vista may 2015

Issue one 2015

Vista

The magazine of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA)

Growing better lives

Tn koutou o Te TaoTwhi VSA is New Zealands largest and most experienced volunteer agency working in international development. We bring together New Zealanders and our Asia-Pacific neighbours to share their skills and experience, working to transform lives and create a fair future for all. Sir Edmund Hillary, VSAs founding President, believed passionately that if people work together in equal partnership they can achieve great things. Today VSA knows that we make the most difference through people, partnerships and the lasting relationships these create. Our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds, from business mentors and lawyers, to health professionals and eco-tourism operators. VSA believes all people and communities deserve to be treated equally with respect and dignity.

Become a VSA volunteerGo to www.vsa.org.nz to find out about application criteria, to register your skills, or to see what assignments are being advertised.

Become a VSA supporterWe send people not money, but we need money to send people. Visit www.vsa.org.nz to donate or to find out about becoming a VSA member.

Join a local VSA branchPhone 0800 VSA TO GO (0800 872 8646) for details of the branch nearest you.Te Tu-ao Ta-wa-hi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc is a registered charity (CC36739) under the Charities Act 2005

Kia ora

Te Tu-ao Ta-wa-hi Volunteer Service Abroad Patron: His Excellency Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand President: Gavin Kerr, QSO Council Chair: Evan Mayson Council members: Dr Simon Mark (Deputy Chair), Deidre Brooks, Kirsty Burnett, Dr Jo Cribb, Peter Elmsly, David Glover, Juliet McKee QSO, Farib Sos MNZM Sandy Stephens MNZM Chief Executive Officer: Dr Gill Greer CBE, MNZMTe Tu-ao Ta-wa-hi Volunteer Service Abroad, 32 Waring Taylor St | PO Box 12246 | Wellington 6144, AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND Tel: 64 4 472 5759 Fax: 64 4 472 5052 Email: [email protected] Website: www.vsa.org.nz

Vista is the official magazine of Te Tu-ao Ta-wa-hi Volunteer Service Abroad Incorporated. Please note that views expressed in Vista are not necessarily the views of VSA. Editorial and photographic submissions to the magazine are welcome. Please address all queries and submissions to the Editor, Vista, at the address above. Please ensure all material is clearly marked with your name and address.

VSA. All rights reserved. ISSN 1176-9904 Reproduction of content is allowed for usage in primary and secondary schools, and for tertiary studies. Vista is printed on environmentally responsible paper. It is chlorine free and manufactured using sustainably farmed trees.

The New Zealand Government is proud to provide significant support through the New Zealand Aid Programme for New Zealand volunteers who work in a development capacity overseas.

Gill Greer CEO

This year has already brought dramatic proof that the Asia-Pacific is the worlds most vulnerable region to natural disasters. Cyclone Pam had a devastating effect on Vanuatu, as our volunteers and staff experienced first-hand. As they work on the recovery, they are also contributing to the countrys resilience to disasters, and its commitment to building back better.

Resilience must be at the heart of our work, as we know that climate change is increasing the number and severity of these extreme weather events. The outcome document from last years Small Island Developing States conference was clear: climate change is the number one issue facing the Pacific now.

When the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed in 2000, there was next to no discussion of climate change. Fifteen years later, it is linked to every aspect of development. The difficult task is this: how do we deliver inclusive growth and jobs without endangering the planet further?

Climate change has already destabilised sub-Saharan Africa, and we know wherever there is instability, violence against women and girls increases hugely. It is the same in the wake of a natural disaster: for example, the Tanna Womens Counselling Centre in Vanuatu reported a 300% increase in reported domestic violence cases after two tropical cyclones in 2011.

Climate change itself puts food security at risk. Food is not only for subsistence for most families in the Pacific, but it is also how women make a living, at markets, by the roadside and in collectives. But while women make up the majority of the worlds farmers, few have any say in how land is used. As growing conditions

change and fresh water becomes scarcer, it will likely be women who will have to travel to find water, and who may not be able to afford to buy land or resilient seeds.

Fully 55 per cent of the gains made in reducing hunger worldwide in the new millennium were due to more women receiving access to education. In the Pacific, the Vanuatu Governments commitment to disaster preparedness has had a real impact, and its nationwide disaster alert text service, in part the work of a VSA volunteer, saved lives during Cyclone Pam. Gains like these must be built on.

It is absolutely clear there needs to be more Pacific research into climate change, and for VSA to continue our work finding new partners in this area and working with our volunteers and existing partners on readiness and recovery. We will combine a lot of what weve always done around agriculture and primary industry with new technology, and well continue to improve the options people, and especially women, have for their livelihoods so they are less vulnerable.

Im proud to be associated with our volunteers, and their partnership with the Ni-Vanuatu people during and after Cyclone Pam. We will continue to work with our Asia-Pacific neighbours to face the future together with strength, with urgency and a sense of optimism.

Find us online

4 News roundup

6 A Pacific health crisis Nutrition in Bougainville

6 Selling soybeans Growing farmers income in Timor-Leste

8 Regrowing a country Food is vital to Vanuatus recovery from Cyclone Pam in more ways than one

10 Cabbage, caterpillars, chickens and the cyclone Supporting Vanuatu agriculture

12 Fishing outside the lines Maintaining sustainable fisheries in Nauru

12 Empowering women in Timor-Leste Giving women financial independence and freedom

13 What does climate change mean in the Pacific? Addressing the threat locally

14 My umbrella Useful things to pack when you go on assignment

Contents

Cover photo:Stallholders Mary Sake (front) and Lydia Mika from Pang Pang in East Efate, Vanuatu, with some of their produce for sale. Photo: Murray Lloyd

This page: Making Lap Lap at Mangaliliu Village in Efate, Vanuatu. Photo: Murray Lloyd

June 2015 Growing better lives www.vsa.org.nz

News roundup

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Supporting Nepal

VSAs ties to Nepal go back to our founding Pres-ident Sir Ed Hillary, so the catastrophic earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May have felt close to home. While there were no VSA volunteers in the country at the time, we have been working with our partners in Nepal, The Himalayan Trust, Habitat for Humanity and Save the Children, to support them however we can.

