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VSAs window on the world of development issue tw
ORDER YOUR PEOPLES CHOICE CARDS
FROM OUR 50TH ANNIVERSARY PHOTO EXHIBITION
DETAILS ON PAGE 2
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Gill Greer CEO
Te-na- koutou oTe Tu- ao Ta-wa- hi
unteer Service Abroad works
h people in the wider Pacic
ding the skills and energy of
w Zealanders to strengthen
mmunities striving for change.
About VSA(Volunteer Service Abroad) is a home-
wn Kiwi volunteering organisation and
as placed more than 3,500 skilled
Zealanders on volunteer assignments
overseas since 1962.
recruit ordinary New Zealanders to
eve exceptional work with our partner
nisations. Our work is locally identified,
cally relevant and locally delivered.
are an independent charity and are
n-governmental, non-religious and
non-political.
ecome a VSA volunteer
o www.vsa.org.nz to find out about
lication criteria, to register your skills,
to see what assignments are being
advertised.
ecome a VSA supporter
send people not money, but we need
y to send people. Visit www.vsa.org.nz
onate or to find out about becoming a
VSA member.
oin a local VSA branch
e 0800 VSA TO GO (0800 872 8646)
r details of the branch nearest you.
ao Ta-wa-hi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc
egistered charity (CC36739) under the
Charities Act 2005
New Zealand Government is proud to
de significant support through the New
land Aid Programme for New Zealand
olunteers who work in a development
capacity overseas.
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, QSOKauma-tua: Awi Riddell (Nga-ti Porou), QSM
Council Chair: Farib Sos, MNZNCouncil members: Don Higgins (Deputy Chair), Professor Tony Binns,
Susan Hinkley, Dr Simon Mark, Evan Mayson, Sandy StephensMNZNChief Executive Officer:
Gill Greer
TeTu-aoTa-wa-hiVolunteer ServiceAbroad, 32 WaringTaylor St, PO Box 12246, Wellington 6144
AOTEAR OA/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 a nd 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 farmed
eucalyptus trees.
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CONVSATION
News, views and happenings
FEATURE
Te opening o the 11th Festival o Pwas a magical experience or Annab
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
Former volunteer Russell Priest reunwith a Solomon Islands riend ater
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
A small oral history project ishelping preserve VSAs history.
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
VSA has held 50th anniversary eventhroughout New Zealand and even
FROM THE FIELD
A waste audit in Luganville is helpingVanuatu town get on top o its rubbis
FEATURE
VSAs Arica programme ends ater 2
GROWING SUPPORT
Te latest news rom our undraisin
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:VSA 20112012Highlights rom the last nancial yea
4 6 1
COVER:The top fve photos in the PeoChoice Awards for our 50th anniversaryexhibition, Windows to Another Worldphotos are available as a set of cards sufor all occasions.
To order your Peoples Choice Packwww.vsashop.org.nz
As I write this I am about to leave or Canada to attend the annualconerence o the International Volunteer Cooperation Organisation
(IVCO). Te theme is Volunteering or Development: Innovation andimpact in a changing development environment.
One o the things well be discussing is the UNs Millennium Development
Goals and what the development agenda will be when the period orimplementing the goals ends in 2015. Well also be looking at where volunteering ts into that.
Im looking orward to meeting representatives rom other international volunteering
organisations and hearing their views on these important issues. Im also looking orward totelling them about the work our volunteers are doing, and the challenges and satisactions
o working in the wider Pacic area.Since taking up my position as CEO in July Ive been impressed by the energy, commitment and
passion o our volunteers and o our sta. It means I can honestly tell my colleagues overseas that
VSA is a high-perorming organisation that delivers value or money and really makes a dierence.While Im away I will also be talking with a number o international oundations to explore
ways we might start unding additional work. Tese are very preliminary conversations. As mosto you know, in June the government announced that it would provide core unding to VSA orthe next three years, rather than approving the usual one-year grant.
Tis has given us more certainty than we have had in the past. It means we can go ahead
with our immediate plans to provide more Kiwis with the opportunity to volunteer, anddevelop new assignments in partnership with New Zealand businesses and organisations.But like all NGOs, we cannot aord to be complacent, especially at a time when needs andpriorities are changing rapidly.
Ive been lucky enough to arrive just as VSA began its 50th anniversary celebrations.Tis has provided me with a crash course in VSAs history, and helped me appreciate the
enormous contribution our volunteers have made over the last 50 years.Te challenge now is to make sure that our volunteers can continue to contribute in the same
way or the next 50 years. One o the VSA Councils priorities is to ensure that VSA stays relevant,
responsive and resilient. Te Council is committed to developing new ways o unding our workwhile retaining our ocus on people-centred development, and initiatives that are locally developedand locally delivered.
Ill let you know how my conversations go when I return. In the meantime, Im lookingorward to meeting many o you at the annual Congress and 50th Anniversary Reunion Dinner
being held in Wellington on 10 November.
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A woman of many parts
VSAs new CEO Gill Greer has been busy since she started her jobon 9 July.
