Really, I should be going to bed. I've just finished some admin at the end of a 14 hour work day that included some serious jungle trekking and I'm rather tired.
But I'm struck by some things worth sharing.
I sat with a school principal, his lead secondary teacher and one of my IES colleagues in an outdoor meeting today because the school (at Erakor, Efate Island) has so staff room remaining. We were able to clearly see where the school oval was, where children - a large group - were playing football.
With a paper ball.
They have no football.
It's the simplest thing, but it stood out to me. I had already seen the school kitchen - a log for a bench and a fire on the ground for cooking outdoors - I had already seen the destroyed classrooms on a few occasions but it was the lack of a ball that seemed so significant and memorable.
Needless to say that as well as fixing the school toilets, rebuilding their kindergarten and replacing some school books, I'm throwing sports gear into our school project! It's actually, from a theoretical standpoint, brilliant for school retention and morale; obviously, though, it just seems (to my Western mind) an easy and cheap thing to fix.
The other thing I thought worth sharing today is the sense of opportunity that I think God is bringing together for those that would see it. We are aware of a lady that is becoming a Salvation Army soldier on a remote island here. Her island doesn't have the microcredit schemes that other islands have, but has been dramatically affected by the cyclone in that cruise ships no longer visit her island. The 'mamas' there are dependant on handicraft skills and sales to tourists for survival. Having known this, I today met the CEO of Vanwoods (Vanuatu Women's Development Scheme) who is looking for expansion partners (she gave us a lift home!).
So we have a presence on this island, an issue to look into, a potential partner, a potential leader and it's all been brought before us within a few days.
I've sent my thoughts on this to our international development team at IHQ, as this is a long term concept, not an emergency project. I hope they take it up.
Wednesday 29 April 2015
Sunday 26 April 2015
Vanuatu 15
A bit of an interesting evening; a small earthquake shook Port Vila tonight and sent everyone outside. Quite a shake for us all, and a bit of excitement in an otherwise quiet night in.
We needed a quiet night after a big day.
We arrived at church this morning to quite a crowd. As the service concluded, we saw hundreds of people arriving with food and gifts. Apparently the chief of this part of Tagabe had organised a thankyou celebration for the team.
At least 10 people took the opportunity to speak and some then presented gifts. A shield was made, in the shape of The Salvation Army shield, with a thank you note inscribed. This will go back to IHQ to hang in the IES office. Or maybe in the South Pacific & East Asia office to remind them that the corps over here would like official recognition.
It was quite an emotional day and you feel quite fraudulent - getting personal thanks for something that God has brought together, and someone else has paid for! Nonetheless there was much to celebrate. At least 500 people gathered (out of a community of around 750) to share in a meal together. Many of them sang, and the choir from the Presbyterian Church down the road finished their thank you speech with a rendition of "To God be the Glory".
It was also great to see the outpost shelter then turn into Town Hall, where the chief then called everyone together to discuss everything from the teenagers using drugs to the noise from the nightclub at the end of the street. (Ironic, in some respects, when one of 'businesses' in the street is the local Kava bar).
I said to my colleagues: "This is what (should) happen wherever The Salvation Army comes to town". The community shares food. The community solves its problems together. The community meets together. The community celebrates. The community gives thanks. And, some that choose, join together to worship God.
And we enjoyed Ice Cream. But that's another story that some would have seen on Facebook.
There has also been much to celebrate on the project front this week. We've sourced the boats, fishing gear and solar powered freezers for Tanna. This will not only help our villages get back to their livelihood but expand it by storing fish they can take to market in Lanekal (the main town of Tanna).
We have the go ahead and the labour in place to repair the toilet block for North Vila Public School and the nutrition program will start this week at the Vila Christian School. This will help 1950 students (between the two schools) get back to school.
This week we obtained vouchers from a hardware store that are helping 155 families in Tagabe to self repair their homes and buy the household wares they need to replace. We distributed emergency shelter kits (tarps and rope, basically) to 441 households in Erakor during a house-to-house damage assessment of over 1000 homes.
We also made a deal with UNICEF to undertake some WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) projects on their behalf, which , if nothing else, is evidence of respect for our team.
So, hopefully there won't be any more tremors and we can get some sleep, ready for whatever this week has in store.
We needed a quiet night after a big day.
