A visit to a village in Vanuatu

Youth Challenge International Vanuatu (YCIV) arranges challenging experiences for Australian, Canadian and Ni-Vanuatu youth. The international volunteers raise money to come and undertake capacity building projects in remote communities in Vanuatu. There are usually an equal number (approx) of international and local volunteers on each project. The purpose of the projects is to have young people working together learning each other’s language and using their skills to accomplish a predetermined outcome for the community in which they will be living.

In Emua village in North Efate the outcome was a Youth Skills Summit. The volunteers had to live in the community, design the conference that would take place over a week, promote it and present it in a community that has limited resources. The community hall, a whiteboard, some pens and paper and a lot of good will and willing hands are the only real conference facilities. No electricity, no overhead projectors, microphones and Powerpoint presentations – no supporting DVD’s, videos, recorded music or electronics!

The village is an hour and a half slow bus trip over rocky and potholed roads to the north of Port Vila which is the capital. I travelled up there for the second day of the conference, accompanying guests speakers that the group had invited from the Department of Lands and the Ni-Vanuatu Business Association. There were over 35-40 youth from this village and others nearby who attended on that day. They sat quietly and listened to the guest speakers who spoke on land rights and ownership and also on how to start a business, and what might assist it to be successful. They diligently took notes and discussed the presentations.

I wandered around the village talking to the people and I was shown the living quarters used by the international volunteers. They slept on mats on the floor, under mosquito domes of varying shapes and sizes. There was an outdoor kitchen and eating area. The toilet and shower room were contained in a tin shed that the doors sort of didn’t quite fit! These young people live here for 4 weeks and a family adopts them to assist with language skills and integration to the village. What a fabulous experience for them – one that will live forever in their memories and longer in their hearts. Here are some photos from the day. Click on the photo for a larger version.

My school at Malapoa

My work is fine but settling in is a slower process for me than for Cheryl, since I have a much bigger complement of staff to get to know –and tell apart!!. Now that I’ve been there a few weeks, I’m beginning to see past the peeling paint (and shortness of resources) and can see it is a school with a heart, lovely kids and staff who care. During these two weeks, I’ve been to a school open day, a national School Sports Week opening, met the Minister of Education and established a relaxed relationship with the acting head of the maths department. I think she was a little over-awed at my 'credentials' initially and the fact that I'm a 'grey haired' one (automatically revered over here - - - - -hmmm, something Aussies could do with methinks!). The last few days have seen us in relaxed conversation about some of the workings of the faculty and she seems willing to listen to tentative suggestions. But as is the case here ------hasten slowly.


The senior curriculum is taught over 3 years. Year 11, 12 and 13. Year 11 & 12 is sort of equivalent to Oz. However students who want to go on must study all subjects at a higher level (like our 3-unit and 4-unit type courses) to gain university entrance, and that’s what year 13 is about.


I’m teaching two year 13 classes –Maths with Statistics (34 students) and Maths with Calculus (18 students). Both will be a challenge since I haven’t taught that content since Westfields High School in 1988! I’ll also be looking closely at their curriculum, programming, registration and other processes to see if they need to be tweaked to push standards higher. Malapoa College (MC) used to be streets ahead of other schools in Vanuatu, but the rest of the field is catching up and MC wants to ensure it maintains its reputation as a leading school.


Tonight it's off to the Anchor Inn -apparently the place to be for local expats. Tuesday night was trivia night at one of the pub/resorts. Our team came second, but won a few beers along the way. Pity our volunteer's pay doesn't allow for more than the occasional night out -but nevermind.


Foodwise, local stuff at the market is cheap as. --and get jealous here::::: this morning I bought a bunch of small bananas (about 10 ) for 150VT (=$1.80). Local lettuce, tomatoes (rare), cucumber, bok choy, kumera (kumala), mandarins (plentiful), passionfruit, green coconut (I just love the clear juice and it is SO healthy for you) are fresh daily. Beef is also about 30% cheaper than Oz and really good. However if you want traditional European/Western stuff from the supermarket, it's about 200% of Oz prices. Wine is plentiful, and there are also bargains to be had -especially if you know a bit about French wines- lucky me- but prices are higher. Say around 1300VT (=$16) for a respectable 'Jacobs Creek' standard wine.

And here is the inside!

The people in the picture are the other AVI Volunteers and our Bislama teacher and her husband. Ron and Trevor are at the back. Trevor is a librarian at the local library. Next to me is Trevor's wife Lois who is now back in Australia. Gail is the lady cutting the cake and she is on Espiritu Santo (Santo to us locals) - she is REALLY brave! Behind her is Anthony the husband of Stella our Bislama teacher, and that leaves Jacquie and Paul (also from Central Coast) Jacquie is working in a nutrition project and Paul is doing microfinancing for women! WHAT A TEAM!

Settling in - our house!