VSA Volunteer Ellie van Baaren, volunteering with UN Women in Suva, has worked in Nepal before, and has travelled over with UN Women. After natural disasters, women and children are vulnerable to rape, exploitation and violence. UN Women is working with partners to provide safe spaces for women and children, and to provide dignity kits (contraceptive and sanitary supplies) to all households with women.

VSA Volunteer Nick Coyne was already due to start his assignment in June, working with Save the Children in Udayapur, which was not directly affected by the earthquake. Nick will be working to improve livelihoods for that regions children through improving agriculture.

VSA has a long history with Nepal and its people. Here VSA Volunteer John McKinnon carries out a hillside medical examination in Nepal 1968.

Volunteering: reaching for global goals

At the end of this year, the Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 expire. Some have been met: the world has reduced extreme poverty by half, and an estimated 3.3 million deaths from malaria have been prevented. In other areas progress has been slower, and many in the international community see greater partnership between governments, civil society and the private sector as being critical to achieving the goals that will cover the next 15 years, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs are also known as the Global Goals, because they apply to all countries France and Burkina Faso, the United Kingdom and Uganda, will all be required to report on progress against the 17 goals, which cover everything from income inequality to climate change.

Global issues need a global movement, and that is where volunteerism has a significant role to play. Nearly one billion people throughout the world volunteer their time through public, nonprofit, or for-profit organisations, and volunteers make up 44% of the nonprofit workforce. Recognising this, VSA has been working for three years with a group of international volunteering organisations and corporate partners to try and keep volunteering in the conversation about the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and, more ambitiously, to get it mentioned in key documents and indicators.

There have been some hopeful signs. In December, the UN Secretary Generals Synthesis Report on the SDGs wrote about volunteering as a powerful means of implementing all the goals, and recognised the role of volunteer groups in making the SDGs relevant to the needs of different communities.

VSAs CEO Gill Greer, who leads the organisations work on this issue, strongly agrees, saying having volunteers and volunteering officially recognised in the SDGs would not just recognise the vital work volunteers have done to improve lives all over the world, but it would help ensure volunteerism is used most effectively to tackle some of the planets most pressing issues.

The SDGs are scheduled to be launched in October. VSA will continue working with our international partners to keep volunteerism on the global agenda, and will keep you posted.

VSA Volunteers on Mt Ramelau in Timor-Leste.

www.vsa.org.nz Growing better lives June 2015

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VSA volunteers working on recovery in Vanuatu

Fundraising in a cold climateA VSA donor went above and beyond

with fundraising this year, running a marathon in Antarctica in March. James Lindsay, a client manager at Nicco Asset Management, where some VSA Foundation Trust Funds are managed, is a devoted marathoner, and upon being accepted as one of just 150 competitors in the annual Antarctic marathon, decided to donate the proceeds of his fundraising to VSA.

He raised $8,340, half of which went specifically to our Cyclone Pam appeal. James was travelling home from the marathon when Pam struck.

VSAs response to Cyclone Pam actually began three years ago, with volunteer Simon Donalds work on disaster risk reduction. Simon worked with partners including the Red Cross to establish a countrywide SMS alert system for disasters. Cyclone Pam was the first real test of the system, and dozens of mass text alerts were sent out warning the people of Vanuatu about the severity of the coming storm, including advice for staying safe. The Vanuatu Prime Ministers office publicly credited the system with saving lives.

VSA International Programme Manager Junior Ulu says that Vanuatu Programme Manager Andrew Johnston and Vanuatu Programme Officer David Nalo had already spent time making sure volunteers were well prepared in case of an emergency, and when Cyclone Pam was forecast, they spent countless hours ensuring volunteers were safe and the needs of our partner organ-isations were met. Were grateful for the hard work they put in.

Since the cyclone swept through in March, VSA staff and volunteers have been working with their partner organisations and the Vanuatu government to assist with the countrys recovery.

VSA has followed the Vanuatu Governments lead, Andrew says. The Ni-Vanuatu people are incredibly resilient. For our response to remain effective, it needs to fit in with the plans of the Government and our existing partners in Vanuatu. Its important to recognise the Governments ownership of the recovery. VSA and the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) are establishing new volunteer assignments together for recovery work; these will be advertised at www.vsa.org.nz in the coming weeks.

Many of the current volunteers began working with the NDMO network straight away: Karen Roberts worked with a group looking after vulnerable women and children, Richard Robyns work helped ensure people had adequate shelter, and Wendy Griffin was involved in getting schools going again. She

has now gone back to the Ministry of Education conducting assessments of all kindergartens, and working with international aid agencies to get supplies and emergency kits to communities.

You can read about the work done by these and our other Vanuatu volunteers after Cyclone Pam on our website: VSA>about VSA>news.

VSA CEO Gill Greer commended the volunteers, who had immediately began working on the recovery. It was a challenging time, but their dedication to the Ni-Vanuatu people was inspiring.

Our supporters have also contributed. VSAs Cyclone Pam Appeal has so far raised $45,000, and the money will fund projects to support agriculture and livestock, the tourism industry, and to offer trauma counselling to young children affected by the disaster.

Visit www.vsa.org.nz for ongoing details of VSAs work on the Cyclone Pam recovery.

Donations to VSA come from a range of fundraising activities. James Lindsay ran a marathon in Antarctica in March and donated his proceeds to VSA.