We arrived at church this morning to quite a crowd. As the service concluded, we saw hundreds of people arriving with food and gifts. Apparently the chief of this part of Tagabe had organised a thankyou celebration for the team.
At least 10 people took the opportunity to speak and some then presented gifts. A shield was made, in the shape of The Salvation Army shield, with a thank you note inscribed. This will go back to IHQ to hang in the IES office. Or maybe in the South Pacific & East Asia office to remind them that the corps over here would like official recognition.
It was quite an emotional day and you feel quite fraudulent - getting personal thanks for something that God has brought together, and someone else has paid for! Nonetheless there was much to celebrate. At least 500 people gathered (out of a community of around 750) to share in a meal together. Many of them sang, and the choir from the Presbyterian Church down the road finished their thank you speech with a rendition of "To God be the Glory".
It was also great to see the outpost shelter then turn into Town Hall, where the chief then called everyone together to discuss everything from the teenagers using drugs to the noise from the nightclub at the end of the street. (Ironic, in some respects, when one of 'businesses' in the street is the local Kava bar).
I said to my colleagues: "This is what (should) happen wherever The Salvation Army comes to town". The community shares food. The community solves its problems together. The community meets together. The community celebrates. The community gives thanks. And, some that choose, join together to worship God.
And we enjoyed Ice Cream. But that's another story that some would have seen on Facebook.
There has also been much to celebrate on the project front this week. We've sourced the boats, fishing gear and solar powered freezers for Tanna. This will not only help our villages get back to their livelihood but expand it by storing fish they can take to market in Lanekal (the main town of Tanna).
We have the go ahead and the labour in place to repair the toilet block for North Vila Public School and the nutrition program will start this week at the Vila Christian School. This will help 1950 students (between the two schools) get back to school.
This week we obtained vouchers from a hardware store that are helping 155 families in Tagabe to self repair their homes and buy the household wares they need to replace. We distributed emergency shelter kits (tarps and rope, basically) to 441 households in Erakor during a house-to-house damage assessment of over 1000 homes.
We also made a deal with UNICEF to undertake some WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) projects on their behalf, which , if nothing else, is evidence of respect for our team.
So, hopefully there won't be any more tremors and we can get some sleep, ready for whatever this week has in store.
Tuesday 21 April 2015
Vanuatu 14
It's very quiet in the house at the moment. The two teammates that are with me in Vila have already gone to bed. It is after 9 o'clock I suppose :-)
And in fairness it's been a long day. We spent a lot of it trundling around to various suppliers trying to source the right quantities of the right materials for different projects. The day finished with part one of our next distribution in Tagabe, where we are helping people with vouchers that can be redeemed at a local hardware store with the intention of promoting the self-repair of their homes.
In addition to that we have until tomorrow to hand in our submissions to the joint Humanitarian Action Plan. That's what I'm doing now, as you can tell. This 'HAP' combines all of the planned projects from the different agencies within their sector (shelter, water, health, education etc) and then puts them as a package to governments and donors for support. It's important that we are part of the plan as a) donors generally won't consider supporting projects that aren't part of the coordinated solutions package, and b) agencies won't be supported if they don't work within the system. That aside, it's also a good opportunity to find additional support for the work we are doing.
Speaking of coordination, it's been a real blessing to work with other agencies in such a cooperative environment. So far, in one way or another, we have partnered with the Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, Caritas and, as of today, UNICEF. I will sign an agreement with them in the morning to provide us with further materials for some of our projects.
Another blessing, as always, is the people that we work with. Today as I went out to see the team at the distribution, I was amazed, again, at how patient, peaceful, happy, supportive and thankful the people of Vanuatu are. They truly are the friendliest people in the world. We can't walk from our house to the 'downtown' without every person along the street wishing us a good evening.
Now I think I might join my teammates and head to bed. I can always get the HAP submissions finished in the morning.
And in fairness it's been a long day. We spent a lot of it trundling around to various suppliers trying to source the right quantities of the right materials for different projects. The day finished with part one of our next distribution in Tagabe, where we are helping people with vouchers that can be redeemed at a local hardware store with the intention of promoting the self-repair of their homes.
