Vista

Issue Two 2016

The
magazine
of Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA)
1 / MALIANA
NIGHTS VISTA

VSA volunteers work with people

throughout the wider Pacific to create
lasting, positive change for everyone
We send skilled Kiwis to share their experience and knowledge directly with
local people and communities. Right now, all around our region, VSA volunteers
are working on everything from disaster recovery in Vanuatu and Fiji to safe
drinking water for people in Kiribati. Together with our partners, our volunteers
are building local businesses, providing education and improving health,
safeguarding the environment and fostering good governance, delivering nearly
200 community-driven and owned projects.
Working together with our regional neighbours, our volunteers create new
opportunities for people that will continue to ripple across communities and
generations to come.
You can be part of a story that began more than 50 years ago with our founding
President, Sir Edmund Hillary. Your skills and support will make a difference to
people who want a better life for themselves and their children.

Become a
VSA volunteer

Become a
VSA donor

Go to www.vsa.org.nz to find
out about application criteria, to
register to receive vacancies
matching your skills, or to see what
assignments are being advertised.

Your donation will enable us to send

more great volunteers and change
lives forever. Visit www.vsa.org.nz to
donate or to find out about becoming
a VSA member.

Get in touch

VSA / World Vision volunteer Peter Brown, Vanuatu. VSA volunteer Vasti Venter, Bougainville. VSA volunteer Rosyln Clarke, Kiribati.
VSA volunteer John Marsh, Samoa.

Kia ora,
Three-quarters of the way into 2016, were already celebrating another
successful year. As youll see in the pull-out of the years highlights in this issue,
we had 192 assignments between July 2015 and June this year, more than any
other year. Most remarkably, the number of people registering their interest
in volunteering with us was five time greater than the previous year. To my
knowledge, VSA is one of the few organisations experiencing an increase in
interested volunteers a testament to New Zealanders extraordinary generosity
and desire to make sure everyone in our region has the opportunities we enjoy.
Throughout this issue of Vista, youll see how our volunteers work with
partners at a local level to contribute to regional and global priorities. Each assignment is related to at least
one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), the 17 goals the UN agreed to last year to replace the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) that were the roadmap for international development for the last 15 years.
The SDGs are a step forward from the MDGs, because they apply to everyone whether they live in Kaikohe
or Port Moresby. Acting on the SDGs has three areas of focus first, what are our national priorities? The
Treasury is working on New Zealands now. Secondly, what are the implications for our Aid Programme,
and how do we here at VSA meet the needs of our partner countries? Thirdly, how do we ensure that we as
New Zealanders dont negatively impact on global and regional achievements? For example, if we are major
polluters, that is detrimental beyond our borders.
VSA has taken the initiative to see how our work applies to the SDGs, as well as our broader country
strategies and MFAT's investment priorities. Because partnership is at the basis of everything we do, we can
put a tick alongside SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) every time. But what we also see in our work is
that they are interconnected, and while one SDG may be the focus of an assignment, it will inevitably come
hand-in-hand with others.
Water is a perfect example. Clean Water and Sanitation is SDG 6. In the last year, VSA assignments led to
thousands of people across the Pacific getting access to clean water and sanitation facilities. These facilities lead
to good health SDG 3. And because women and girls are disproportionately likely to suffer the ill health
effects of a lack of facilities, it crosses SDG 5 Gender Equality. A lack of private sanitation at school is one
of the leading causes of girls dropping out of school, so school toilets lead to SDG 4 Quality Education.
Education, health and equality all lead to SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth.
This can lead to the kind of economic growth that we want: inclusive growth that raises everyone up with it.
I am delighted that we contribute to those positive outcomes every day, across all 17 SDGs, and that we have
a fast-growing pool of people committed to continuing this work in the future.