She has attended VSA events in Auckland, Wellington and PalmerstonNorth; been welcomed at ceremonies at VSAs Wellington oce andat Parliament; taken part in a panel discussion about how NGOs can
work together organised by AU Business School, and talked aboutthe importance o women and girls in development to members o
UN Women Aotearoa.Shes also Lived Below the Line with her VSA colleagues or ve days,
and has even managed to t in a couple o overseas trips. Te rst was
to Samoa in September to meet our volunteers there and attend an eventto celebrate VSAs 50th anniversary and the 50th anniversary o theNew Zealand-Samoa reaty oFriendship. More recently she attended
a conerence o international volunteering organisations in Canada.Her goal, she says, is to help raise awareness about VSA.
Te thing thats really struck me since I started at VSA is howcommitted and hard working the sta are, and what an extraordinarycontribution VSA volunteers have made, both past and p resent. I want
everyone in New Zealand to know about what we do.Gill comes to VSA rom six years as director general o the Intern-
ational Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in London. She waspreviously executive director o the New Zealand Family Planning
Association. Tis work has been recognised in both the New Zealand
and British honours lists.But as many VSA sta members discovered when they consulted
Google ater Gills appointment was announced, she is a woman omany parts. She spent 20 years as a secondary school teacher, and
was at one point assistant vice chancellor at Victoria University.
She is also something o an expert on the New Zealand writersKatherine Manseld and Robyn Hyde. She has written and contributed
to books about both writers and she continues to be interested in them.Tese days, however, her interest is overlaid with her more recent
experience in the elds o sexual health and reproductive rights.
Manseld had several miscarriages and is thought to have suered romuntreated gonorrhoea, while Hyde experienced the stigma o being
an unmarried mother.I always joke that I wont talk about Manseld or Hyde now unless
I can talk about how like millions o women today their lives would
have been dierent i amily planning had existed, says Gill.
Tis photo o two children
laughing on the beach in Boug-ainville took the top spot in thePeoples Choice awards or our
50th anniversary photo exhibition,Windows to Another World.
Te photo was taken by VSAsInternational Programme Manager
Peter Swain during a visit to Pidiavillage in 2007. Te village isone o the main l ocations or the
movieMr Pip. It is also whereVSAs Bougainville-based volun-teers go to experience village lie.
Te children in the photo are
rom one o the amilies the
volunteers stay with. I met them
again on a recent trip theyre a
little bit older now. Teir grand-
mother is a longtime riend o
VSA , and she also plays
Miss Havisham inMr Pip.
Second place went to the
exhibition publicity shot o
Duk Duks members o a
secret society based in the Rabaul
area in Papua New Guinea
making their way through orest
covered with ash rom the nearby
avurvur volcano. Te photo
was taken by Layne Steve nson.
Almost 1000 people cast votes
or the Peoples Choice when the
exhibition toured to our cities
during June and July.
* Te ve most popular
photographs rom the exhibition
are now available as a Peoples
Choice Pack o cards that are
suitable or any occasion. A set
o ve cards costs $15, including
postage and packaging. You can
order a Peoples Choice Pack
or two rom the VSA Shop:
www.vsashop.org.nz
And the winner is
There have been other books
that have told aspects of the
story of Pacic people in New
Zealand, or presented Pacic
Islanders in walk on parts in
a larger history.
Tangata o le Moana: New
Zealand and the People of
the Pacifc is the rst book
that has brought together in
a comprehensive way, in one
volume, the many strands that
make up the lives of Pacic
people in New Zealand.
Tangata o le Moana tells the
story of New Zealands growing
Pacic identity. In 1990 Mary
Boyd, eminent New Zealand
historian, noted that New
Zealand had taken a long
time to make up its mind that
it was a Pacic country, not a
European outpost.
In 2003 Kerry Howe, another
New Zealand historian, wrote
that Pakeha New Zealanders
never regard themselves as
Islanders or as of the region
A decade later, Tangata o le
Moana clearly sets out the case
for recognising New Zealand as
a Pacic Island nation and New
Zealanders as Pacic Islanders.
Tangata o le Moana is not
just a fruit salad of all the current
stories mixed together. There is
much original scholarship here,
and there is a compelling narra-
tive that draws in and captures
the reader. I found old stories
retold, but also read new stories,
and untold histories that had
been hidden, buried, or lost.
As Sean Mallon and Kolokesa
Mahina-Tuai write in the Introduc-
tion: In our version of the story,
Pacic Islanders will no longer
be extras, but key characters
in the historical narratives.
Peter Swain is VSAs
International Programme Manager
VSA Council member SandyStephens was hanging out or
something with plenty o favourater eeding hersel on just $2.25a day or ve days in September.
I wasnt hungry but I elt a greatneed or something strong and
punchy, she says. It turned out tobe bacon and eggs or breakast anda tasty curry in the evening.
Sandy was one o 70 people whoLived Below the Line or VSA rom
24 to 28 September. Tey includedellow Council member Shona
Jennings, VSAs CEO Gill Greer,
and nine VSA sta members.
Live Below the Line is aundraising initiative to help raise
awareness about the challengeso living below the poverty line.Participants have to eed themselves
on $2.25 a day or ve days.VSAs supporters werent conned
to New Zealand. Volunteer SimonDonald did his bit in Vanuatu,ater calculating the local equivalent
o $2.25. Much to the envy ohis ormer colleagues at VSAs
Wellington oce he was able to buyan eggplant and some tropical ruit.