In addition to that we have until tomorrow to hand in our submissions to the joint Humanitarian Action Plan. That's what I'm doing now, as you can tell. This 'HAP' combines all of the planned projects from the different agencies within their sector (shelter, water, health, education etc) and then puts them as a package to governments and donors for support. It's important that we are part of the plan as a) donors generally won't consider supporting projects that aren't part of the coordinated solutions package, and b) agencies won't be supported if they don't work within the system. That aside, it's also a good opportunity to find additional support for the work we are doing.
Speaking of coordination, it's been a real blessing to work with other agencies in such a cooperative environment. So far, in one way or another, we have partnered with the Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, Caritas and, as of today, UNICEF. I will sign an agreement with them in the morning to provide us with further materials for some of our projects.
Another blessing, as always, is the people that we work with. Today as I went out to see the team at the distribution, I was amazed, again, at how patient, peaceful, happy, supportive and thankful the people of Vanuatu are. They truly are the friendliest people in the world. We can't walk from our house to the 'downtown' without every person along the street wishing us a good evening.
Now I think I might join my teammates and head to bed. I can always get the HAP submissions finished in the morning.
Saturday 18 April 2015
Vanuatu 13
During the week our attention turned to a village called Erakor. Out there are 1200 homes, with around 6900 people, who, as mentioned earlier in the week showed a glaring omission in response planning. Somehow, the village had just been missed.
This was nothing but accidental oversight, so the group that coordinates shelter responses stood and looked to us all to see who could do something. Some slightly optimistic Salvationist officer put up his hand and said The Salvation Army would do something (don't know who that was...), so we drove out to Erakor to have a look and start doing "something".
We met Joseph, Aron, and a range of others who were just grateful to see "someone". The fact that we were cobbling together a response - Salvationist workers with Red Cross tarpaulins and rope we needed to cut as we went along - was a better 'something' than 'nothing'. That said, and as incomplete a start and inadequate a response as it is, the few days we've been working there have been quite satisfying.
My role here has often meant that I'm the guy in the meetings, doing the liaison work, writing the proposals and budgets and looking after the team. As this was an "all-hands-on-deck" situation, and some of our hands we were hoping to arrive in country are still a few days (or weeks) away, I was able to get out and join the crew.
We are all sunburnt, have slightly orange hands from the rope we were cutting, and are quite stiff from walking to 800ish (so far) of the homes to assess the damage and cover up those that needed support - 276 households so far that were leaking or damaged. This, of course, doesn't include those homes that have already self-repaired. Hopefully in the next week we can finish this first assessment and response and start something more substantial - probably around the school there, which is around 75% destroyed.
In the meantime, it's back to Vila to complete the three days of admin that I haven't done while out in the field. Each week we need to submit activity reports and stocktakes to the government so they can coordinate the response and the resources of all the agencies. We need to provide submissions to the sectoral clusters so that they know we are meeting internationally agreed standards for humanitarian response. And as we are The Salvation Army, there is internal reporting to complete.
(We're not alone, though. A Red Cross colleague volunteered to do something the other day, and then quickly asked that it not be minuted... until he gets permission in triplicate from Geneva!).
The guys on the other islands are working hard, too. This week they've distributed cookware, blankets and tool kits to families on Tanna. They've also been working to position a massive 50,000L water bladder that has been donated to Vanuatu, through The Salvation Army, on the island. And, they've been working on our truck! To get around Tanna is quite an effort (some of the best and scariest driving of my life) and our vehicle has needed new tyres, shock absorbers and a new CV joint.
On a lighter note, there are some fun things about living and working overseas, such as discovering new places. Like "Au Peche Mignon" on Lini Hwy in Vila. If you're ever here, they certainly have the best coffee in town!
This was nothing but accidental oversight, so the group that coordinates shelter responses stood and looked to us all to see who could do something. Some slightly optimistic Salvationist officer put up his hand and said The Salvation Army would do something (don't know who that was...), so we drove out to Erakor to have a look and start doing "something".
We met Joseph, Aron, and a range of others who were just grateful to see "someone". The fact that we were cobbling together a response - Salvationist workers with Red Cross tarpaulins and rope we needed to cut as we went along - was a better 'something' than 'nothing'. That said, and as incomplete a start and inadequate a response as it is, the few days we've been working there have been quite satisfying.