VSA Volunteer Simon Donald works on disaster risk reduction in Vanuatu in 2013.

James said it was an awesome day, but unquestionably a hard event battling mud, snow and the cold wind. I came in 17th place in a time of 4:28, out of a total of 136 who ran. Congratulations and thanks to James!

Since the last issue, our Cyclone Pam appeal raised over $45,000, to go directly to Vanuatu projects, our March Feed the Family appeal raised $17,662 and our Christmas appeal raised more than $8,000. Many thanks to all our generous supporters.


Working in one-degree chillers for giant horticultural co-op MG Marketing,

Aucklander Tennant Fenton helped to bring around $1 million worth of Marlborough and Central Otago cherries to eager Kiwi shoppers in the frantic week before Christmas.

Today, as a volunteer in tropical Timor-Leste, he has helped a poor community in the west of the country generate US$18,000 from the sale of soybeans. That smaller sum might prove more significant in the long run, aiding a small, struggling nation to feed its people and build a sustainable industry.

Tennant is on a two-year assignment with VSA, working with World Vision. He now lives in Maliana, the biggest town in the district of Bobonaro which borders Indonesia.

Timor-Leste was left devastated after a 24-year occupation by Indonesia that ended with a vote for independence in 1999. As they withdrew, Indonesian forces and local Indonesian-backed militia went on a vengeful rampage. Evidence of the massacres can be seen in local cemeteries, the bombed-out buildings that still scar Maliana, and the stories of the survivors. Although the district is slowly recovering, six out of 10 Bobonaro children are smaller than average because of malnutrition. Half of Timors people get by on less than US$1.33 per day.

Tennants project, which is funded by the New Zealand Aid Programme and run by World Vision, aims to tackle poverty by boosting farmer livelihoods through providing them with better access to markets.

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VSA volunteer Pat Martin worked as a Communications and Marketing Adviser with World Vision Timor-Leste. He met Tennant Fenton, a fellow VSA and World Vision volunteer, to explore Tennants soybean project.

Selling soybeans

Tennants project team, including his local World Vision counterpart Liberato Mau Ferreira, began knocking on the doors of Dili food processors, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants to see what products they needed. Everything pointed to the cheap and versatile protein-packed soybean. Its easy to grow, store and transport.

The next step was to convince Bobonaro farmers. They were initially reluctant, Tennant says. Theyre good judges of the risks involved and had no doubt they could grow soybeans. But they were fearful there would be no market. Their question was, Can we sell it?

One group was from Maligo, 45 minutes by four-wheel drive along rocky, rutted roads from Maliana. Their leader, Antonio Soares, said the farmers were sceptical after other organisations had provided training but not followed through.

Determined not to make the same mistake, the project team put a marketing plan to Maliana farmers, government officials and village heads. Representatives from the supermarket chain

A Pacific health crisisIn May, the World Health Organisation

(WHO) released new figures showing that nine of the 10 most obese countries in the world are in the Pacific. The WHO's Pacific Health Systems and Policy Team Leader, Dr Ezekiel Nukuro, described the Pacific as being in a crisis, with three-quarters of all deaths attributable to diseases such as high blood pressure, type II diabetes and alcoholism. Increased rates of smoking, imported processed food and alcohol have all contributed, and health services, Dr Nukuro said, are overwhelmed.

Moniek Kindred spent two years volun-teering with World Vision PNG as a Food Security and Nutrition Adviser, based in Buka,

Bougainville, working towards reducing this burden on the health service by developing nutrition education. It can be difficult to under-stand why malnutrition exists in Bougainville, where the soil is so fertile, says Moniek. There has been a combination of new, western cultural influences and changing behaviour, as well as a lack of knowledge about nutrition.

With her counterpart, project manager Cecilia Naguo, Moniek worked on a mother and child health project. This involved delivering workshops herself, and training her counterpart and team officers to run community workshops.

Many women dont get the nutrients they need when they're breastfeeding, Moniek says,

Tennant Fenton.

Bobonaro children are smaller than average because of malnutrition.

Half of Timors people get by on less than

$US1.33per day.

6 out of 10

Highest Obesity Rates (%)

American Samoa 74.6

Nauru 71.1

Cook Islands 63.4

Tokelau 63.4

Tonga 57.6

Samoa 54.1

Palau 48.9

Kiribati 45.4

Marshall Islands 45.4

Kuwait 42

Source: WHO

www.vsa.org.nz Growing better lives June 2015 7


Kmanek and Timor Global coffee traders also spoke. This was the key point that encouraged some pivotal

farmers to take the plunge, Tennant says. Eighty-five farmers from Maligo joined up.

Step one was to source seed. Instead of importing expensive Indonesian and Australian seed, one buyer suggested buying it from Maubisse, an inland town high in the mountains with a cooler climate. The project team bought two tonnes of seed there, measured out in 12kg cooking oil cans for $15 a can.

Planting began in June and the soybeans thrived. In mid-August the project team returned to Dili to finalise the sale of the harvest only to discover the buyers wouldnt be ready. Detective work resumed. The team tracked tofu trails from Dili markets to a major tofu producer who imported container loads of United States soy every month, and to a collection of producers around Dili who used soy to make Tempeh.

Tennant organised for the Maliana farmers leaders to visit Dili and meet the new buyers. The trip was invaluable. For

the first time, farmers began to grasp how they could fit into a national supply chain.

In late August, harvest began. After the farmers had threshed, dried and sorted the soy beans, the day earmarked to carry the first harvest to Dili arrived, Friday 3 October. But a deal for a truck to take five tonnes, tied off in 40kg sacks, fell over at the last moment. A smaller vehicle was quickly found.