Te prize or the most dedicated
Live Below the Liner goes to Melanie
Neweld whose birthday the ve days. She invited
o riends who were also tin the challenge to a share
where they enjoyed tiny q
o crackers and dip, some tea made with milk powd
even a semolina cake.Tanks to Melanies e
and those o all our othe
supporters we have nowmore than $23,000 to su
VSAs education work inPacic.You can donate uend o October; visit
Craving flavour
Sister Lorraine Garasu,the inspirational heado the Nazareth
Rehabilitation Centrein Bougainville, is the
keynote speaker at thisyears VSA Congress,being held in Wellington
on 10 November.Te Nazareth Rehabili-
tation Centre is a smallCatholic NGO set up inBuka in 2001 to help women and children who have been the
o violence. It also runs training and leadership courses or a r
community members. VSA has been working with the RehabCentre since 2007.
Among her many achievements, Sister Lorraine was awardInternational Women o Courage Award by the US State Depa
in 2009. Presenting the award, the US ambassador to Papua NGuinea, Leslie Rowe, described Sister Lorraine as an amazing
who had made a real dierence to the lives o women and chin Bougainville. She is a symbol o all the wonderul womenBougainville, she said.
Tis years Congress will be ollowed by a 50th anniversary ReunDinner at the Hotel InterContinental, where the guest speaker playwright Roger Hall. Roger has an unlikely connection with
In 1989 he wrote a play about VSA, You Must be Crazy, which perormed at parliament and then went on a tour o New Zealand
Places at the Reunion Dinner are limited and the tickets arast. o book your ticket, or to register to attend the 2012 Cocontact VSA 04 472 5759, or email [email protected]
CONVSATIONThe latest news,
views and happenings...
New Zealand and thePeople of the Pacific
Edited by Sean Mallon, Kolokesa
Mahina-Tuai, and Damon Salesa
(Te Papa Tongarewa, 2012)
Tangata o le Moana:
Reviewed by Peter Swain
CONV
Inspirational speakefor Congress
BOOK REVIEW
PHOTO: NELSON MAIL
Gill Greer at VSAs 50th anniversary event in Samoa in August.
www.livebelowtheline.co
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enjoy the spectacle.
Te next ew hours are spellbinding. ahitianwomen wearing stunning yellow skirts and
headdresses that shimmer in the sun sway theirhips in time to renetic drumming by bare-chested men. Te rhythms and chants o the
Aboriginal and orres Strait Islander people aremore gentle, while the scantily clad Rapanui
dancers are quite a hit.A hair-raising roar greets the arrival o
a group o Maori in eathered cloaks. Te
crowd roars again when New Zealandschampion kapa haka group e Waka Huia start
perorming. Nearby journalists scatter in rightas tattooed Maori warriors carrying spears comecharging at them.
Te group repeats their perormance orschoolchildren on the other side o the stadium,sending them into a renzy. Within minutes, the
crowd is returning the haka, lost in the moment.And so the night goes on, with wave upon
wave o pageantry showcasing the diversecultures o the Pacic. At one point, Honiaras
unreliable power supply ails and, as ichoreographed, the crowd steps in to ll thedarkness with light rom their mobile phones.
Te night closes with a spectacular reworksdisplay. I slip out o the stadium just beore itnishes, hoping to beat the trac. Its been a
long and sometimes stressul day, but right nowI eel there is nowhere Id rather be. I know I
have witnessed a once in a lietime experience.* Annabel Norman was on a six-month
assignment as a Festival Adviser in Honiara.
Te 11th Festival o Pacic Arts ran
Honiara rom 1 to 14 July. More th
people rom 23 Pacic countries peat the estival, includinga delegatioNew Zealand.
Annabel Normal was one o the
VSA volunteers who went on shortassignments with the estival, provi
management, administrative and losupport. Te others were UniVols LDryden and Hannah Quigan.
According to Alexa Funnell, VSASolomon Islands country programm
manager, having three volunteers induring the lead-up to the estival wreal bonus or the organising sta.
Te estival was a huge undertakithe estival village had to be built rom
and a lot o the inrastructure, such aand electricity supplies, had to upgradsays. Having three volunteers there m
dierence. Tey were able to provideand mentoring to the sta, most o wnever done anything like it beore. It
helped build their condence.She says the estival itsel was a h
success. Honaria was buzzing and sthe rest o the country, as there wer
estival events in other provinces.As soon as it started people wereawe. Many o them had never seen
beore, or lighting displays, and thereally excited to see people rom othcountries perorming, as well as Sol
Islanders rom other provinces. It wexercise in nation-building.
Tere was a huge sense o pride aSolomon Islanders that they had pulla successul, high-prole internationa
Festival opening amagical experience
The first day of the 11th Festival of Pacific Arts
in Honiara opened with a bang, and as
Annabel Norman reports, despite a few speed
wobbles along the way, the day turned out to
be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
am woken by a loud explosion and sit bolt upright, wondering iits a bomb. Ten I remember today is the rst day o the 11th
Festival o Pacic Arts. I check my watch as a second boom goeso. Its 4.10am, so the noise must be rom the reworks at the estivals
dawn opening ceremony.I throw on some old clothes, grab a bottle o water, an apple, a torch and
an umbrella and set o or the AE Oval to catch the rest o the ceremony.
When I get there I nd a trac jam o buses and cars and crowds opeople swarming towards the beach. Its still pitch black and, as I huntor a viewing space, I make my way past a local panpipe group, skirt a
huge pile o watermelons and kumara, then trip over a live pig destinedor a uture east a bit conronting or a vegetarian.