My role here has often meant that I'm the guy in the meetings, doing the liaison work, writing the proposals and budgets and looking after the team. As this was an "all-hands-on-deck" situation, and some of our hands we were hoping to arrive in country are still a few days (or weeks) away, I was able to get out and join the crew.
We are all sunburnt, have slightly orange hands from the rope we were cutting, and are quite stiff from walking to 800ish (so far) of the homes to assess the damage and cover up those that needed support - 276 households so far that were leaking or damaged. This, of course, doesn't include those homes that have already self-repaired. Hopefully in the next week we can finish this first assessment and response and start something more substantial - probably around the school there, which is around 75% destroyed.
In the meantime, it's back to Vila to complete the three days of admin that I haven't done while out in the field. Each week we need to submit activity reports and stocktakes to the government so they can coordinate the response and the resources of all the agencies. We need to provide submissions to the sectoral clusters so that they know we are meeting internationally agreed standards for humanitarian response. And as we are The Salvation Army, there is internal reporting to complete.
(We're not alone, though. A Red Cross colleague volunteered to do something the other day, and then quickly asked that it not be minuted... until he gets permission in triplicate from Geneva!).
The guys on the other islands are working hard, too. This week they've distributed cookware, blankets and tool kits to families on Tanna. They've also been working to position a massive 50,000L water bladder that has been donated to Vanuatu, through The Salvation Army, on the island. And, they've been working on our truck! To get around Tanna is quite an effort (some of the best and scariest driving of my life) and our vehicle has needed new tyres, shock absorbers and a new CV joint.
On a lighter note, there are some fun things about living and working overseas, such as discovering new places. Like "Au Peche Mignon" on Lini Hwy in Vila. If you're ever here, they certainly have the best coffee in town!
Wednesday 15 April 2015
Vanuatu 12
Tonight's post will probably be short as I'm quite tired, but I couldn't resist blogging now that we have working internet in our house.
Today was hard in some ways. Around 200 people closed down the National Disaster Management Offce through a protest around the distribution of temporary shelter fixes. The group of agencies, including The Salvation Army, who have some role to play in this area have worked hard to ensure supply, but are around a week away from reaching the whole population, particularly in dense unplanned urban areas.
These areas include almost double the population on any census, are mostly informal and insecure shelters and represent many of the most vulnerable people, but also some of the hardest to reach. This is simply because you never know how many people are actually there, nor the critical vulnerabilities that you will uncover while at work.
Credit is due to our team, along with five of the other key agencies who, this afternoon, really did throw everything on the table to try and get the job done. It will make for a interesting few days as we fill the gaps and hit the road, but we will get there.
Tuesday 14 April 2015
Vanuatu 11
It's one of those weeks when you feel like you could use a few extra hands.
On the one hand (pardon the pun) I have seen the second 'protest' today, with people increasingly dissatisfied with the apparent slow response of government and support agencies to the disaster. They have a small point, when you consider the torrential rains that have now hit as a side-wash of TC Solo. (This is a cyclone that hit New Caledonia to the SW of Vanuatu over the weekend).
On the other, every agency is stretched. This is one of the first time's I've sat in meetings and heard most of the major agencies put up their hand to say 'we're out of people' or 'we're out of money' or 'we're out of gear'.
The Salvation Army is not too much different to the others as we have very few people in Vanuatu and no gear! The positive side to that is that we get to buy all of our stuff 'in country', which I love because it stimulates the local economy.
Over the weekend I had another three of our project proposals approved. One formally allows for the reconstruction of 200 houses on the island of Tanna. One is a multi-sectoral project that provides comprehensive support to one community on the fringe of Port Vila; here we will support everything from self-repairs of shelters to school retention. The third supports the redevelopment of fishing livelihoods in three villages in Tanna. My small team have their work cut out for them.
In addition to this we have picked up another village on Efate Island to work in: Erakor. This was a glaring gap on the agency map: 1200 households. We're still working out how we support this community; your prayers for wisdom and guidance would be appreciated.
In the meantime I reflect on some ironies today - like the logistics people double booking our room (!) and consequently kicking the shelter group out of their shelter! I reflect on the fun of the development setting - meeting lots of new people to engage with. And I laugh at the silliness as representatives of many the world's largest aid agencies huddled under a tent in the rain, mostly sitting on tables, mud everywhere, as we discussed high level reconstruction strategies.
