Vanuatu in a Nut Shell

Total population is 200,000 people, my island Paama, has about 1500 people and 300 in my village. Majority of people don’t finish education past sixth grade, maturity level is also low, they gossip incessantly, it’s very isolated and cut off from the world, with one race covering the islands. It is oppressively hot in which living and working can be tedious, although the landscape can be absolutely breath taking. Average weekly income is about 200vt per family, some government jobs, teacher positions; health workers receive high salaries of about $1,000 per month. Missionaries came to build churches of every Christian denomination with a few other religions spread out; they also have Bible translators throughout Vanuatu in an attempt to translate the Bible to local languages. The missionaries also brought with them the concept of clothes and modesty. Physical punishment is a standard way of life here, rape happens often; women are seen as second rate and seen as property as there is a custom in which the men must pay for the woman’s dowry. Some pay anywhere between $150-$900 for the woman. The money goes to the woman’s family.

Children have an adventurous carefree life of running around naked, playing with knives, swimming in the ocean, and eating wild fruits & nuts. There is an abundance of fruits and vegetables to live on, some fishing, some chickens, pigs, cows, goats. Cyclones and rainy season occur for about 6 months out of the year and are quite unpredictable. Earthquakes are also frequent due to the number of active volcanoes in Vanuatu. Mainly the people work in their gardens as 80% of the population lives in a rural village, while 20% live in the urban towns. Culture is fading as they gear towards a more monetary economy, with that comes greed and desperation.

They are kind and giving to foreigners yet they hold true to many “white-man” stereotypes. There is growing numbers of television sets and DVD players as electricity becomes more available, thus reinforcing stereotypes and disabling the locals form differentiating between reality and fantasy. Internet is available in the towns and is the disappointing cause of much pornography distributed throughout the islands. The Vanuatu government receives majority of its budget from foreign aid donors such as Australia and New Zealand. The local people lack the education and training needed for management and business skills. Kava is their drink of choice, it is a stimulant that grows naturally here with very relaxing effects, however, women in most areas of Vanuatu are not allowed to drink kava. Men and women spend majority of their time separated with gender roles providing a dominant identity.

Community pressures are hard on individuals and cause riffs in projects. Black magic or witchcraft is prevalent in their culture and is feared by many or used as an excuse to charge someone with a murder as they do not do autopsies here. There is no word in their language for “boyfriend or girlfriend”, as most are sold or the families decide for you who you will marry. Family planning and adolescent reproductive health initiatives are in place, they have yet to completely reach the population of Vanuatu and generally go against custom. The culture is a mix of custom traditions passed on for generations and Biblical teachings from the church as every village has at least one church, most have 3 or more.

On the surface Vanuatu is a beautiful country, once you live here and get deeper you see all the dysfunctional realities that every society has.

Futbol shoes & triumphs, size: Women’s Large

I am happy to report that the very first Women’s adult futbol team I worked with during my first 6 months of arriving in Vanuatu has outrun my expectations. The Santo rural team of Port Olry village, has had 2 major winnings, the first was when we first started & I was coaching them, back in August 2008, I took this team of women ages 16-24, some married, some still in high school, some with kids, some working, etc. We went to the Women’s National Futbol Tournament held on Malekula Island in which 7 other teams representing the Provinces and the urban areas came to compete. Some of the teams had been playing rigorously and some, such as the urban teams, had been competing for years even on an international level. The tournament was part of the FIFA effort to increase women’s play in the sport, all women, all ages, and all areas. They came with borrowed uniforms, no shoes, 1 ball, and motivation to prove women are capable no matter where they are from. With proper training, support, nutrition, and funding; these women were able to travel & compete in a sport and make a change in Vanuatu. As a team, they showed much interest and dedication. We ended up taking 3rd place out of an 8 team pool. I was so proud and surprised to have such an experience at such an early time in my service.

Port Olry Team representing SANMA Province, 2008.

Fast forward to January 2010- the team I worked with in Santo took second place at the Vanuatu National games held this past Christmas. I was unable to attend the matches yet I heard they all had shoes, and some of the same girls I had coached in 2008 were active players on the team. I couldn’t be more proud that they stuck with it, that they were motivated and found a way to fund their passion for the game. These women, like many throughout the world, have the skills and the desire to be Olympic athletes. I am grateful and idyllic to have been a part of this women’s athletic movement.

Email Hope to Semma

Recently, my best friend, a 21 year old Ni-Vanuatu girl, Semma, had just returned from a vacation trip to Australia in which she stayed with some Australian church friends of Paama Island for 2 months. She is a special girl and was my prodigy since I arrived on Paama Island. She was our team captain for the women’s futbol team that attended the tournament on Ambrym Island in September 2009 (in which we took 1st place). I tutored her in her University distance courses at USP, she was a Sunday school teacher, and leader of our girls youth nights at my house. All in all, she is an exceptional and gifted Ni-Vanuatu woman.

One of my goals before leaving Vanuatu was to help her travel to another country; and with our small trip to the island of Ambrym, I believe that trip solidified her acceptance to go to Australia & trust the “white” people to look after her. Last week when she returned to Vanuatu, I helped her to set up an email account and work on her new laptop! She has surpassed my expectations for her future extremely and her unique personality could not be over-looked by others either. She is now attending the Christian College in Vanuatu in hopes to do missionary work in other countries before returning for good to her home island. We keep in touch weekly and I hope one day to see her again, shining even brighter than when I left her.