Gill Greer, CEO

Te Tu- ao Ta- wa- hi Volunteer Service Abroad

Council Chair: Evan Mayson
Council members: Dr Simon Mark (Deputy Chair), Deidre Brooks,
Kirsty Burnett, Dr Jo Cribb, Peter Elmsly, David Glover, Dr Farib Sos
MNZM, Sandy Stephens MNZM, Kirikaiahi Mahutariki.
(Council correct at time of publication; election was held September 30)

Chief Executive Officer: Dr Gill Greer CBE, MNZM

Te Tao Twhi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc is a registered charity

(CC36739) under the Charities Act 2005.
VSA. All rights reserved. ISSN 1176-9904 Reproduction of content is
allowed for usage in primary and secondary schools, and for tertiary studies.

Vista is printed on environmentally responsible paper. It is chlorine free

and manufactured using sustainably farmed trees.
Vista is the official magazine of Te Tao Twhi Volunteer Service
Abroad Incorporated. Please note that views expressed in Vista are not
necessarily the views of VSA.

The New Zealand Government is proud to provide significant support

through the New Zealand Aid Programme for New Zealand volunteers
who work in a development capacity overseas.

Editorial and photographic submissions to the magazine are welcome.

Queries and submissions to the Editor, Vista, at vsa@vsa.org.nz.

Contents
6

Latest news

The Big Picture

A game-changer

Breaking the cycle

Fitter, happier

10

The map and the territory

11

Teaching the teachers

12

Along for the ride

13

Helen Reynolds & Hafoti Women's

Co-operative

Farewell Junior, New Friendships, Were moving

A unique encounter in Timor-Leste

A view from the other side of VSA partnership

Prison rehabilitation in Vanuatu

Wellbeing for Bougainville nurses

Training land surveyors in Kiribati

Enabling Cook Islands tutors share their knowledge

Accompanying partners tell their stories

Soy milk production in Timor-Leste

14

Sexual health in Vanuatu

15

Bougainville Univols

16

Getting the groundwork right

17

Not a pipe dream

18

Advancing Gender justice

Encouraging family planning and safe sex

in Vanuatu

Rebecca Vella-King, Neelum Patel and Jared

Linnell on life in Bougainville

Growing Tongas agricultural exports

Getting local water infrastructure right in Timor-Leste

Across the Pacific VSA volunteers are working

for the rights of women

Front cover and current page: Cicilia do Rosario, see page 7.

Photographer: Helen Reynolds.
Back cover: VSA volunteer Julia Rahui, Vanuatu. VSA volunteer John
Hermann, Kiribati. VSA volunteer Fiona Morris, Vanuatu. VSA volunteer
Thoraya Abdul-Rassol, Samoa.

News

Junior and whnau at his welcome ceremony into his International Programme Manager role in July 2013.

Farewelling Junior
Friday 26 August was the last day the booming laugh of
International Programme Manager Junior Ulu was heard
regularly around Wellingtons VSA office. After 13 years with
VSA, Junior has moved on to spend more time with family
and to complete his PhD over the next two years.
Born and educated in Auckland, where he spent six years as a
secondary school history teacher, Junior was on the local staff
of the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa in 2003
when he spotted a vacancy with VSA. He applied for the role
of Programme Officer (Vietnam) but never made the shortlist
instead, he landed the job of Programme Officer (Pacific).
When I came in VSA was more a volunteer-sending agency,
he recalls. Its now a development agency, with a far stronger
emphasis on the impact of volunteers work. The impetus has
come from good development practice that acknowledges the
importance of good results.

his time at VSA, Junior says. Its been very rewarding to visit
volunteers in the field and see the appreciative looks on the
faces of people in partner organisations.
And Junior has brought a lot to us. VSA Polynesia Programme
Manager Mike Lee says, the first time we went to Samoa
he met this woman at airport who he knew - obviously he
knows everybody - who was directing Samoa Star Search. We
ended up being a live studio audience of two at the shoot that
evening - they put out these plastic chairs just for us.
He just bumps into people he knows from all over the show
- we cant walk the two blocks to MFAT without stopping to
talk to everyone - it always takes ages.
After juggling the demands of his PhD studies and a busy VSA
role, hes looking forward to devoting more time to his wife
Pip and their eight-year-old twins.

