 people, distributing food, water and other basic necessities like tarpaulins.

They're also helping communities to establish sustainable water supplies, but the aid agency says there is still much more to do.

'Many people in Vanuatu rely on subsistence farming for food, however Cyclone Pam destroyed thousands of hectares of crops and gardens, creating massive food shortages for large swathes of the country,” says Save the Children Vanuatu country director Tom Skirrow.

'The storm also caused the destruction and contamination of many water stores across the country, which is especially concerning for the outlying islands that are highly dependent on rainwater.

'This is putting thousands of children at risk of potentially deadly water-borne diseases and illnesses like diarrhoea and malaria.

'It's critical that additional support is found for the ongoing emergency response and longer-term recovery efforts so we can help children and families get back on their feet and recover as quickly as possible.”

Almost 60,000 people in Vanuatu currently don't have a reliable source of food, according to the World Food Program, while the UN estimates that more than 100,000 people don't have reliable access to safe drinking water - around half of which are children.

Tim says it would be several months before some communities are self-sufficient again.

'It's likely to be at least June before any of the crops planted following Cyclone Pam start producing any food,” he says,

'Communities are desperately trying to rebuild their water systems so they can have clean drinking water.

'Until these two things occur, tens of thousands of people will be relying on food handouts and emergency water treatment from aid agencies like Save the Children and the Vanuatu government.”

Donate to Save the Children's Cyclone Pam appeal at: www.savethechildren.org.nz