I nally nd a place to sit, surrounded by the Samoa and EasterIsland (Rapanui) delegations and, just beyond them, the Fijiancontingent who are singing loudly. o my let a group o tribesmen in
traditional loincloths, with painted aces and carrying spears, sit arounda re. Soon the Samoans are up dancing and the Easter Islanders are
trying to out-sing the Fijians; across the beach I hear the call oa Maori welcome.
Just as the sun starts to light up the sky, nine
Solomon Island war canoes appear on the easternhorizon and come charging towards the shore,
with drums beating and the sun rising behindthem. At the same time, seven huge vakas romparticipating Pacic nations sail in rom the north.
Its an amazing display and an outstandingstart to the estival, but theres more to come.
First, though, my colleagues and I have to dealwith last-minute preparations or the estivalparade and ocial opening ceremony being
held in the aternoon.Te estival oce is chaotic. During the
16 years I spent as director o the Nelson Arts
Festival I had a recurring nightmare that the
estival would start and we wouldnt be ready or it. For a ew hours inHoniara I eel as i the nightmare has become a reality.
Te requests keep coming at us or invitations to the PrimeMinisters opening party, or accreditations or delegates, and or copies
o the limited-edition estival programme. In Nelson I would havehad a meltdown, but in Honiara the Pacic way prevails; people waitpatiently, or accept a response o sorry not today, perhaps tomorrow.
Eventually I escape the oce chaos and, with my co-worker, Freda,head to Lawson ama Stadium to see how things are going or theopening ceremony. We arrive to nd schoolchildren rehearsing and
crew rigging the sound and lighting its all looking good.Ten we check the dignitaries stage and discover that there is no
seating, no lectern or PA system or the speeches, and no rereshments.We panic briey, then drive into town where we sweet-talk a local hotelinto giving us a lectern; a ew phone calls later and we have everything we
need crisis averted.Its not long till the next crisis, though. Despite being
assured that water would be supplied or the openingceremony an essential commodity or a ve-hour
event being held in 36-degree heat no water has
been ordered.I take a deep breath and call the local
sot drink company. Fortunately Ive metthe guy beore and, hearing the urgencyin my voice, he agrees to load a truck with
bottles o water and get it to the stadium.Te estival trac is so gridlocked that it takes
an hour and a hal or the truck to arrive, ratherthan the usual 20 minutes. But Solomon Islanders arepatient and hardy and, despite spending several hours in
the searing sun without water during the aternoon, theystill have energy to dance and sing well into the night.
As the ocial open ing ceremony gets u nderway
I slip up a back staircase to the pavilions rootop to
Huge pride in
festival succes
Above left:Te Hawaii delegation
perorm at the ocial opening ceremony o
the 11th Festival o Pacic Arts in Honiara.
Above:Solomon Island boys enter the stadium
at the opening ceremony.
Below:attooed Maori warriors bearing
spears delight and terriy the crowd.
A woman rom Malaita Provinceprepares or the ceremony.
Vaka on the beach ront in Honiar
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hen a small blue envelopearrived in Russell Priests Feilding
letterbox last year, it marked thestart o an extraordinary journey back to theSolomon Islands to reunite with his riendEdward Haui 44 years ater they lastsaw each other.
In 1968 Russell spent a year as a schoolleaver volunteer, teaching at All Hallows Schoolon the island o Ugi in Makira province. Hebecame riendly with Edward, a preect at theschool and the pair corresponded ater Russellreturned to New Zealand.
He was several years older than me, asmost o the students at the school were, butit didnt seem to matter, he says. He wasa humorous, loyal and generous young man
and we just clicked.Eventually, though, Edwards lettersstopped arriving, leaving Russell bothconcerned and curious about what hadhappened to his old riend.
I thought about Edward a lot wherehe was, what he had done with his lie,whether he had a amily. My wie and I evenconsidered going to the Solomon Islands ora holiday to try to nd him, but it seemedpointless as Id lost all my contacts.
Meanwhile, in the Solomon Islands Edwardwas also keen to reconnect with his old riend.Last year, thanks to the internet, he did.A chance internet search by one o Edwardssons turned up Russells contact details andthe reunion wheels were set in motion.
I got this little blue airmail letter rom Edwardand I knew I just had to go and see him.
In July this year, Russell ew to Makirato reunite with his riend. He ound a manwho looked a lot older I was warned byhis sons that he was an old man and theywerent wrong but otherwise unchanged.
Hes still the same wonderul guy with agreat sense o humour that I got to knowso well in 1968. We just picked up wherewe had let o all those years ago.
For Russell reconnecting with theSolomon Islands was an emotionalexperience. Once again he ound himselsleeping under mosquito nets in villageswith no electricity and sharing easts withEdwards extended amily. At one east heeven gave a speech in Pidgin.
I got a standing ovation.He also discovered that, despite their years
o separation, he and Edward still have a lot incommon, including the act that both spent
their lives working in the agricultural sector.
Tat shared interest has set the stage ora uture collaboration between the pair.Russell is now looking at providing someventure capital to help Edward and hisamily set up a cocoa-drying operation.
Tey have a dryer but they need moneyto buy cocoa beans rom local villagesuntil they can grow enough cocoa o theirown. Its a great opportunity to provideemployment or people in the area and I amreally keen to support them.
Russell Priest is one of 20 returned
volunteers who have shared their
stories as part of this years 50th
anniversary celebrations.