On the one hand (pardon the pun) I have seen the second 'protest' today, with people increasingly dissatisfied with the apparent slow response of government and support agencies to the disaster. They have a small point, when you consider the torrential rains that have now hit as a side-wash of TC Solo. (This is a cyclone that hit New Caledonia to the SW of Vanuatu over the weekend).
On the other, every agency is stretched. This is one of the first time's I've sat in meetings and heard most of the major agencies put up their hand to say 'we're out of people' or 'we're out of money' or 'we're out of gear'.
The Salvation Army is not too much different to the others as we have very few people in Vanuatu and no gear! The positive side to that is that we get to buy all of our stuff 'in country', which I love because it stimulates the local economy.
Over the weekend I had another three of our project proposals approved. One formally allows for the reconstruction of 200 houses on the island of Tanna. One is a multi-sectoral project that provides comprehensive support to one community on the fringe of Port Vila; here we will support everything from self-repairs of shelters to school retention. The third supports the redevelopment of fishing livelihoods in three villages in Tanna. My small team have their work cut out for them.
In addition to this we have picked up another village on Efate Island to work in: Erakor. This was a glaring gap on the agency map: 1200 households. We're still working out how we support this community; your prayers for wisdom and guidance would be appreciated.
In the meantime I reflect on some ironies today - like the logistics people double booking our room (!) and consequently kicking the shelter group out of their shelter! I reflect on the fun of the development setting - meeting lots of new people to engage with. And I laugh at the silliness as representatives of many the world's largest aid agencies huddled under a tent in the rain, mostly sitting on tables, mud everywhere, as we discussed high level reconstruction strategies.
Sunday 12 April 2015
Vanuatu 10
Today I would simply like to ask for prayer for the people of Vanuatu.
Tropical Cyclone Solo sits off to the west of Vanuatu and is currently moving through the islands of New Caledonia. It will not have a great impact on Vanuatu, apart from some storms tonight and tomorrow.
That said, from Friday it has promoted cyclone advisories on the radio and you can see some fear, or in some cases flashbacks to Pam, among the people. At church this morning, one lady, Florence, prayed that Solo would go away.
Please pray for peace for the good people of Vanuatu.
Last night we walked to a restaurant in Port Vila for a thank you meal for one of our team, Michael, who headed back to his home in Hawaii this morning. As I type he will be sitting in Sydney awaiting his connection.
As we walked along, every single person wished us a good night. There is no friendlier place on earth than Vanuatu.
We wondered to each other what people would think at home if we greeted everyone else on the street. The guys from New York laughed - perhaps they'd be accepted as another Manhattan nutter. Here though, it is so genuine.
Tropical Cyclone Solo sits off to the west of Vanuatu and is currently moving through the islands of New Caledonia. It will not have a great impact on Vanuatu, apart from some storms tonight and tomorrow.
That said, from Friday it has promoted cyclone advisories on the radio and you can see some fear, or in some cases flashbacks to Pam, among the people. At church this morning, one lady, Florence, prayed that Solo would go away.
Please pray for peace for the good people of Vanuatu.
Last night we walked to a restaurant in Port Vila for a thank you meal for one of our team, Michael, who headed back to his home in Hawaii this morning. As I type he will be sitting in Sydney awaiting his connection.
As we walked along, every single person wished us a good night. There is no friendlier place on earth than Vanuatu.
We wondered to each other what people would think at home if we greeted everyone else on the street. The guys from New York laughed - perhaps they'd be accepted as another Manhattan nutter. Here though, it is so genuine.
Saturday 11 April 2015
Vanuatu Update 9
As you can see there have been very few updates this week. There's a very simple reason for that... I have had no internet. Well... some internet - sometimes at the local internet cafes or where I might go for a meal. We are told that the technician is coming to fix the connection at our house... he's been coming since Tuesday.
That hasn't stopped our work, though, and the teams have been hard at it across Efate, Tanna and Anatom Islands this week. There has been good economic signs in town as well, as the handicraft market reopened and the first cruise ship, with 2000 passengers, returned to Port Vila.
For me, there's been a chance to reflect. I went to bed last night and I thought to myself:
Today we helped ship food to families that are desperate for food.
Today we helped to argue for adequate shelter standards for families that are trying to rebuild.