One of the best things about being a Peace Corps volunteer is never knowing whether the seed you plant will grow or remain under ground. But at any glimpse of its growth you say to yourself, “this is why I came here.”

Gender & Development Committee

As a member of the Gender & Development (GAD) Committee of Peace Corps Vanuatu, we have undertaken many intitiatives in reaching our objectives to gender equality here in Vanuatu.

Peace Corps Vanuatu's GAD committee began in September 2001year as WID-GAD (Women In Development - Gender and Development).

In February 2008, the committee officially changed the name to GAD to encourage understanding of our true goals and encourage more male participation. Our mission statement is as follows: To promote positive change through training of Peace Corps staff and volunteers to integrate a gender-sensitive approach to all development work. The committee also added the following goals to better focus the committee:
· To train trainees, volunteers, and staff on GAD principles (see flip side)
· To offer continued support, resources, and training to volunteers throughout their year service, through PST, IST, and All-Vol sessions
· To publish "GAD-FLY" newsletter to keep Peace Corps Vanuatu abreast of current events, resources, and to provide practical tools.
· To carry out special GAD initiatives throughout the year, such as Youth camps, training of trainers workshops, working with other NGOs on gender specific objectives throughout Vanuatu

Our last big Training of Trainers Youth leader camp took place in the Penama Province of Vanuat, with 32 Ni-vanuatu Youth leader participants, for 1 week long training workshop on: leadership, adolescent reproductive health, domestic violence, STD's/AIDS, nutrition, hygiene & sanitation, environment, goal setting, healthy relationships, etc. We also do arts and crafts after each days session to encourage creativity and to have fun! This camp was a huge success, the country director of Peace Corps Vanuatu came to the closing ceremony as we handed our certificates and conducted a custom dance in appreciation to the Vanuatu culture and people. The total cost for the workshop was about 300,000 vatu or $3,000USD. We had 16 Peace Corps volunteers help conduct the workshop and speakers from the Ministry of Health give talks.

Being on the GAD committee has been an amazing experience for me, the ability to work with other volunteers and Peace Corps in making positive gender sensitive initiatives while carrying out my regular service duties. I've started 2010 off with a camp G.L.O.W on Epi island with 4 other volunteers and 21 participants. In March we plan to conduct another camp G.L.O.W. on my island, Paama.

Youth Camp on Epi Island 2010

CAMP G.L.O.W (Girls Leading Our World) on Epi: Jan. 11-15, 2010

Volunteer Facilitators: Lauren Scholle (Group 21B, Epi), Hannah McMillan (Group 21B, Epi), Amy Orr (Group 22, Epi), Chris Ekhert (Group 22, Epi), Brianna Russell (Group 21A, Paama)
Located at the RTC in Molua Village, Northeast Epi
Participants: Ages 16-22, total number of 21 girls from 3 different villages

Located just walking distance from the beautiful white sand beach, and the picturesque view of the active Lopevi volcanoe, Epi’s camp GLOW was indeed epic. Four smoltering hot days, drenched in sweat and overcome with heat exhaustion falling in out of consciousness; Team Epi brilliantly managed to pull off a very productive and heartfelt camp GLOW. To briefly introduce the director; Lauren runs the RTC on Epi, and is the next Mother Teresa of our world. Her loving and shining presence was a consistent uplifting ray of light for the rest of us. We couldn’t have had a better time between the relay races on the sand beach to the Bonani dancing in the village. Lauren has worked in a homeless shelter and at the Folsom Prison before joining the Corps. While Lauren was the ring leader of the show, the rest of us helped as much as we could in assisting with talks, activities, discussions, devotion, moral support, and errands. There isn’t a better experience here in the Peace Corps than being able to reach Ni-Vanuatu people, grow close to them, work with them, learn from them, and teach them all at the same time with other volunteers there to share the glory. Our workshop sessions included: nutrition, cooking/recipes, domestic violence, STD’s/AIDS, Adolescent Reproductive Health, leadership, healthy relationships, goal setting, sports and more!

Funniest moments: Amy showing the girls and us her hip-hop dance routine that was performed at Group 22’s swearing in ceremony. Doing charades with the girls and Chris’s imitation of riding a bicycle. Pierce getting into a tense session talk about ‘whiteman fasin’ with one of the stronger girls in the group. When a few of the girls threw the banana that had a condom on it out of sheer embarrassment. Amy’s Jesus rendition of “A whole new world” and “We Will Rock You”.

Happiest moments: During our leadership session, when we asked the girls to brainstorm strong women leaders of the world, they chose the four of us as an example. Hannah’s Baha’i prayer readings everyday to remind us of our love for life. Playing “Kokonus i faldaon sipos yu…” with the whole group.

Saddest moments: Me breaking my ankle and having to leave Epi the day before our closing ceremony of the camp, saying goodbye to the girls and the volunteers with looks of worrisome. The girls response to the question, “Is it ok if your man hits you then says sorry?” They responded, “Yes, from se hemi stap learnem mi.” The closing of the camp itself.

As Amy put it so very well, “Why can’t every week be a camp GLOW!”