My placement in Vanuatu began in December 2012 when I was invited to meet Ruth Harrison from Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA).
Ruth came to Massey University to talk about a possible partnership between Massey and VSA to support the work of the Vanuatu Agricultural Research and Technical Centre (VARTC). The concept was intriguing: conduct a strategic review of the work of VARTC and, on the strength of that, help VSA develop a series of placements for Kiwis to support their work. Correspondence began in earnest in March; I had a day-long interview in Wellington in April to check I was a suitable person to be sent on assignment; and was suddenly booked for a four-day training course and a two-week placement in Vanuatu in May.
After this lightning introduction to my placement, it was a pleasure to find all the practical arrangements were handled superbly by VSA staff in Wellington and Vanuatu. I flew Wellington-Auckland-Port Vila on Sunday 12th May and was met by a Port Vila-based VSA volunteer, Di Hambrook. Di and I walked the streets of Port Vila and shared a meal, talking non-stop about our respective placements. Di and her husband are approaching the end of their three years’ placement in Vanuatu and it was a lively, thought-provoking exchange.
Another day in paradise: afternoon tea at a waterfront cafe, Port Vila. Locals are glad to see the cruise ship in background.
May is approaching the drier months in Vanuatu but someone had forgotten to tell the weatherman, so the pot-holed streets were flooded and the air was so humid you could wring it out. As we negotiated one patch of flooding at the entrance to Port Vila I asked the minibus driver if the Government would fix this problem; he just laughed and said the water goes away when it isn’t raining.
I was fascinated to read in a guidebook in my motel room that traditional forms of currency were being revived for the “kastom ekonomi” (customary or traditional economy, in Bislama, the local pidgin). The Tangbunia Bank was founded recently and would apparently accept items of customary value (such as woven mats, seashells or kava) as deposits; these deposits are valued in boar’s tusk units (one fully-curved tusk is worth a “livatu”). When I quizzed Roger Malapa (acting CEO of VARTC and the man to whom I report for this assignment) about this (e.g. can you deposit tusks and withdraw cash) he laughed and said there are too many different ‘kastom’ units of value around the islands, and for him, although the tusk may be a measuring device, it simply represents the real value of the item, which in this case is a live pig... so I am still no wiser, but will keep my ears open for anyone using the Tangbunia Bank.