Others include Helen Forrester-
Brown, who recalls running into a
naked man with a strategically placed
gourd and carrying a spear while she
was making her way to a government
outpost in Papua New Guinea in 1978.
I dont know who got the biggest
fright, she says of her encounter.
One of Jan Nivens most vivid
memories is of being asked if she and her
husband Rex didnt champor(meaning
to mix) while they were on assignment in
Malaysia from 1965 to 1967.
This was a polite way for people in
the Muslim community to ask if we
were having sexual relations, she says.
This of course led to the inevitable
question then why was there no
pregnancy? From there we had many
a conversation about family planning,
leading eventually to me setting up a
community family planning clinic.
To read more alumni stories or to
share you own, go to www.vsa.org.nz/
blog/alumni-stories/
Emotionalreunion reignitesfriendship
n balance, John and Di McKinnon preerred having bodylice to having eas.
Tey told me body lice were easier to deal with becausethey dont move very ast, while eas are a damned nuisance becausetheyre so quick and hard to catch, says Ji Stewart, who interviewedthe McKinnons or an oral history project commissioned by VSA aspart o this years 50th anniversary celebrations.
John and Di were VSAs rst volunteers in Nepal rom 1966 to1969. John worked as a doctor at Khunde Hospital, which was builtby VSAs rst president Sir Edmund Hillary, and Di taught Englishat nearby Khumjung School. Di in particular has remained veryinvolved with VSA since then. She was Council chair rom 1984 to1989, was a stalwart o the Nelson branch or many years, and hasalso helped with selection interviews.
Body lice were a act o lie in Nepal. One child who came to thehospital had so many lice that his clothes were moving; they had to beremoved and burnt.
But according to Ji, while lie was oten tough or theMcKinnons and or ellow interviewee Neil Bellingham, whovolunteered in Tailand rom 1964 to 1966, none o themcomplained about the diculties they aced.
It was rontier stu, she says. It was very cold in Nepal andJohn and Di had no electricity, only a little wood stove. For Neil,Tailand was hot and steamy and the liestyle was pretty basic.For all o them communication with people at home was almostimpossible. But at no stage did any o them say that lie was tough.
Te interviews will be added to a small VSA oral history archivethat so ar includes interviews with seven school leaver volunteers
Capturing VSAshistory on tape
As part of this years 50th anniversary
celebrations VSA has funded a small oral history
project to record the experiences of some of
our longest-serving former volunteers and staff.
rom the 1960s and 1970s carried out in 2005. All thoseinterviewed by Ji Stewart have been involved with VSA years or more. As well as the McKinnons and Neil Bellingshe interviewed VSAs current president Gavin Kerr and Vlongest serving sta member Carolyn Mark.
For Ji, who spent a year as a VSA volunteer in Samoa ione o the interesting things to emerge rom the interviewhow highly regarded VSA volunteers are in their host coun
A very strong theme is the critical role that VSA has plarelationship-building in the countries it has worked in. Voare ambassadors or New Zealand and they are well regardthere is a lot o goodwill towards VSA volunteers.
It also gave her an insight into how lie-changing the expervolunteering can be. Te McKinnons, or example, have maiclose ties with Nepal. John returned there requently to perooperations and Di runs a company that organises tours to Neibet, India and Japan.
It was such a git to listen to these people whose lives wprooundly changed by being a VSA volunteer.Ji is now about to embark on an independent oral hist
project that will be added to the archive. She has received o Culture and Heritage unding to interview people who to New Zealand as the spouses or partners o returning vo
I you are interested in taking part in this project, pleaseJi Stewart by email,[email protected] or call 04 47
* For more inormation ab out VSAs oral history archivlisten to the tapes, contact VSA 04 472 5759, ino@vsa
Russell Priest (let) and Edward Haui at All Hallows School, in Makira province, 1968.
Russell Priest and Edward Haui in July this year.
Left: Neil Bellingham checks out p
baskets or sale at a roadside mark
Tai village o Huaykla in 1965.
Centre:John McKinnon carries o
medical examination in Nepal.
Right: For John and Di McKinnon
as VSAs rst volunteers in Nepal
to 1969 was a lie-changing experi
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ter siting through hundreds o tonneso household waste in New Zealand,Ireland and Vanuatu, Mary OReilly
has discovered that rubbish smells the samewherever it comes rom.
Te smell is the same, though there are a ew
more ies in Vanuatu because o the heat, saysMary, who is on assignment as a Waste Manage-
ment Adviser with the Luganville MunicipalCouncil and the Sanma Provincial Council.
In April Mary and her colleagues carried
outa waste audit o 50 Luganville householdsand 12 local businesses to establish how much
and what kind o waste is being generatedin the provincial capital. With the help ostudents rom the University o the South
Pacic they sorted, categorised and weighedmore than our tonnes o rubbish collected
over a seven-day period.It was dirty, smelly work but, according to
Mary, the audit provided the inormation they
needed to develop a drat waste managementplan or Luganville and Sanma province.
Beore you can come up with a wastemanagement plan you need to know howmuch waste you are dealing with, and what
sort o waste it is.Te drat plan is now being circulated or
comment, and is expected to be approved by
the end o the year.
Like many other small Pacic towns theamount o waste produced in Luganville isincreasing, but the town lacks the inrastruc-
ture to deal with it. At present it has only oneunreliable rubbish truck to serve a populationo about 12,000, and ew recycling acilities.