Today we arranged for distribution of hygiene items to another 176 families.
Today I participated in a workshop that planned the future responses for all the agencies working in Vanuatu and also compiled lessons learned from the first four weeks post Cyclone Pam.
Today I met up with people from around the world with whom my connection goes back years - like Josh that used to work for SAWSO (The Salvation Army World Service Office in the USA) and now works for Habitat for Humanity.
Today we were able to apply for funding to rebuild the industries in a number of villages and rebuild 200 homes (pray for approvals!) completely and repair a further 130 homes.
Today I got to ride in the back of a ute with some friends driving around a tropical paradise.
I do like my job :-)
That hasn't stopped our work, though, and the teams have been hard at it across Efate, Tanna and Anatom Islands this week. There has been good economic signs in town as well, as the handicraft market reopened and the first cruise ship, with 2000 passengers, returned to Port Vila.
For me, there's been a chance to reflect. I went to bed last night and I thought to myself:
Today we helped ship food to families that are desperate for food.
Today we helped to argue for adequate shelter standards for families that are trying to rebuild.
Today we arranged for distribution of hygiene items to another 176 families.
Today I participated in a workshop that planned the future responses for all the agencies working in Vanuatu and also compiled lessons learned from the first four weeks post Cyclone Pam.
Today I met up with people from around the world with whom my connection goes back years - like Josh that used to work for SAWSO (The Salvation Army World Service Office in the USA) and now works for Habitat for Humanity.
Today we were able to apply for funding to rebuild the industries in a number of villages and rebuild 200 homes (pray for approvals!) completely and repair a further 130 homes.
Today I got to ride in the back of a ute with some friends driving around a tropical paradise.
I do like my job :-)
Monday 6 April 2015
Vanuatu update 8
So at 5:25 in the morning we climbed up the hill to the ecumenical dawn service yesterday. Given we are GMT+11 it would have been one of the first dawn services anywhere in the world (with a recognising nod to our Kiwi and Tongan friends at GMT+12). It was fine, around 25 degrees and, again, a real blessing to share with people of different nationalities and races, but common faith.
It was also good to stand with other NGO workers and worship. I stood beside Mike, the head of World Vision in Vanuatu, and could see staff from Act for Peace and other agencies around the group as well.
The whole country has come to a bit of a halt over Easter. The official stats say that Vanuatu is roughly 80% Christian, mostly Presbyterian and Catholic with a smattering of AOG churches and a lot of Mormons. I think I've seen LDS missionaries just about every day we've been here. This all means that over the Easter break the country stops.
That said, there is still a lot of strange religious practice in the islands. Pentecost Island is famous for it's vine diving (the precursor to bungy jumping) which is really a fertility ritual where the men kiss the earth to encourage crop growth. Then there is the island that thinks Prince Philip is deity! And there's Anatom, where a Christian missionary was eaten by cannibals as recently as 1974.
We've been both rested by the break, and frustrated at the inability to further some of our projects. There has been a seeming ignorance in the coordination system of the cultural significance of the weekend; I had meetings scheduled by other agencies on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday (I chose not to go on Friday and went to just the last afternoon one on Sunday).
We're hopeful to make some headway again this week and regain some momentum.
For those that have been following the blog, it's worth reporting that the water restoration project on Tanna Island has gone extremely well and we have restored water to two villages completely now. That means that for 550 people the walk to a clean water outlet is now less than 10 minutes. Not ideal, but access to good, clean water can't be minimised.
It was also good to stand with other NGO workers and worship. I stood beside Mike, the head of World Vision in Vanuatu, and could see staff from Act for Peace and other agencies around the group as well.
The whole country has come to a bit of a halt over Easter. The official stats say that Vanuatu is roughly 80% Christian, mostly Presbyterian and Catholic with a smattering of AOG churches and a lot of Mormons. I think I've seen LDS missionaries just about every day we've been here. This all means that over the Easter break the country stops.
That said, there is still a lot of strange religious practice in the islands. Pentecost Island is famous for it's vine diving (the precursor to bungy jumping) which is really a fertility ritual where the men kiss the earth to encourage crop growth. Then there is the island that thinks Prince Philip is deity! And there's Anatom, where a Christian missionary was eaten by cannibals as recently as 1974.