Seeing volunteers work first-hand has been the highlight of

Supported by a Marsden scholarship, he will also focus on his

PhD. Its topic, Migration for education and its impact on
development, suggests the development world hasnt heard
the last of that booming laugh.

New Friendship

Were on the move!

VSA volunteer Vasti Venter (third from left) builds friendships in Bougainville to
help make a difference to some of the youngest members of the community.

Our new premises.

This August and September The Body Shop ran a VSA

fundraiser selling friendship bracelets. This is part of VSAs
ongoing drive to find new and interesting ways to raise funds
for the vital work our volunteers do.
Thank you to The Body Shop for supporting VSA in this way.

6 / NEWS VISTA

After nearly a decade in our characterful building, VSA is

on the move. From October well be at 77 Thorndon Quay
in Pipitea in an office thats much better tailored to our
operations, and with a better earthquake safety rating.
People attending our annual Congress on Saturday 5
November will have a chance to join us at a housewarming
for our new digs. VSA members, watch your mailboxes for
details soon.
Connecting People Transforming Lives

The big picture

by Helen Reynolds

Climbing Mount Samunu in Balibo in search of the too many monkeys that my husband had been told about, we passed
through a sacred bamboo forest. As we arrived at the spiritual boundary to the mountain, we were met by the entire village
and blessed by the cultural guardian, who marked our hands with betel nut to prepare us after the proper prayers and blessings.
We became the first non-locals to climb Samunu since the Portuguese colonials.
When we came down we were greeted with dancing and singing and given tais. Our friend Guido got on the national news to
tell the story of the first tourists up the mountain and used the opportunity to call on the Ministers of Health and Infrastructure
live on TV to get the local health clinic connected to the new electricity and water system - which they promptly did! Simply an
amazing experience, even though we never got to see the monkeys. Read about Helens assignment on page 17.

Working as an advisor to the Solomon Islands government

on educational infrastructure, Simon had only been on the
ground for a few days when he was caught up in a cyclone
that devastated large parts of Honiara and Solomon Islands.
In a testament to the partnerships aims, Simon stepped up
and took on a role beyond his VSA requirement, showing the
qualities that made him a successful applicant.
We believe that our partnership with the VSA is a gamechanger for the graduate recruitment industry. By recognising
that young people want more out of their jobs, we are
providing an avenue to create those opportunities for them.
Downer/VSA cadet Simon Trotter in Solomon Islands.

A game-changer
We caught up with Jan ONeill, EGM People & Culture, at
VSA partner, Downer and asked her to talk a bit about the
partnership from Downers perspective.
Weve had a strong relationship with VSA. Were extremely
proud of our Young Professionals Development Programme
in Solomon Islands. Simon Trotter was one of the first to
participate and we still discuss his rotation with pride because
he really stepped up and became an exceptional ambassador
for Downer in the Pacific.

www.vsa.org.nz

The young professionals who have been through the

programme have come out with a sense of self-belief and
maturity that only experience can teach. Weve seen them
take on larger projects, ask to work more independently, take
ownership of a complete project and offer to work in remote
areas of New Zealand with confidence.
We are looking ahead to future work both with the VSA
and in the wider Pacific region. We have made a point of
evolving with the programme so that it continues to create
new benefits for the VSA and Downer. Downer has a proud
history of delivering life-changing projects across the Pacific
region, so the partnership has been a natural extension to the
work that we do.

THE BIG PICTURE VISTA / 7

Breaking the cycle

VSA volunteer Heather Smyth (right) and catering instructor Steve Davie in Vanuatu. Photographer: Kalena Jordan.