Well we have truly scored a fabulous bonus with the house we are living in. There is very limited furnished accommodation available in Port Vila and we had to pay a little more than expected so we could secure somewhere to live. However, once again the Universe has certainly delivered a worthy outcome for us. You will see in the photos what both the outside and the inside look like and just what a peaceful and comfortable place it is. We have three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a lovely living and dining area with kitchen. There is a separate laundry outside. We still have a few teething problems in that the washing machine is not working, the lounge needs recovering and the curtains need replacing. Getting the utilities and the telephone and internet connected has been a marathon but we are now settled in and enjoying the house, sleeping and eating well and generally life is as good as we could have hopped for here in Vanuatu.

Mbae me updatem long blog afta

OK, OK, OK - thanks for all the messages that have said the blog has not been updated for over a week and how slack we are! I know I said we would be doing this every Monday - but I am on Island time now and I could mean this Monday, next Monday or any Monday within the next month or two! However I will try to remember my Aussie work ethic occassionally and bring you up to date!

Well we arrived safely though about an hour late and checked into our accommodation in the early hours of the morning. The week has gone incredibly quickly and we have been through orientation, started in our workplaces and found housing. Each of these episodes will require a blog entry on their own and I promise I will be doing that as soon as time permits.

We have been to 2 parties and the races since we have been here so our social life is not suffering at all. The other workers we have encountered are friendly, helpful and fun and the local people could not be more interesting, genuine and welcoming.

Ron has already harvested a bunch of coconuts from a tree - yep I got photos and will post to this site now that I know I can access it at lunch time at work. We have a 2 hour lunch break and I have been told it is OK to use the internet during that time. Unfortunately I only have about 10 minutes of that time left now and I am using the bosses computer so I had better sign off soon.

Translation of the title of the blog for today is - 'By and by I will update the blog later' - so I promise I will and for those of you who have our email address - please send email to keep in touch.

So many people to thank

They say parting is such sweet sorrow - an enigmatic mixture of excitement and sadness. We have some wonderful people to thank for organising some great events to say farewell to us.

Gerri and Geoff kicked off the goodbyes just as Australia was ready to play in the World Cup. They are soccer crazy in that household, with mixed loyalties to Australia and Holland, it was green and gold with a touch of orange! It was nice to catch up with others from Business SWAP and the lunch, conversation, wine and company was animated and fun. Thanks Gerri and Geoff.

$quid$ did it in style at the Gosford Sailing Club with a fabulous meal to celebrate the property settlement at Umina, Pat's birthday and our departure to Vanuatu. We are blaming Kas for us ending up in Vanuatu - she found our block of land over there and put the Universe on notice that someone would have to go over and keep an eye on the development, the prices and the the cost of building! We are wondering what the Universe has up it's sleeve for while we are there...maybe there is a house or some villas to be built...Geoff would love a place overlooking the golf course, Jen would revel in the Port Vila races..and we would all benefit from a 'spa' lifestyle! Watch this space.

The crew at WorkCover sent Cheryl off with a feast of home-made delights and some Aussie mementos that will come in very handy. An Aussie slang dictionary, definetly a 'must have' for any overseas traveller was the highlight of the afternoon. Thanks everyone at the IRG Branch - I'll think of you whenever I have to convene a meeting in the future! Drop a line or post a comment!

Of course the picnic at Nurragingy (already posted in the blog below) was great fun with the gang from Sydney and Wollongong.

And to cap it all off............What a party! Saturday night was a total hoot. Everyone dressed in costume for the Christmas in July. And it seems when we're dressed in costume then we all lose some of the inhibitions and really get into party mode. There were Santas, Mrs Clauses, elves of all shapes and sizes, living presents, angels of the both the black and white variety, St Nick, a christmas tree, and of course, the angel to top the tree. Rudolph was there, the wise men were represented by one wise man and the Christmas faggot, Pudding 1 and Pudding 2 (see the pic!) brought the pudding, and- to remind us all of reality - we had a post Christmas Debt! The food (as always) spectacularly highlighted our cullinary expertise, the wine flowed, and the music pounded. We danced, talked, laughed and had such a great time.

As well as a "Christmas in July" night, it was also a farewell get together. So there were a few farewell moments during dinner. Thank you Bridget, you spoke so kindly and eloquently of us, we love you dearly. John and Maureen did likewise for Katie and Gordon (moving to Mexico in 2 weeks). Others too bestowed their best wishes. Thank you so very much Geoff and Gillian. You are indeed the epitome of genial hosts and did so much to make it a successful night.

We are indeed blessed to have such wonderful friends and we will miss you all ---but only until, of course, you come to visit us in Vanuatu.

Over the weekend we also moved Mike and Bec out of their city apartment into our place. I'd almost forgotten what pain moving can bring! It is almost a case of 2 houses into one just won't go!! But, with the appropriate stacking of boxes, hiding stuff in the roof, dismantling of furniture, and trips to Vinnies / the Salvos, it will all work out.