We've been both rested by the break, and frustrated at the inability to further some of our projects. There has been a seeming ignorance in the coordination system of the cultural significance of the weekend; I had meetings scheduled by other agencies on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday (I chose not to go on Friday and went to just the last afternoon one on Sunday).
We're hopeful to make some headway again this week and regain some momentum.
For those that have been following the blog, it's worth reporting that the water restoration project on Tanna Island has gone extremely well and we have restored water to two villages completely now. That means that for 550 people the walk to a clean water outlet is now less than 10 minutes. Not ideal, but access to good, clean water can't be minimised.
Friday 3 April 2015
Vanuatu Update 7 - Good Friday
This morning I had the great privilege of sharing in Good Friday worship at The Salvation Army Port Vila outpost.
Lilyrose, our congregation leader, gave me an order of service and then proceeded to lead three songs that weren't on the program. Following this, she turned to me, invited me to the "platform" and said, "We're ready to start now I think".
The congregation consisted mostly of young children. Out of 40-45 of us that were there, the majority would have been under 25. In fact a good half would have been under 18. You can see a strong future for The Salvation Army in Vanuatu if they continue to be part of the life of this community.
It did, of course, mean that I had to do some quick re-think of the Good Friday message, but nonetheless, it was a real honour to be about to speak on such an important day in the Christian calendar. I will always cherish such an opportunity.
After church we shared in refreshments and Lilyrose shared her testimony with me. Her first contact with The Salvation Army came through a vision her son had of some 'white men' that would come and help them. After this she saw a TV documentary on The Salvation Army and told her husband that when they come to Vanuatu, she would be the first to join. And she was.
Lilyrose tells the story of an amazing transformation in her life and how she is now committed to working for God full time. She lives by faith and runs a children's program and also does a lot of prison visitation. She leads the congregation and has been of immeasurable assistance to us as we get to know her community.
I salute Lilyrose. Alastair (my IES) colleague and I told her that the day will come when they include Vanuatu in The Salvation Army year book, along with her photo. One day, when this happens, it will permanently note her pioneering work.
You will note that I have finally changed the photo on the sidebar. This is about 4 1/2 years overdue. The photo there now includes the members of the first IES team in Vanuatu. I am to the left, with William (Lilyrose's husband), Major Darren Elsley (Aus Eastern), Michael (USA West), Craig (USA East), Stephen (Vanuatu) and Major Gavin Watts (Aus Eastern). Missing in the photo are Damaris Frick (IHQ - she took the photo) and Alastair who arrived a day or two later. This week coming we are also joined by another Craig from USA East, which will be great.
Lilyrose, our congregation leader, gave me an order of service and then proceeded to lead three songs that weren't on the program. Following this, she turned to me, invited me to the "platform" and said, "We're ready to start now I think".
The congregation consisted mostly of young children. Out of 40-45 of us that were there, the majority would have been under 25. In fact a good half would have been under 18. You can see a strong future for The Salvation Army in Vanuatu if they continue to be part of the life of this community.
It did, of course, mean that I had to do some quick re-think of the Good Friday message, but nonetheless, it was a real honour to be about to speak on such an important day in the Christian calendar. I will always cherish such an opportunity.
After church we shared in refreshments and Lilyrose shared her testimony with me. Her first contact with The Salvation Army came through a vision her son had of some 'white men' that would come and help them. After this she saw a TV documentary on The Salvation Army and told her husband that when they come to Vanuatu, she would be the first to join. And she was.
Lilyrose tells the story of an amazing transformation in her life and how she is now committed to working for God full time. She lives by faith and runs a children's program and also does a lot of prison visitation. She leads the congregation and has been of immeasurable assistance to us as we get to know her community.
I salute Lilyrose. Alastair (my IES) colleague and I told her that the day will come when they include Vanuatu in The Salvation Army year book, along with her photo. One day, when this happens, it will permanently note her pioneering work.
You will note that I have finally changed the photo on the sidebar. This is about 4 1/2 years overdue. The photo there now includes the members of the first IES team in Vanuatu. I am to the left, with William (Lilyrose's husband), Major Darren Elsley (Aus Eastern), Michael (USA West), Craig (USA East), Stephen (Vanuatu) and Major Gavin Watts (Aus Eastern). Missing in the photo are Damaris Frick (IHQ - she took the photo) and Alastair who arrived a day or two later. This week coming we are also joined by another Craig from USA East, which will be great.