What do prisoners do after they've served

their sentence? VSA volunteer Heather
Smyth is working in Vanuatu to reduce
the rate of re-offending.
Countries that dont address re-offending often end up with a
class of professional criminals who go on to lead a life of crime
and get better at it, says Rob Macalister, the Coordinator for
Vanuatu Correctional Services Partnership a part of the New
Zealand Aid Programme funded by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade.
Part of Robs role, as a member of the Rehabilitation
Leadership Group, is to assist Vanuatus Department of
Corrections to develop rehabilitation programmes with the
aim of lowering Vanuatus crime rate. Prior to 2006, Vanuatus
prisons were run by the police and there was little focus on
providing offenders with tools to reintegrate with society and
leave their criminal lives behind.
Rehabilitation isnt just good for individuals. In a small nation
like Vanuatu, it also creates significant economic benefits.
As Rob says, Many industries will only flourish if levels
of crime are low. Tourism, on which Vanuatu has a high
dependence, is a good example. As an isolated, scattered
group of islands, Vanuatu already has enough challenges
to economic development. This is why Heathers role is so
important.
Robs talking about Heather Smyth, a VSA volunteer
based in the Koreksonal Centre in Luganville. Id seen the
benefit of internally delivered programmes at Corrections
in New Zealand, she says. So I wrote a proposal to the
Rehabilitation Leadership Group to develop simple and
interactive programmes for Ni-Vanuatu prison and probation
officers to deliver to the detainees in prison and offenders in
the community.
So far, to this end, I have been appointed counterparts (prison
officers) as trainers, have developed the first three modules
and, with their help, piloted them in the prison in Luganville.

8 / BREAKING THE CYCLE VISTA

Heather has trained 24 prison officers to use motivational

interviewing a form of communication to promote change
to help rehabilitate detainees. Its a technique that translates
well into the local culture, she says. [Prison officers] are
comfortable working this way as Ni-Van people appear to like
words and stories, so motivational interviewing works well
here. The response has been enthusiastic.
Successful practical rehabilitation programmes such as joinery,
agriculture and catering have been running in the prisons for
several years. The agricultural programme teaches detainees to
grow vegetables and rear chickens. The detainees enrolled in
catering learn skills including baking bread and hosting events,
with a view to starting their own business.

Many industries will only

flourish if there are low
levels of crime.
The pilot programmes are geared towards helping the
detainees choose an offence-free lifestyle.
Despite her experience and success implementing groundbreaking change over her first four months, Heather still finds
some aspects of the work challenging. The most difficult
thing I have found here is the number of sexual offences and
the young age of the victims.
Theres no doubt that Heathers work can be confronting
and emotionally tough, but her persistence and resilience are
putting the foundations in place for huge positive change for
individual prisoners, and for Vanuatus society and economy.
Rob says, With Heathers help, Vanuatu looks forward to
keeping its reputation as the happiest and safest country in the
South Pacific, where visitors feel welcome and safe, and where
business can operate without the burden of a high crime rate.

Connecting People Transforming Lives

Fitter, healthier
Left to right: Mary outpatients, VSA volunteer Ann Green, Balbina dental therapist, Tracey health extension officer, Elizabeth maternal health and Jean maternal health.

VSA volunteer Ann Green's exercise-tomusic class is 45 minutes of colour, music

and laughter most afternoons at the Arawa
Health Centre.
Anns a physiotherapist trainer on assignment with the
health centre in Bougainville. She helps young mothers with
antenatal care, including fitness, but shes also helping her
colleagues build their own fitness and energy, and have some
great fun at the same time.
Health centre dental therapist Balbina Kari takes part in the
programme. Shes feeling better and has more energy. The
first day we had exercise class I felt very relaxed and slept very
well. I enjoy the classes because we laugh all the time and that
relaxes me for the afternoon.

They are understaffed and under-resourced. Hugely

under-resourced. When I first arrived there was no running
water in the wards because the water pump had been stolen.
Joanita Tavio is a nurse involved in Anns sessions and says
they provide real relief and benefits for her. [I leave] feeling
free of stress after working, and free of tiredness.
With the exercise group Anns brought about a small change,
but one that is immensely valuable to her colleagues and
ultimately to the people they care for.
Thats incredibly important to Ann. She and her husband
Richard lived in Bougainville before the crisis and have both
come back as volunteers to assist in rebuilding the nation
they love. As VSAs Bougainville Programme Manager Paul
Bedggood says, their dogged commitment is really inspiring.

