A Basket for Change

The story of rural villagers working together to create island style bags & crafts to earn a decent income.

Recently, the women of Paama Island in the Republic of Vanuatu have created a new style of basket & bag making. Using cotton material sold in Vanuatu printed with its vibrant taste and island motif; these women have created hand bags, backpacks, purses, and wallets all suitable for any carrying needs. The 40 women have started “A Basket for Change” with the help of two Peace Corps volunteers stationed on the island of Paama; Amy Chan & Brianna Russell.

After their first successful round of producing 80 bags sold to other Peace Corps volunteers & the ACTIV fair-trade shop in Port Vila, they’re preparing for growth. Majority of the women sow the bags by hand as they cannot afford sowing machines but there are few that use machines. Now they have elected three executive representatives who will work closely with the Peace Corps volunteers in making this project sustainable and annual. The representatives are: Esi Cyrus, age 32, a mother of 4 children, native of Paama and past President of the Women of the Presbyterian Women’s Group. Elsie Ezkiel, age 30, from Tevaliaot village & current home care teacher at the local Rural Training Center in Paama. And Lisa Avock, age 30, who resides in a small village, Lulep, on the East coast of Paama. Each woman has a family of her own, is active in the community, the church, and other events. When not working on projects or other ceremonious events the women are found either in the home or in their gardens.

Most women don’t have paying jobs, living in a rural village on a 32 sq km island with a population of about 1800 people, regular urban jobs are few and far between especially for women. Only three out of 22 villages has electricity during the night hours of 6-9pm. Most don’t even have running water or water seal toilets. On average they earn 100-200vt ($1.00-$2.00 USD) a week from selling their local fresh crops at the island market on Paama. They spend their money on protein-filled items and school fee’s. The lucky villagers will have other sources of income from other family living in the urban areas of Vanuatu or from running a small store, fishing business, etc.

However, these bags sell for 250-500vt ($2.50-$5.00 USD) each costing less than 100vt to make giving the women an above average profit margin on their products. The plan is to make bulk orders of 80-100 and ship to the ACTIV trade shop in Port Vila two times a year and one time a year to the U.S.A. The women also plan to sell smaller amounts for cheaper to other rural islands close by. So far the women have earned about 66,200vt ($662.00 USD) total for the fiscal year of 2009.
We have currently purchased a website, have an email and are working to build this project on a foundation of sustainability!

Contact us for a local retailer in U.S. or custom orders.

http://www.activ.com.vu/products_abc.htm

A Basket for Change
Brianna Russell & Amy Chan
Liro, Paama Vanuatu
5421817 mobile, 48411 local number
brerussell@gmail.com

WE WANT YOU!

PAAMA YOUTH CENTER PROJECT:

Hello all humanitarians and readers!

We are doing a used and new book drive to help create the first public library for the entire island of Paama in Vanuatu! Paama inhabits about 1,800 people with about 40% within the youth category.

The library will be built inside the newly being built Youth Center in Liro, Paama. Any suitable reading material and magazines would be greatly appreciated and used! The people here learn English at the schools and would like to broaden their knowledge; any donations would be greatly appreciated. Best if educational, some fictional, science, biology, picture books, all within a sixth grade reading level. Magazines would be a bonus as well, it doesn't matter how old they are we will use them for collages and pictures!

Please send to:

Paama Youth Center
c/o Brianna Russell, PC Volunteer
Liro Village, Paama
Republic of Vanuatu
South West Pacific

Note: This is the correct address, the place is really just that rural!

Thanks!

My outreach on an island of "Black Magic"

My favorite side project and outreach is women's futbol.

Getting another team of young women to travel to a different island from ours called, Ambrym, to play futbol for a week was a mountain of difficulties and triumphs! The biggest challenge was taking women away from their husbands, families, social duties, homes, and comforts. Especially to play futbol and to a place known for witchcraft.

With absolutely no support from our island and a small tin can for a speed boat, we left our island only after weeks of training and speedbumps to embark on a 3 hour boat ride across the open sea. Upon arrival, we hike up to a near by village hoping for hospitality, to my surprise the girls with me didn't speak much, and I was the only one talking to these villagers. The chief and his people were welcoming, yet we waited a few hours before the scheduled truck arrived to pick us up.

Now in safer hands, we arrive to the Vanuatu Futbol Federation team and sleeping quarters, there I find another New Zealand volunteer, Serah, and another Peace Corps volunteer, Lindsay. I laugh in relief and happiness as we story about my adventure and challenges upon our arrival.

As the tournament went underway, we were one of 7 teams, and had no reserves to play two games a day in the blistering heat on a sand filled field. It was hard enough getting there, now with less appealing playing conditions, we once again overcame our setbacks. Needless to say, we took first place and won $100 USD as our prize money! The girls and I led every morning and evening with prayers and christian songs of devotion; our prayers had been answered. We didn't travel all that way, conduct fundraisers, train; to come back empty-handed, we came back with our pride in the shape of a Wimbeldon size gold cup 1st place trophy!

The looks of shock, surprise, and respect were what lifted our spirits the most upon returning back to our home island. The men and women all gave us a welcome home as we ran around our field holding our trophy high singing a war chant for our victory.