Cardboard boxes and plastic bags litter themain street, and ood waste sits rotting in piles
around the market and outside peoples homes.Te amount o inorganic waste, such as
old electrical goods and computers (known
as waste electrical and electronic equipmentor WEEE), is also increasing. In addition, the
towns landll has now reached the end o itsuseul lie and needs to closed and replaced
with a new landll.
At the moment, waste is not such a hugeproblem in Luganville, but the population o
the town is growing exponentially, says Mary.Tat means its important to develop theinrastructure needed to deal with waste
in the uture.Te Councils are keen to start making
progress with waste management, especially as
Luganville is becoming better known as a tourist
destination. Te authorities want to pa clean, green image to people arrivingvisiting cruise ships.
Te drat plan makes a number o mendations to improve waste managthe town. Tese include introducing
council rubbish bags, increasing the nrubbish trucks, and developing a new
Its hoped that work will start on impthese recommendations next year.
In the meantime, Mary and her col
are already taking steps to deal with thWEEE, and with the large amounts o
waste being let to rot at the local mawill soon start collecting used electricand old computers and storing them i
ping container donated by a local busBasically well be collecting anythin
a cord or a cable, says Mary. At the mlot o it is being buried or burned. We wit in the container until we work out ho
dispose o it possibly by sending it bybe recycled in Australia or New Zealand
Teyre also about to start a trial comsystem at the local market: Well startbut weve designed a modular unit that
can add onto. Once the market mamalearned how to use it, we can add moreTe mamas will be able to take the com
home to use on their gardens.
Talking rubbish in Vanuatu
Carrying out a waste audit is dirty, smelly work, but it had to bedone to improve waste management in the town of Luganville.
Before you can come up with a waste
management plan you need to know
how much waste you are dealing with
Clockwise from left:
Mary OReilly and a colleag
through household rubbish
audit in Luganville; Rubbis
be collected on the street; A
o the waste audit team survhouseholders on waste man
Waste audit stations ready
VSAs 50th anniversary and the arrival o new CEO Gill Greerhave provided plenty o opportunities or returned volunteersand VSA sta and supporters to get together and have some un.
A busy round o social events began in Wellington with theopening night o our 50th anniversary photo exhibition, Windowsto Another World, on 6 June. Tis was ollowed with a celebrationevening attended by our patron, the Governor General, Sir JerryMateparae, on 14 June.
Te exhibition then travelled to Auckland Nelson and Dunedin;returned volunteers and other VSA supporters attended opening-night events in each city.
A lack o public exhibition spaces ollowing last years earthquakemeant it was not possible or the exhibition to go to Christchurch.Instead, almost 50 returned VSA volunteers living in the Christchurcharea attended a reunion dinner held at the Cashmere Club on6 August.
A similar event was held in Palmerston North on 21 September.Guest speaker, Archbishop David Moxon, talked about hisexperience as a school leaver in Fiji in 1970 and the extraordinaryimpact VSA has had on his lie.
Windows to Another Worldmade a brie appearance at
parliament when new CEO Gill Greer was ocially welcomedby John Hayes, the chair o the Foreign Aairs, Deence and radeSelect Committee on 12 September. Mr Hayes kindly arrangedor the exhibition to stay up at parliament or another three days.
Te Learn section o the exhibition also travelled to Samoa inAugust along with Gill Greer and Council chair Farib Sos or an event to celebrate VSAs 50th anniversary. Te New ZealandHigh Commissioner in Samoa, Nick Hurley hosted the event on7 August. It coincided with Friendship Week, held to mark the50th anniversary o the New Zealand-Samoa reaty o Friendship.
Windows to Another Worldwill make one last appearance atCongress in Wellington on 10 November. Tis years Congress hasa 50th anniversary theme, and will eature speakers rom each othe last ve decades.
Congress will be ollowed by a Reunion Dinner being held at theHotel InterContinental. Places or the dinner are limited but thereare still a ew tickets let.
o register or Congress or to book a ticket to the dinner contactVSA04 472 5759 or [email protected]
Te exhibition and associated events were generously sponsoredby the VSA Foundation.
Celebrating 50 years of volunteering
Mulling over the Peoples Choice award.
Volunteers Ken Wong (let), Jackie Fullerand Neil Walkinshaw celebrate in Samoa.
Sophie McCashin (right) and riend atthe gathering in Palmerston North.
Bruce Burnett (let) and Julie and BillHardie enjoying the Christchurch event.
VSA staf member Carolyn Mark cuts theanniversary cake in Nelson.
Students rom Bathgate Park Schoolperorm at the Dunedin opening night. Assembled returned volunteers at the exhibition opening night in Wellington.
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hen Anne Perera, VSAs last volunteer in anzania, let the
country in June this year a taxi arrived at her house to take
her to Kilimanjaro Airport. Inside the taxi was Musa Naroro,VSAs ormer eld ocer in Arusha, who was there to make sure thatAnne made it saely to the airport.
As the many volunteers who worked with Musa know, it was a
typically generous gesture.Musa was a wonderul support to me right until the last minute,
says Anne who spent two years working as a Food and NutritionAdviser based at SIDO (Small Industries Development Organisation),which trains local would-be entrepreneurs to manage small ood
processing businesses. I was so grateul or everything he did.It was also an example o the generosity extended to VSA volunteers
not just in anzania, but in the ve other countries VSA has worked insince it set up its Arica programme in 1986.