When this one turned up, the driver refused to load, Tennant said. He realised it would be unsafe to carry five tonnes in his smaller truck.

Eventually Tennant found two trucks, the soybeans were dispatched, the sale made and the payment divided among the farmers. He estimates that selling 25 tonnes in total put US$18,000 back into the local Maliana economy a lot of money in a country where the average rural income per person is $US600 a year. Maligo leader Antonio Soares can now contribute to his World Vision savings and loan scheme, and pay for the schooling of his eight children.

and often dont breastfeed their babies for very long. Children are then raised on carb-heavy foods. Stigmas concerning food have been introduced people grow fresh produce in their gardens and sell it at the markets in order to buy tinned fish and rice, which proves that they have a high income.

Working with Buka Hospital and CARE International, Moniek and Cecilias training sessions included infant and young child feeding, safe motherhood and nutrition, and food demonstrations.

Their work has had an impact: When I first got to Bougainville, no one was talking about nutrition, Moniek says. In my very last week of work, the paediatric doctor at the hospital asked me (instead of me asking him) to facilitate training in acute malnu-trition management it was huge to see that people are starting to talk about the problem and take pro-active steps to deal with it.

Bobonaro soy farmers. Soy beans ready for processing.

VSA Volunteer Moniek Kindred volunteered in partnership with World Vision as a Food Security and Nutrition Adviser in Bougainville.

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June 2015 Growing better lives www.vsa.org.nz8

Just days before Tropical Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu on 13 March 2015, Karen Roberts spoke about the work shed been doing as Programme Manager and Disability Adviser with CARE International on the remote island of Futuna. Her work with people with disabilities fits within CAREs programme of addressing climate change on Futuna, in the form of a kitchen garden programme. The garden had several aims, said Karen. It addressed the poor, limited diet of starchy root crops and fish by adding leafy green vegetables. People with disabilities also became involved in their communitys garden, and they diversified the food source to make it more secure and sustainable. Relying on just one or two crops is dangerous, Karen said: If the taro or manioc crop [also known as cassava] gets wiped out, islanders face starvation.

who may have missed out, and a chance for women suffering violence to live independent lives.

Ellie van Baaren, volunteering with UN Women in Suva on regional media and communications, travelled to Port Vila three weeks after Cyclone Pam, to see the markets reopen. The UN Womens Markets for Change (M4C) programme, which operates in Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, was launched in 2014. Women make up 75%-90% of all vendors at the markets, yet the majority are excluded from market governance and decision making. M4C works to

Regrowing a country

Category 5 Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu in March. The countrys losses and recovery show how important food is to a countrys wellbeing not only as sustenance, but also as an income, a central focus for community and an opportunity for a better life.

Its going to take months before anything even approaching normality from a food perspective is reached.

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Days later, this seemed prophetic, when the worst cyclone since Uma in 1987 swept through. According to the Vanuatu Governments Humanitarian Action Plan, The damage to agriculture has been extensive. As much as 75 per cent of coconut, 80 per cent of coffee and leaf vegetables, and 70 per cent of taro crops have been wiped out in the most affected areas, leaving families with no alternative food source. In some areas, those numbers were even higher.

Like most of the countries in which VSA works, Vanuatu is reliant on subsistence farming for food and livelihoods. The loss of food crops, including coconut and banana plantations, has destroyed the main source of income for the population. As of the beginning of May, the Action Plan noted 62,250 people were in need of food to eat, and help reestablishing crops around one in every four Ni-Vanuatu.

The recovery highlights the role food plays in developing countries: not just as an essential need and right, but also its role on the front line adapting to climate change and the extreme weather that it brings, and as an opportunity for people to have better lives. The income from fresh food, food products and hospitality can lift families out of poverty. In countries where food more often than not provides the only source of income, it represents school fees for children, further education for adults

Stallholders Mary Sake (front) and Lydia Mika from Pang Pang in East Efate, Vanuatu, with some of their produce for sale.

Fresh produce: 300 vatu is about NZ$3.80.

VSA Volunteer Ellie Van Baaren with UN Women.

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85%

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of PNGs main cash crops, coffee and cocoa, are grown by smallholders

people in need of food to eat and grow in Vanuatu

62,250

75% 80%

80%provide training and advocate for women vendors. Ellie says M4C is an entry point for gender equality.

While the big Port Vila markets are famous, each village has its own roadside market, and Ellie travelled around all of these on her visit, and found the situation was dire. Santo has local food, but on Efate and the outer islands, 96% of the crops are gone.

One of the first villages I went to, about 20 minutes out of Vila, has a village plot serving around 120 people, plus they sold their surplus at Marobe market [in Port Vila]. It was massive. It was all gone. The fruit trees had been knocked over and were on the ground, rotting, the taro and manioc were still in the ground, but the wind had lifted them up and filled the holes with water, so they were rotting through and werent edible.

Vanuatus National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) is responsible for rolling out the countrys food relief programme. The first job for everyone after the cyclone passed was to replant gardens. Cultivation began immediately after the cyclone and that harvest will be ready in three months, says NDMO Director Shadrack Weligtabit. We will continue to distribute food aid until people are able to harvest their first crops.

VSAs Vanuatu Programme Officer, David Nalo, says the message went out from the Ministry of Agriculture straight away: start replanting immediately. According to the UNs World Risk Index, Vanuatu is

the most vulnerable country in the world to natural disasters, but food does grow fast there. Those vital leafy green vegies are the first to recover, taking just three months from seed to harvest: root crops take up to six. Fruit trees will take years.

Still, says Ellie, Its going to take months before anything even approaching normality from a food perspective is reached.