Thursday 2 April 2015
Vanuatu Update 6
Sarah is a lady worth mentioning.
She lives in "21 Jump Street", so named because there are 21 yards in the Jump Street area. Each yard has between 2 and 10 families living in it. This is also where The Salvation Army Port Vila outpost is.
Sarah lost her husband, a retired geologist, to cancer in November. Then she lost her home completely when Cyclone Pam struck in early March.
Her resilience is amazing. We sat with her on Tuesday afternoon and discussed what had happened. She is staying in another home with a neighbour in her yard. She is reliant on her neighbours for support as there is no-one to earn income and her small garden is only just re-establishing, obviously yielding no vegetables yet.
She has a great friendship with Lilyrose Sari, the congregation leader of The Salvation Army Port Vila outpost. It was so nice to watch Lilyrose just chat with her and put her arm around her. While the practical support that The Salvation Army has been able to provide her, post "Pam", has so far been minimal (it's coming), the pastoral support offered by Lilyrose is second-to-none. These are the wonderful people that make up The Salvation Army around the world.
We did complete our first, small distribution in this area yesterday. We supported 120 households with hygiene kits to help, and a small amount (inadequate amount) of water. We have completed our assessment of the general needs in the neighbourhood now and hope to do some more comprehensive work that will re-establish the community gardens, get the kids back to school, support the women who go to markets and help people to repair their own houses.
We also got the roof back on to The Salvation Army church. Strange to say that this is usually not an emergency activity, but we needed a place to do the distributions, and it is a key community asset in that neighbourhood.
We do still have a team on Tanna Island as well. Today they took delivery of the 4.8km of pipe that we despatched on Tuesday and are moving it to our villages so that the water supply is restored.
Today I'm catching up on admin. For every project we undertake we need to submit a proposal to IHQ and our sponsor territory, develop comprehensive budgets and provide a weekly report. We also need to write reports for significant individual donors, and submit the 3W report (Who does What and Where) to the coordination clusters so that all the agencies know who is doing what, and where (sounds obvious).
Tomorrow I have the great privilege of sharing the Good Friday message at the Port Vila outpost. Looking forward to it!
She lives in "21 Jump Street", so named because there are 21 yards in the Jump Street area. Each yard has between 2 and 10 families living in it. This is also where The Salvation Army Port Vila outpost is.
Sarah lost her husband, a retired geologist, to cancer in November. Then she lost her home completely when Cyclone Pam struck in early March.
Her resilience is amazing. We sat with her on Tuesday afternoon and discussed what had happened. She is staying in another home with a neighbour in her yard. She is reliant on her neighbours for support as there is no-one to earn income and her small garden is only just re-establishing, obviously yielding no vegetables yet.
She has a great friendship with Lilyrose Sari, the congregation leader of The Salvation Army Port Vila outpost. It was so nice to watch Lilyrose just chat with her and put her arm around her. While the practical support that The Salvation Army has been able to provide her, post "Pam", has so far been minimal (it's coming), the pastoral support offered by Lilyrose is second-to-none. These are the wonderful people that make up The Salvation Army around the world.
We did complete our first, small distribution in this area yesterday. We supported 120 households with hygiene kits to help, and a small amount (inadequate amount) of water. We have completed our assessment of the general needs in the neighbourhood now and hope to do some more comprehensive work that will re-establish the community gardens, get the kids back to school, support the women who go to markets and help people to repair their own houses.
We also got the roof back on to The Salvation Army church. Strange to say that this is usually not an emergency activity, but we needed a place to do the distributions, and it is a key community asset in that neighbourhood.
We do still have a team on Tanna Island as well. Today they took delivery of the 4.8km of pipe that we despatched on Tuesday and are moving it to our villages so that the water supply is restored.
Today I'm catching up on admin. For every project we undertake we need to submit a proposal to IHQ and our sponsor territory, develop comprehensive budgets and provide a weekly report. We also need to write reports for significant individual donors, and submit the 3W report (Who does What and Where) to the coordination clusters so that all the agencies know who is doing what, and where (sounds obvious).
Tomorrow I have the great privilege of sharing the Good Friday message at the Port Vila outpost. Looking forward to it!
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