I really loved the people, says Camille Kirtlan who spent six years
with VSA in the South Arican city o East London, rst as a volunteerand later as South Arica country programme manager. Teyre just so
accepting o who you are, and so non-judgemental. Its who you are onthe inside that counts, not who you are on the outside.
For Camille, one person in particular helped shape her experience
o South Arica. She rst met Toko Mlonyeni when she arrived inEast London to start her assignment with the Department o Sport,Recreation, Arts and Culture in 2000.
Toko came to meet me at the airport, says Camille. From theword go she pretty much treated me as part o her amily.
In 2004 Camille helped Toko set up Imvomvo, an NGO that oerscommunity-based sports programmes to people in Mdantsane, a large
township just out o East London. Since then Imvomvo has diversiedto include an elderly citizen gardening programme and an earlychildhood centre developed with the help o VSA volunteer Judy Moore.
Toko helped open up lots o doors and opportunities or VSA,particularly in the townships. I think every volunteer who went to EastLondon in the last 10 years got to know Toko; she really was the right
person at the right time.VSA began its Arica programme in Zimbabwe in 1986, ater the
New Zealand government opened a High Commission in Harare New Zealands rst diplomatic post on the continent. Te programmequickly expanded to nearby Botswana and anzania, and in 1993
Out of Africa
VSAs last volunteers in Africa finished
their assignments in June, but the legacy
of our work there continues.
the rst volunteers went on assignment to
South Arica, based mainly in the Eastern
Cape which is one o the poorest regions inthe country. Volunteers have also worked inNamibia and Zambia.
Our rst South Arica volunteers went to
do voter education beore the 1994 election,recalls VSAs Volunteer Recruitment Manager
Carolyn Mark. People were lining up aroundthe block to vote or the rst time it wasa really sobering lesson in how important
democracy is.VSAs work in Arica has ocused largely
on health, education, and agriculture. Te287 volunteers who have worked there
have included sh armers, cheese-makers,
bee-keepers, palliative care specialists,
midwives, teachers and even rugby experts.Te Arica programme has been a greatopportunity or New Zealanders to work ina part o the world that really captures the
imagination, says Carolyn. Weve sent somegreat volunteers there over the years, and
created a real connection with East London inSouth Arica and with Arusha in anzania.
Tat connection, and the tangible legacy it
has created, is illustrated by the achievementso VSAs last volunteers in Arica. Anne Perera
is proud to have helped set up the set upthe anzania Institute o Food and Science
echnology, a proessional body or p
involved in ood processing and distri
Alison Bowis, who with her husbandwere the last volunteers in South Aria literacy booklet or beginner readersnow been distributed to almost 6000
schools in the Eastern Cape.And while VSA has stopped workin
or now, Carolyn says the VSA Counciaware o how great the needs there still
We spent a lot o time building u
goodwill especially in anzania and SArica, and I know the Council is ke
nd ways o maintaining our connecwith Arica.
Top: wo boys share a
happy moment in theEastern Cape countryside.
Centre: VSA volunteer
Judy Moore (let) with
Toko Mlonyeni at
Imvomvo.
Bottom: Camille Kirtlan
and ormer anzania
Field Ocer Musa
Naroro at VSAs oces
in Wellington.
Clockwise from top lef
Volunteer Ross Headie
digging wells with his c
in anzania; Arican wi
captures the imaginatio
shops in South Aricas
Cape; Handpainted air
in Zambia; Anne Perera
demonstrates how to co
blossom in Arusha, an
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Vista issue two
Star fundraiserLentils rule in Live Below the Line
Pamela Holyoake o Nelson was the lucky winner o the rst prize
50th anniversary rafe. Shell be winging her way to Vanuatu to spe
nights with a riend at the Warwick le Lagoon Resort and Spa cou
Orbit ravel and Air Vanuatu.
Te second prize o a FIFA ootball signed by the 2010 All Whites t
to Bruce Austin o Masterton. We sold 1281 rafe tickets, and rais
Raffle winner Vanuatu-bound
John Putt (right) has become VSAs most
successul volunteer undraiser so ar ater raising
an amazing $6500 at a concert held at the old
Putts Pub in the Bay o Islands in June.
Te concert eatured many o the musicians
who perormed at the pub when John ran it
with his siblings in the 1980s and 90s. About
500 people attended the concert, some rom as
ar away as Australia. John is now on assignment
as a Vocational raining Adviser at the orgil
Rural raining Centre in Vanuatu.
Other out-going volunteers are also coming up with inventive u
ideas, including a whiskey tasting in Tames, and the Otaki premie
o Kiwi-made action comedyHot Rob being held at Otakis Civic T
on 27 October.
Volunteers have now raised more than $50,000 since September la
A recipe or red lentil dahl provided by Anne Perera (above centre) was a
liesaver or VSA sta members who took part in Live Below the Line rom
24 to 28 September.
Anne joined VSA sta members Karla Paotonu (let) and Lesley Smeardon(right) at the Live Below the Line container in Aucklands Aotea Square on
19 September, where she demonstrated how to cook the tasty dahl or just
60 cents a serving. Anne, who returned rom an assignment as a Food and
Nutrition Adviser in anzania in June, made the dahl while she was Living
Below the Line, as did many VSA sta members who took the challenge.