In the meantime, the Government relief packages include rice and canned meat and fish but not sugar. We decided on starches and protein as the best option, says Mr Weligtabit. Thousands of seeds have also been distributed across the countrys affected regions. Transport around the archipelago of more than 80 islands adds to the logistical headache: Everything is shipped out to affected areas, says Mr Welig-tabit. The huge volume of food involved and the difficulty of access means delivery by aircraft can only be very limited.

While David understands that these non-perishable food supplies are vital, he worries about the health effects this diet might have. Diabetes and other non-communicable diseases are already rampant. Indeed, a Vanuatu Ministry of Health survey in 2013 found that the burden of non-communicable diseases was increasing rapidly they cause 70-75% of all adult deaths.

Ellie says regrowing fresh food is a priority in the villages, but she found many of them facing practical issues, such as fallen trees blocking their garden plots. At the same time, most of them have lost their homes. So they need to rebuild their homes, but theyre also aware that the sooner they replant the sooner theyll have food to eat and sell.

When I was there, the schools had just reopened, but some of the women I talked to couldnt afford to send their children as they couldnt afford the school fees and transportation as well as the basic needs for their families.

The Marobe market has reopened, which was a big milestone, because it allowed whoever did have produce to sell to get an income again, Ellie says.

The Port Vila Market Vendor Association (MVA) is now trying to negotiate with the MVA on Santo island to organise a trade.

As for Karens project, Futuna escaped the worst of Cyclone Pam, but Karen has had reports that the raised garden beds are badly damaged and crops have been lost. The project will start up again though, she says. It wont end here.

By the numbers

Sources: NDMO, Oxfam, UNDP, World Bank

90%

Shaline Nimal, her children and other children from the village stand beside what remains of her house. The villagers had begun rebuilding with whatever materials they could find as they waited for relief supplies to reach them.

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of Pacific Islands populations rely on agriculture for their

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of leaf vegetables of taro

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Cabbage, caterpillars, chickens and the cyclone

Its the container of DiPel that does it. VSA volunteer Jill Greenhalgh has been patiently explaining the complex operations of the Farm Support Association (FSA) but my lack of a green thumb means Im slow to catch on. Its only when she tracks the route of one single product that I begin to get the idea.

DiPel is an organic pesticide manufactured in New Zealand. Farmers living and working in Vanuatus outer islands dont know about it. FSA conducts tests and trials to see if the pesticide will work in local conditions. Once it gets the okay, SAPV (Syndicat Agricole et Pastorale de Vanuatu) will import DiPel in bulk. Then one of FSAs field officers takes the pesticide into the field to introduce it to farmers.

DiPel controls the caterpillars that attack island cabbage as well as Chinese cabbage and other brassicas, Jill tells me. Cabbages are a Vanuatu diet staple. An effective organic pesticide will extend the growing season and improve the quality of the crop.

What makes the FSA so important is its tried and tested knowledge of everything it supports. We are farmers helping farmers. Thats the strength of the FSA, says manager Julie Beierlein. Here every officer has to have a sound knowledge of farming practice.

In the wake of Cyclone Pam, many farmers are starting over, and Jill has been working with farmers to re-establish crops and livestock.

We have to have absolute confidence in the product we are offering, says field officer Olivier Iato. Tanna-born Olivier runs his own farm on Efate and works closely with Charles Rogers at FSAs research facility near Port Vila. Charles, one of four associate directors at FSA, wont work with anything thats not been rigorously tested for local conditions. Ni-Vanuatu farmers with limited resources cannot afford to take risks with a seed that might not grow well.

Our job is to prove the product, not just speculate, says

Olivier. My advice to farmers when Im with them in the field is guaranteed by that research. Once the farmers have confidence, they can step away from our help and work independently.

One great success story is chickens. Fourteen years ago, SAPV began importing chicks bred for commercial production to develop the local egg and meat market. Farmers pre-pay for the chicks so theres a commitment to the project, says Olivier. FSA supports the farmers with advice on how to work with hens (the egg layers), and with roosters (the meat). But the crucial element that has made this project so successful is the chook feed. Imported feed is prohibitively expensive but Charles was able to develop a feed from local products: copra meal, a by-product of the coconut industry, and meat meal.

But there is yet another hurdle to be jumped. Transport is the big issue, says Jill. Boxes of chicks are loaded onto boats, then the boats cant leave because of weather and the chicks must be unloaded and taken somewhere to be fed and watered until they can be shipped again. Its hard. Despite these obstacles, FSA and SAPV manage to regularly deliver 6000 chicks to more than 200 farmers.

Leith Tamat is a chicken farmer on Malekula. Before she developed the business, Leiths family depended on their small cacao and copra cash crops, casual jobs and seasonal work.

Leith began with 20 chicks. She slowly built up her stock of roosters and egg layers and now has 300, says Olivier. And she grows every kind of vegetable. The market return on her veges and chickens has allowed her to pay school fees so her four teenage children are all getting an education something that is very important to Ni-Vanuatu. And, Olivier adds, because she is now able to mainly work from home, the familys quality of life is much improved. Leiths husband is very supportive of her business. The chickens have made a great contribution to that familys well-being.

Pauline Webber joined Vanuatu volunteers Jill Greenhalgh, Wendy Griffin and Grace Savage to see how residents are rebuilding after Cyclone Pam.

VSA Volunteer Jill Greenhalgh with Field Officer Olivier Iato. Olivier helps farmers in Vanuatu establish good practice and work independently.

VSA Volunteer Jill Greenhalgh with Leith Tamat from Malekula. The money Leith receives from her vegetables and chickens helps her children get an education.

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When Grace Savage tells me she has been working with a group of farmers on Espiritu Santo and Malo islands, I imagine she means 10 or 20. In fact, there are 632 of them.

