New Zealand
Vanuatu
Helping remote communities achieve better health and income
Since 1996, Save the Children New Zealand has helped provide health care and a range of non-formal education services to 35 remote communities in the South Santo Bush area of Espiritu Santo, the largest island in Vanuatu.
The people living in these communities live a very traditional subsistence lifestyle. Their area is very isolated and mountainous and they have limited contact with the “outside world“. Most of the villagers still communicate in their local languages and very few are literate. The villages are small (the largest has a population of around 100 people), and because the area is so remote and inaccessible, government services are virtually non-existent. Infant and maternal mortality rates are above the Vanuatu average and skin infections, caused by water-borne disease and poor hygiene, are common.
In the initial phase of the project, each community was assisted to prepare a “Community Action Plan“ that identified the villagers priorities for development. This involved a lot of speaking and listening to the villagers to get their ideas on what they wanted to achieve. This process helps to give the communities ownership of the activities taking place.
Over 2500 villagers have benefited from this project to date. Many communities now have a gravity-fed water supply with taps, open air cold water showers and ventilated pit latrines. In these villages fewer people suffer water-borne diseases and women and children no longer have to carry water from the river. A small Health Centre has been built using Save the Children funds and the labour of people from several villages. The Health Department has provided a nurse and medical supplies.
The people in these villages have also recieved training on food preparation and nutrition, sewing, how to maintain and use garden tools (which has increased the amount of food grown on village plots), how to build ventilated pit latrines and how to speak Bislama – the main language in Vanuatu. Without Bislama the villagers can’t communicate beyond the Bush. These non-formal education activities have helped parents see the importance of education and they are increasingly sending their children to schools on the coast. To assist with income generation, Save the Children has provided horses to help villagers get their Kava and other products to the road, so they can be transported to the market in Luganville.
A key focus of the final phase of this project is building the links between the communities and the “outside world" to ensure the benefits of the project will be sustained. There is considerable support and interest in the project continuing at every level – from the community to the departments and Non Government Organisations based in Luganville. The project, although small, is seen as a possible gateway for the development of Government services to the people of South Santo Bush.