The hours, energy, blood, sweat, and tears spent doing women's futbol in Vanuatu=priceless

A Cultural Defeat

Unexplainable

I can’t even begin to put into words what I just felt, in a world so far from mine, I find myself on the verge of tears as I watch this young boy, this child of only 4 years grow up in a place so harsh, so cruel, so impatient, so neglecting, so mean to him. I make an extended effort to give him love, comfort, joy, praise, and interest every time I see him. It pains me to see how psychologically he will be at a loss. Children’s cries are only met with more beatings; these children will become the problem we volunteers are trying to change; laziness, de-motivation, boredom, violence, crime, rape, teenage pregnancy, etc. This may not be another world, but it is so completely foreign and in your face all the time you have no choice but to watch with peeled open eyes and a head strap. Seeing violence here is unusual in the sense that I don’t think they believe in what’s right and wrong. Yet they praise religion but majority of the people here have yet to read the Bible. And there are translated Bible’s so the means are there. Corporal punishment is part of their culture, its difficult to know there can and is a better way of living yet knowing that it is almost impossible to get these people to believe it and want it. I have no doubt the bursts of anger and violence these women lash out on their children is a cause and effect relationship. The oppression they feel, the neglect they get, is all released on these children and the animals. Their second rate status to the men, their over-worked and under appreciated lifestyle, its all correlated. But to me there is something wrong with a group of men sitting under the mango tree eating mangoes for hours on end as the women busily cook, clean, wash, look after the kids, without so much as a thank you. How they do it I will never know. How this country can ever expect to change, I will never know. Yet, they claim to want development, whatever that means.

Work Breakdown

Work Breakdown in Vanuatu, Paama Island 2009-2010

20% Liro/Senali Village Projects- Assist in planning, grant writing, national events & community celebrations, finished projects updates and reporting.

20% Paama Island Advising- work inside the Paama Area Council office on business advising, individual projects, loans, management, entire island projects & planning, translating documents from English to Bislama.

10% Workshops and Trainings Facilitation- conduct, plan, implement individual and group trainings or workshops on such topics as: computers, business, grants, money management, tourism, planning, health, etc.

15% Committee and Association Meetings- take part in any group meetings and trainings held in Paama as a special member and adviser. Such committee’s as: Paama Tourism Association, Paama Fisheries Committee, Liro/Senali Water Committee, PWMU women’s group, Enrionment Committee, Paama Youth Council, Paama Sports.

10% A Basket for Change- Women’s on-going income generating project to help all the women on Paama island. Working with the women representatives on quality assurance, money management, business cycling and networking with customers. Finding markets in Vila (the city capital), Luganville (second largest city in Vanuatu), Austrailia, New Zealand, and U.S.A.

10% NGO, Government, Institution Involvement- Work with different organizations around Vanuatu in providing services across Vanuatu as well as in Paama. Such involvement includes attending meeting and trainings whenever possible or working incooperation with on a special project. Ex. UNICEF (NGO) trainings and workshops, VFF & FIFA partnerships for women’s futbol events (NGO), MALAMPA Province (Vanuatu Gov.’t), Vanuatu Family Planning Health Association (NGO), Vanuatu Ministry of Health Measels Campaign 2009 ( Gov.’t), Primary & Secondary School staff, RTC on Paama, etc.

10% Peace Corps Vanuatu Gender & Development Committee- working with other Peace Corps Volunteers on running trainings and providing sufficient resources for other Peace Corps Volunteers and locals on gender sensitivity and gender roles in Vanuatu.

5% Other- Conducting a youth girls night at my house in Liro, having informal cooking classes, going to their gardens, helping other volunteers on my island, women’s futbol trainings, sports with the Secondary School girls, etc.

When not working on items above my time is spent integrating with the community and attending community events such as: marriages, baptisims, mother’s day, etc.



Work Frustrations

Delay of information reaching outer islands causing late applications and/or passed deadlines.
If Peace Corps staff and Vanuatu office could be more helpful in passing valuable information out to us volunteers by sending text messages as mail takes weeks.
If Peace Corps allocated a small amount of money in their country budget to each island and/or each volunteer to be used only for small projects, workshops, events, etc. An amount around $100 or so.
Organizational changes without giving notice and too short of deadlines.
Demotivational road blocks that stop projects from continuing or delay them, both on the local level and national level.
High expectations from our villages causing disappointments, since the locals think we can work magic and are here to give them gifts and free stuff. Also, unfair amount of work load put on us by the locals as they claim to not have the skills necessary to do what we do. When really they are just lazy and want a free hand-out with the least amount of effort possible.
Not enough time and energy when in the capital, Vila, to run around and be productive before going to back to site.

Paama Island Projects Outline 2009

PAAMA Island is located in the MALAMPA Province of Vanuatu. I am a Peace Corps volunteer on this island in the village of Liro. Liro is essentially the capital of Paama. Paama is only 32 sq. km with about 20 different villages and a total population of 1500 locals.

There are many projects underway as I begin the 10th month of my service in this country:

• Water tanks and piping in the village of Liro, Lironesa, Senali. Currently looking to work with the grant from the European Union and NSA.
• Youth & Sports Programs in which I am currently teaching new sports and trying to build a youth center to equip with computers and a table tennis league. Sports such as: American football, rugby, basketball, baseball, frisbee, etc.
• Fisheries committee is trying to build up a business plan to catch & sell fish on the island as well as to Port Vila and Luganville.Yet we are lacking a boat.
  
• ABC= A Basket for Change. Currently teaching the women how to make unique bags, purses, wallets,backpacks, to sell on the island as well as in Port Vila and Luganville.
• Women's Group restaurant and kitchen ware sales start-up.
• Electricity for the entire island or for Liro, working with UNELCO but need funding for large generator.
• Second hand sales of clothing from the U.S. donations made by family members.
  

And many more projects to come. These are the starting points of my time here on Paama. If you or anyone you know can lend a hand in donations, materials, supplies, etc. Please contact me via email or post at brerussell@gmail.com or Brianna Russell, Peace Corps Volunteer, Liro Post Office, Liro Paama, Vanuatu, South Pacific

Thank you! More updates soon.