VSA volunteer Grace is a Grants Field Officer with World Vision on schemes designed to increase income for farmers from their cash crops. We introduce them to ways they can add value to their produce and get better access to markets, she tells me. The produce in this case is copra dried coconut flesh, valued for the coconut oil extracted from it, and the residue, coconut-oil cake, which is mostly used for livestock feed.

All these farmers are using organic farming methods already so the first step was to get certification. That put them in a better price bracket as theres high demand for organic.

Organising themselves into an economically effective group is a key component of the scheme. As a group, they can use

techniques like collective selling, says Grace. Together, they have been able to get all their produce collected by one truck going from village to village. A huge reduction in costs.

This new collective was an attractive proposition for factories producing organic coconut oil. Once the factory could guarantee it would get a certain amount of produce, it sent out its own truck to collect the copra, reducing the farmers costs even more.

The World Vision team, which is based on Santo, next turned its attention to the production process. Trainers from Vanuatu Agricultural College and from the Vanuatu Agriculture, Research and Training Centre shared their expertise with

the group. Copra is made by drying coconut flesh, says Grace. Assessing the moisture content is crucial or the copra will spoil. The specialists have helped the farmers improve their drying houses so spoilage is reduced.

The farmers also were able to visit the factory and see how it worked. These visits gave farmers first-hand knowledge of the next stage of the process, says Grace. And, she adds, the organic certifi-cation had another positive side effect it gave the farmers confidence to maintain their traditional practices because the higher prices fetched by organic copra meant they were under less financial stress, and therefore felt less pressured to push production.

Grace has no doubt about the effectiveness of the scheme. The farmers have really seen the value. Its about getting the best information to them and helping them to formconnections. And its had an effect on her too. I never realised coconuts were so technical. I know an awful lot about them now.

While Grace has been on a steep learning curve, so too has her colleague Vomboe Molly, an area programme manager currently working on food distribution to more than 2,000 households on Pentecost Island. Its been a challenge for me to lead a group of staff, particularly one with men in it. Graces guidance has given me confidence with that, she says. I plan to study more, to enhance my leadership capacity and advance my career.

To see a young Ni-Vanuatu woman, a mum too, in such a management role is very exciting, says Grace. She is so smart and picks up things so quickly. Its been an absolute privilege to work beside her.

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188,000people affected by Cyclone Pam

90%

The power of 632: joining forces to increase incomes

Its all blown awayFor more than a month after Cyclone Pam, VSA volunteer

Wendy Griffin shared her Port Vila home with Sam and Marie Ialulu and their children. The cyclone almost destroyed their home outside Vila so now they must repair that before they can return to Tanna, their home island. In Maries village, we found Sam with two helpers laying back the damaged iron cover to make a new roof while Marie worked inside.

In traditional Vanuatu houses, kitchens are usually set up in a lean-to, making them vulnerable. Before the cyclone I had a kitchen, but its all blown away, Marie tells us. I am cooking outside on a fire. The loss of their sheltered and covered cooking areas has added to the burdens women face post-Pam.

Before the cyclone, Marie managed to get in a good supply of staples such as rice and crackers. There was no bread for a week or two and there is still very little fresh food. Fruit, vege-tables and root crops are scarce or too expensive, says Marie.

Its hard for them, says Wendy, but generally she is positive. We have been very careful with hygiene so the family has had no sickness, and the children are ok.

VSA Volunteer Jill Greenhalgh captured this image in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam. Only the frame remains of what was a home in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

I never realised coconuts were so technical. I know an awful lot about them now.

of houses on the most affected islands damaged or destroyed

(total population 272,000)

VSA Volunteer Grace Savage.

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Nick Hay can cycle round the country where hes volunteering in just 45 minutes. The Republic of Nauru, just 20 square kilometres, is the third-smallest state in the world, with a chequered economic history. Its citizens used to reap the benefits of the sizeable income from its plentiful phosphate mines, but, with the mines almost exhausted, GDP has fallen dramatically. Now, 90% of its nearly 10,000 population is unemployed of those who are employed, almost all work for the government.

For many of the rest, subsistence means fishing: very little produce is grown on the island, so fish is some of the only locally produced food available. Nick has been working with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) as a Coastal Fisheries Scientist to produce a baseline survey of the reef species around the island. Fisheries management this close to shore is complicated: there are hundreds of reef species to account for, compared to managing a handful of tuna species.

Nick says Locals realise that a lot of fish stocks have been depleted from the reef area, so the FFA aims to try to shift where people fish, away from the reef, a few more metres offshore, for bigger species such as trevally.

Even further out, Naurus income has been boosted by the sale of commercial fishing licenses for tuna, but Nick says theres no real commercial interest in reef fish, its just subsistence. Providing the impetus for people to fish further out means more species are available to them, which

improves food security by diversifying the options.The programme, in partnership with the Secretariat of the

Pacific Community (SPC), is in its early days, but Nick says that combined with the complementary training theyve made available, such as canoe-building workshops for people who dont have boats, it looks positive. His aim is to develop the baseline research into an ongoing monitoring programme leaving it in the hands of the Nauruan fisheries officers he works with.

Empowering women in Timor-Leste

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Volunteer Service Abroad has worked with Timorese non-profit Empreza Diak for two years, working to give individuals, families and communities economic freedom.

Though womens rights in Timor-Leste are recognised in law, a life of violence is still a grim reality for many. As is the

case for women in violent rela-tionships in developed countries including New Zealand, it is hard for women to take action. Since 2011, Empreza Diak has worked to economically empower vulnerable women. It has supported shelters and womens groups and has helped

more than 110 women survivors of gender based violence by providing them with technical and business training and advice to help them reintegrate into their communities, and to build sustainable livelihoods. Volunteer Service Abroad has worked with Empreza Diak since 2012, sending six volunteers, who have worked with women to establish businesses in food production and service, in order to give them an income and, therefore, independence.