It was absolutely delicious we had it with an Ethiopian potato,
cabbage and carrot curry and it was a really lling meal, says Volunteer
Recruitment Manager Carolyn Mark.
We have now raised more than $23,000 rom Live Below the Line. You can
donate until the end o October;visit www.livebelowtheline.com/NZ-VSA
From: Karla Paotonu, VSA Fundraising Manager
To: All VSA supporters
Subject: Fundraising update
Hi Everyone
As I write this we are busy organising the 50th Anniversary Congress and Reunion Dinner being
held in Wellington on Saturday 10 November.We have a great programme lined up for both events,
including keynote speaker Sister Lorraine Garasu and playwright Roger Hall.
I reallyrecommend going to both its achance to nd outwhat VSAis doing now as well as catch
upwith old friends.
Manyof you will have seen our 50thanniversary travelling photo exhibitionWindows toAn
other World:
Images from 50years of Volunteering Abroad.If not,you can catch it for the last time at Congress.
The exhibition has been so popular we havenow produced sets of cards featuring the topve
photos in the Peoples Choice awards (you can seethe ve photos on the right).
The cards aresuitable for any occasion and provide a real window into the world of volunteering.
To buy a Peoples Choice Packjust go to our online shop: www.vsashop.org.nz Wewill also be
selling the packs at Congress and the Reunion Dinner.
In the meantime, if youd like to support our work, you can use the donationform attached to this page.
Justll it out and post it to us you can use the Freepost option but a stamp saves usthe cost of postage!
Attached is a quick update about our recent fundraising activities.
Thanks for your support.
Karla
Karla Paotonu
VSAFundraising Manager
www.vsa.org.nz
GROWING SU
Project Friendship bracelets were
so popular at Chisnallwood Intermediate
in Christchurch that there were queues to
buy them at morning tea and lunchtime,
and the school had to order more to mee t
the demand.
Even the teachers got behind Project
Friendship. Jude Robinson, the schools head
o social sciences, wore six o them during
Project Friendship week, which ran rom 6 to
12 August, and she bought a ew extras to use
as rewards or students in her year 8 class.
Everyone loved the bracelets, she says.
Te kids liked where the money was going
to support VSAs work in the Pacic and
they liked the act they were afordable so
they could buy them to give to the ir riends.
Having spent time teaching in Vietnam,
I really liked the act that the bracelets aremade in Vietnam and provide employment
or people with disabilities.
She says that this is the rst year Chisnall-
wood Intermediate has taken part in Project
Friendship, and theyre looking orward to
doing it again next year.
Everything about it just gelled or us.
It was a really rewarding thing to do, and
it didnt take a lot o efort.
Chisnallwood Intermediate sold 627 brace-
lets, making it the most successul school to
take part in Project Friendship 2012.
Im so impressed by their efort, especially
as theyd never been involved in Project
Friendship beore, says VSAs Project Friend-
ship coordinator, Helen Carter. Its also
good to hear that they ound it really easy
to organise, as we work hard to give schools
as much support as possible.
Altogether 128 schools, 97 Four Squares
in the lower North Island, 27 Body Shops
and 42 Girl Guide Districts took part in
Project Friendship 2012, and so ar morethan 16,000 bracelets have been sold.
Once again we ofered schools the oppor-
tunity to have a returned volunteer come
and talk about their experiences. Tey got
an enthusiatic reception. Kerry Lee,
who accompanied his wie Lyn on assign-
ment to imor-Leste in 2005, ended up
spending 90 minutes answering questions
rom groups o senior students at one
Wellington primary school.
All our speakers say they got asked lots
o questions which is great, as it shows that
the students are really interested in what
we do, says VSAs Fundraising Manager
Karla Paotonu.
Our our Project Friendship bloggers were
popular too, with viewers coming rom as
ar aeld as the United States and Australia.
Te most popular post was Hannah Quigans
Strutting your stuf in the Solomons, about
a ashion show with a diference held during
the Festival o Pacic Arts.
Aaron Horrells blogs attracted the attentiono a journalist at Radio Australia, and he
was interviewed about the work his partner
organisation is doing to eradicate cocoa
borer in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea.
Project Friendship bracelets a hitVSAs
PROJECT FRIENDSHIP 2012
Tese Rangers fromJohnsonvillewere among42Girl
Guidedistricts involvedin VSAProjectFriendship2012. Students from Chisnallwood
Intermediate model their bracelets.
FranktonSchool students inHamilton getintotheProjectFriendshipspirit. Photo:Hamilton Press
Vista issue two
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VSA: CHANGING LIVES FOR 50 YEARS
JUSTDIVEINAND GET INVOLVED WITH VSA
CONTACT US ON 0800 872 8646OR VISIT WWW.VSA.ORG.NZ
BECOME A SUPPORTER
Make a donation. We send people not money, but we n
money to send people. Help VSA send more volunteers
work with people in the wider Pacic to help them buildbetter future for themselves and their children.
BECOME A VOLUNTEER
Share your skills in the wider Pacic and get the experie
of a lifetime back. Check our website www.vsa.org.nz
for current vacancies.
BECOME A VSA UNIVOL VOLUNTEER
If youre a university student studying at least 300-level
papers in development studies you could become a VSUniVol and spend 10 months working in the wider Paci
Te Tuao Tawahi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc is a registered charity (CC36739) under the Charities Act 2005Vista issue two 201214