People helping People….

One’s faith in humanity has been somewhat restored after seeing all of the good work being done here in Vanuatu post Cyclone Pam, by a range of Governments, charitable organisations and individuals.
For the rest of the world Cyclone Pam might be last year’s news, but luckily not for everyone.

It may not be pretty, it may not be very well coordinated, it may be inefficient and perhaps poorly directed, but despite this, some real help is getting through to the ground and the communities that need it!

Over the last few nights, I have had the pleasure of the company of Oliver and Mickson, a couple of Nivans based in Vila. They are working for the Farm Support Association, which is significantly funded through Oxfam, assisting communities in setting up small scale agricultural ventures by providing training, equipment and access to funding, as well as ongoing support for up to three years while their businesses develop.

On Monday, which was Assention Day here, (the third public holiday since I arrived!) I went for a bike ride up the coast to the Rano/Wala communities. There I encountered a heap of ‘white people’ heading for a local church service wearing uniform polo shirts branded with ‘Marine Reach’. After chatting with a few locals, I found out that these people from various countries , had all come from a NZ based ship, the Pacific Hope, which was anchored out in the bay and that they were here for a couple of weeks to provide primary health care, optometry and dental clinics. I later found out the Marine Reach is a branch of the international organisation Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and they run ongoing trips around Vanuatu at this time of the year, coming and going from Vila to swap volunteer health workers.
Note a RNZ National piece on this programme done last year: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201773266/nz-medical-ship-visits-vanuatu

There is also of course foreign Governments here doing a range of good things (although probably for their own strategic reasons….) the Chinese building new parliament buildings in Vila, a new wharf in Santo and a new ‘coaltar’ road between Norsup and Lakatoro outside my gate.

The Australians funding a range of things including roading improvements and an important vocational training organisation known as TVET and NZ funding also directly or indirectly funding a variety of other economic development, health, security and education projects.

As expected, the Red Cross also features prominently through a range of rebuilding projects with Red Cross water tanks being a prominent feature on Paama to name one recently cited example…

VSA personnel and the equivalent organisations from Australia (AVID) and the US (Peace Corp) are also scattered throughout the archipelago imbedded in hospitals, health centre, schools and other organisations, often for long periods of up to (and sometimes beyond) 2 years.

On top of this I have encountered many examples of where NZ or Australian Rotary Clubs or Churches are supporting a particular village and its rebuilding efforts or at other times even individuals that have had an enjoyable holiday prior to Pam, heard about the damage and donated directly back to the places and people they met when here.

Despite the rest of the world inflicting various nasty things upon the Pacific, (including most recently climate change) some good things are going on to improve the quality of life for our neighbours….

These may be small relative to the need, but it’s something!

One Small Island

After leaving the second largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago, a few of my colleagues and I headed across to the much smaller Paama for a few days’ tourism development support.

The island is the smallest in the Malampa province being only 8 km from north to south and 5 km or so at its widest point and is dominated by hills, rising to a height of around 550 m.

It is also surrounded by the active Ambrym and Lopevi volcanoes to the north and east as well as the larger Epi to the south.

Note the abrupt ends to the runway!

Wikipedia warned me that “landing and taking off from this grass airstrip at the north of the island is not for the faint-hearted” as it is one of the shortest airstrips in the whole of Vanuatu with the ocean at one end and a ‘bigfala’ hill on the other!

The majority of the approx.1,600 people living on Paama live in villages close to the coast of the island and make their gardens on the hillsides nearby.

Our task was to work with villages around the island wishing to develop their tourism opportunities. No resort chains here! This is a few village based, basic guest houses and the beginnings of some associated cultural and outdoor activities where the majority of any benefits should go back the locals.   (with the exception of VAT tax and business licence fees which the government happily grabs L)

The island currently has very low visitor numbers with flights available only 2 days a week - so most suitable for the intrepid traveler wanting to get away from the bright lights of Villa or Luganville.

Some of the potential activities under consideration include a Paama custom experience, a walk to view the nearby and spectacular Lopevi volcano, (as well as an epic Lopevi summit expedition) and fishing both the traditional outrigger canoe form as well as the aluminum boat/outboard motor variety….

Our ‘taster’ for the Paama custom experience included traditional string games, impressive sand drawing,  basket and mat making with coconut and pandanus fronds respectively…and a climb up to one of the inland villages for a feed of laplap (yam with a meat filling, covered in coconut milk and wrapped in island cabbage) and a finale of custom dance.......

The Lopevi view walk provided a brief village experience, including an explanation about the use and protocols with the Nakamal (meeting house) within the village, as well as the spectacular view out to the Lopevi volcano itself.  









For any Gilbert and Sullivan fans out there, Lopevi has a vague resemblance to the island of Bali Hai from the musical South Pacific.

Although previously occupied, as a result of damage from volcanic eruptions, villages have now moved to nearby Epi or elsewhere. 

Plans are currently being discussed for a return to  experience the summit climb....

As well as being susceptible to cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis as with elsewhere in Vanuatu, Paama is also regularly affected by volcanic ash from nearby islands damaging crops, contaminating water supplies and inshore fisheries for periods of time. It’s relatively poor soils also the limit crops that are able to be grown and following rainfall events also slip readily blocking access routes between villages and to the few public facilities that exist on the island.  

‘Paamese’ people are therefore very resilient and despite these challenges, as with elsewhere in Vanuatu, extremely warm and welcoming to any ‘white man’ that might choose to visit.

A small amount of village based tourism has the potential to provide some modest, but important, cashflow for these communities to assist in getting their children through school, developing more cyclone resistant housing., improving hygiene and water supplies etc.

As well as limitations with access and natural disasters such as Cyclone Pam last year, national governance and important public infrastructure maintenance issues also have flow on effects to the wider Nivan community. A prime example at present is the ongoing runway issue at Port Vila which continues to seriously affect recovery of the tourism sector with news this week that Virgin Australia have again pulled out of flights in and out of Vila rejoining Air New Zealand……....