The statistics show Empreza Diaks approach is working. Women involved in its programmes now have an average monthly income of US$82, in a country where women are four times more likely than men to be unemployed and where the median per capita monthly income is just US$40.

In February, Empreza Diak held the countrys first Womens Economic Empowerment Conference, an event attended by more than 100 national and international contrib-

Fishing outside the lines

utors. VSA volunteer Dana MacDiarmid helped organise the conference, working closely with Ariana de Almeida, Empreza Diak Programme Manager.

The conferences main aim was to advocate for the importance of womens economic empowerment and entrepre-neurship, ensuring that Timor-Leste develops in a sustainable and inclusive way.

The conference was mainly held to engage institutional stakeholders, rather than survivors of violence, says Ariana, but voices of ordinary women within the community were heard too. Bella Galhos was a speaker and participant who represented both experiences. Bella is a long-term Timorese and womens rights activist who is an adviser to the President. She is also a survivor of family violence, and is a strong advocate for change and the need to fight against the silence.

Only about one in five women who experience violence reach out for any sort of help. The reasons for this silence include an underlying culture of shame that discourages women from reporting crimes or even speaking about them, economic factors, family pressure, lack of information and lack of protection and follow-up services for victims.

The Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey notes that although it is not possible to affirm that womens economic empowerment alone is able to defeat domestic violence in Timor-Leste, Empreza Diak confirms that is impossible to tackle the issue without investing in the economic empowerment of vulnerable women and of the communities they belong to.

Bella Galhos agrees. Im hoping to see more organisations really address the need for change, she says. And for Empreza Diak to keep doing what they do.

Women are four times as likely as men to be unemployed in Timor-Leste

Pacific reef fish.


Globally, climate change is sold as this doomsday, the one day it is all going to come crashing down, kind of thing. Here, we are already seeing the negative effects of climate change. Luana Scowcroft understands the severity and urgency of the impacts of climate change for the Pacific region. A residing Cook Islander, Luana holds a deep connection with the environment. She has a keen interest in Pacific environmental issues, attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen (COP 15) and Cancun (COP 16).

But Luana has concerns that climate change science and its implications are not being communicated in a way that engages local people. Pacific communities definitely have an awareness of the term climate change, but not necessarily what it means.

A UN report published before last years Small Island Developing States conference estimates that one in four Pacific Islanders live below their national poverty line. Climate change threatens to increase this number: the United Nations

Development Programme anticipates pressures to human health, disaster management, infrastructure, marine ecosystems, freshwater management, food security and tourism.

But if scientific research is one part of the solution then logically, communicating it in a way that generates understanding must be the other.

A recent study led by Rebecca McNaught of the Red Cross Red Crescent Centre in Vanuatu highlights the need for commu-nications that are shaped by local needs, with one of the key challenges caused by the difference between Western scientific and indigenous understandings of the environment and change.

Luana agrees. She explains that Western perceptions of the environment often differ fundamentally from those of Pacific communities. While Western interpretations separate humans from the environment, Pacific understandings often consider them as one.

In Polynesia especially, human life and environment are all intertwined. In Mori, the word for land and the word for placenta are the same, whenua.

She explains that indigenous ways of protecting the environment have been practised for generations.

Traditionally in the Pacific we have got methods to encourage conservation and sustainability the likes of Raui to close off parts of the lagoon for X amount of months so it can regenerate. These are traditional concepts that arent new here

and everyone respects them and thats cool.But they are not called conservation, they are not called

environment, they are just ways of life.McNaughts study confirms this: Scientifically derived climate

change information must be communicated in a way that resonates with local ways of perceiving the world, and must be delivered in a way that empowers local groups to apply their abilities.

Luana suggests that Pacific communities should be encouraged with practical examples of how they can contribute positively to adapting and building resilience to the impacts of climate change, such as the increased numbers of powerful cyclones and other extreme weather events. She recommends getting young people enthused and choosing climate change as a career path.

Internships or work experience could go a long way, whether it be through communications, through science, academia or policy.

Additionally, she believes that local leadership is critical from elected representatives, traditional leaders, non-government organisations, churches and schools.

Science communication should play a prominent role in implementing approaches for addressing climate change. This may mean promoting useful local interpretations of environmental change in the Pacific and ditching Western coined phrases like climate change.

Communicating science must be locally engaging and inter-twined with Te Ao Mori (Mori worldview), Faa Samoa (the Samoan way), anga fakatonga (the Tongan way) and other diverse Pacific worldviews.

2014 was the International Year of Small Island Developing States. In the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, We must leave no one behind.

13

In 2014, VSA launched its Award for Excellence in International Development Journalism. The winning story, judged by author Lloyd Jones, lawyer and broadcaster Linda Clark, Radio New Zealand Internationals deputy news editor Don Wiseman and VSA CEO Gill Greer, is by Anabel Lusk.

What does climate change mean in the Pacific?

VSA Journalism Award 2015

Solomon Islands floods in 2014.In Polynesia especially, human life and environment are all intertwined.Cook Islander, Luana Scowcroft.

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Having been selected for a VSA assignment in Arawa, Bougainville, there came the difficult task of packing, earlier this year. What would I need? What would be useful?

I thought I may need something to protect me from the rain I had read that Arawa enjoys about 3.5 metres of rain a year. Reasoning that a rain jacket may be a bit hot in Arawa, which lies 6 degrees south of the equator, I packed my little-used telescopic umbrella. It had been languishing on the floor of my car since I bought it over a year ago.

This was an inspired decision.I walk to my assignment and at 8.00am it

is already sunny and hot. I tried a sunhat but phew did my head get hot! Observing the locals (a sensible thing to do) I saw the choice of accessory that the women, some men and many children carry is you guessed it an umbrella so that they can make their way to work always in the shade, and be protected from the rain in the afternoon.

Arawa is truly a town of umbrellas. The illusion of hundreds of floating brightly painted mushrooms drifting around the streets may seem a little surreal but it is exactly what Arawa looks like, whether it is raining or bright sunshine the illusion is the same.

My umbrella is silver on the top and has a stylized night sky in black and silver on the underside. I like it, but it pales beside the vivid reds, blues, oranges, bright pinks and purples of the locals umbrellas. Theirs are truly dazzling. Bougainville flowers are vivid, and the vibrant colours of the local umbrellas reflect the colours of nature that are typical of Bougainville. No delicate pastels here. The umbrellas are striped,

segmented colours, gaily patterned, flowery, some feature the strongly coloured PNG flag and some of the umbrellas feature cats ears most favoured by the children. There is a veritable palette of vibrant colours walking the streets of Arawa.

However this can cause problems and one has to be very mindful of another umbrella approaching head on. Will there be room for two umbrellas on this particular path? Which way to tilt the umbrella, maintaining the shelter from sun or rain, but not entangling spokes. Whether to stop and let the other umbrella pass by all very tricky!

And there is the juggling act at the market.In the afternoons I pass the wonderful

Arawa market and usually call in to get some fresh produce. The market is undercover so down comes my umbrella. So now I have my umbrella, my work bag which is quite heavy, a plastic bag to put the produce in and my market purse all to manipulate and juggle while I find the right change, do the trans-action and put the pineapple or pawpaw or bunch of bananas and maybe some kaukau (sweet potato) into the plastic bag. The market ladies look on bemused. How do the locals do it? With far more aplomb than me!

Leaving the market with my fresh produce, I now have two heavy bags and I have to juggle again. Eventually, without any aplomb at all, I manage to unfurl my umbrella, regain my dignity and join the umbrella procession on my way home.

So reader if you are planning to become a VSA volunteer, or just planning a trip to the tropics, remember to pack your umbrella a telescopic one is good and choose one as brightly coloured as you dare.

My umbrella

- A head torch- UV filtered water bottle- A decent coffee plunger- More external hard drives loaded with movies- A crochet hook

Arawa locals in Bougainville are well aware how valuable an umbrella is.

VSA Volunteer Ann Green with her trusty umbrella in Arawa, Bougainville.

Volunteer Ann Green looks at life on assignment in Bougainville, via the most useful thing she packed.

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VOLUNTEERSwhat the most useful thing they packed was:

And what they wish they packed:

WE ASKED

- A bread-making recipe book- A good quality, medium sized, stainless steel cooking pot- Sheets- Electric frying pan- Teva sports sandals- Solar lamp- Hot glue gun- USB sticks- Deodorant- A good knife- Sunglasses- Smartphone- Tool chest- Skipping rope


Donate today

Your support of VSA volunteers allows them to help people in the Asia-Pacific region live better lives. When people have good food for their whole family, they have a better chance to lift themselves out of poverty.

Use the donation form attached to this page. Just fill it out and post it to us, or donate through our website www.vsa.org.nz

Facts and figures

In the year 1 July 201430 June 2015:

15

Up to 90% of Pacific market vendors are women, yet they are

usually excluded from market management.


countries.

Ten countries where most people rely on subsistence farming for food, and for their income. When communities can grow a wide range of good food, they are less vulnerable to environmental shocks, people are less likely to develop diseases associated with malnutrition, and growers have the means to make an income to send their children to school.

20 14 10volunteers working in this area with partner organisations inRight now, there are:

Sources: Oxfam, World Bank, UN Women

1 in 5 people in the Pacific do not have

enough food.

Half of all children in Papua New Guinea,

Vanuatu and Fiji have no education, often

because their families must choose between paying school fees and

buying food.

13% of children in Vanuatu live below

the poverty line.

13%1 in5 90%

VSA supports growing better lives

And what they wish they packed:

www.vsa.org.nz Connecting people transforming lives

Where some of our volunteers are working to support growing better lives in the Asia-Pacific:VSA

CHINA

NEWZEALAND

PHILIPPINES

AUSTRALIA

South Pacif icOcean

New Britain

NewIreland

KIRIBATI (GILBERT ISLANDS)

Auckland

Christchurch

Dli

Suva

Wellington

Alofi

PortMoresby

Apia

Honiara

Port-Vila

* VSA Partnerships Programme1. UN Women2. World Vision3. Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency

Timor-Leste

Papua New GuineaBougainville

Solomon Islands

NauruKiribati

Samoa

TongaFiji

Vanuatu

Ellie Van Baaren*1Regional Media and Communications Specialist

Karen RobertsProgramme Manager and Disability Adviser

Amanda PattersonProgramme Management Adviser, HAFOTI

Mary OReillyWaste Management Adviser

Tennant Fenton*2Marketing Adviser

Grace Savage*1Grants Field Officer

Nicholas Hay*3Coastal Fisheries Scientist

Roslyn ClarkeWater and Sanitation Engineer

Barbara Wilkinson Commercialisation Manager

Shifani SoodUrban Planning Advisor

Marni Gilbert*1 Project and Communications Officer

Maria KochHorticulture and Marketing Adviser

Lorena De La Torre Vocational Education Adviser

Joe DawsonVocational Education Adviser

Jo ClearwaterAgribusiness Marketing Adviser

Moniek Kindred*2Food Security and Nutrition Adviser

Peter Brown*2Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Adviser

Brian FredricResearch and Information Systems Adviser

Elizabeth BrownWaste Management Adviser

Jill GreenhalghResearch/Information Adviser

Fiji

Kiribati

Nauru

Papua New Guinea

Samoa

Timor-Leste

Tonga

Solomon Islands

VanuatuBougainville

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