The idea for the classes came after the health centre ran a
health promotion programme late last year. Almost everyone
who took part in this programme asked me if I would start
an exercise class or a walking group, Ann says. Eventually
I decided an exercise class to music might work best and we
started classes at the beginning of May. Often the music I
used was Mori music which fascinated them.

I enjoy the classes because

we laugh all the time.
The idea was to get an aerobic workout, without physically
over-stressing anyone. This suited me fine, as an intense
programme would probably not be entirely appropriate for
a 70 plus woman either! The sessions are fairly unstructured
with elements of dance, star jumps and the like, and stretches.
But I keep emphasising that the number one priority is to
have fun, and we do.
And fun is incredibly important when so much of the work
Balbina and her colleagues do is in a tough environment. I
have huge respect for the nurses in the way they provide a
health service under very difficult circumstances, Ann says.

www.vsa.org.nz

Young mothers from the Arawa Health Centre antenatal class.

FITTER, HEALTHIER VISTA / 9

The Map and the Territory

Riteri Kiboi, VSA volunteer Aaron Hick, Tunete Bauira, Temaro Teaumeang, Christina Teinaby and Bwatiua Tenea in Kiribati. Photographer: VSA volunteer Emma O'Neill.

In Kiribati, where overcrowding and rising

sea levels are pressing issues, the ability to
map and mark land is serious business.
Aaron Hick is volunteering there as a Land Surveyor Trainer
with the Ministry of Environment Lands and Agriculture
Development. Land is crucial to people in Kiribati, and the
impacts of sea level rise, coastal erosion and overcrowding
are making already scarce land resources even more in
demand. Surveying is essential to help to reduce conflicts by
understanding where property boundaries are, he says.

For Aaron, that enthusiasm is one of the great parts of his

experience in Kiribati. Theyre really keen to learn, [they]
pick things up really quickly, and the opportunities they have
can be quite limited so they do really well when opportunities
come along. They really grab that with both hands, he says.
Theyve been very welcoming and warm.

Surveying is also very important in terms of overcrowding.

Theres a lot of people moving from the outer islands to South
Tarawa for more perceived opportunities and thats putting
a real strain on the limited land, he says, and being able to
know what you own or lease is a big deal.
We make sure people can be confident where boundaries are.
By we Aaron means the survey team who are based on
Tarawa and Kiritimati Islands. On top of their day-to-day
work, six staff are studying for surveying diplomas via the Bay
of Plenty Polytechnic - a project initiated by the previous VSA
volunteer to the ministry, John Hermann.

Christina is surveying some pandanus and coconut trees that have been cut
down on private land to ensure the correct amount of compensation is paid to
the legal owner, while Joseph, the assistant, looks on.

Land is crucial to people

in Kiribati.
One student, Christina Teinaby, says the course is a part of her
desire to help her nation. I will be able to support the other
survey team members, share what I have learnt with other
staff and apply it in all survey work to help our country for
the future.
Another, Tunete Bauira, is enthusiastic about upskilling.
The skills and knowledge that I learn from the New Zealand
surveying diploma will apply in my daily fieldwork to enrich
my performance, improve the accuracy level and make it to
the international standard.

10 / THE MAP AND THE TERRITORY VISTA

Northern Line Group

Tarawa

Gilbert Group

Kiritimati

Phoenix Group

Kiribati is made up of 33
islands, with a combined
area of 811 square km.

Southern Line Group

Connecting People Transforming Lives

Student on his way to school, Bougainville.

Photographer: VSA Volunteer Vasti Venter.

People received training

7,536 Women 5,593 Men

People got new or improved

access to safe drinking water

Organisations supported by
capacity building programmes

Online at:

People got new or improved

access to sanitation facilities

Teachers and educators

were trained

2015-2016 Highlights from the work of VSA

volunteers and our partner organisations.

www.vsa.org.nz

SNAPSHOT HIGHLIGHT

2015-2016 Highlights
In the financial year to June 2016, 85c in every
dollar VSA spent went to our core work: supporting
volunteers to work together with their local partners
and communities to bring long-lasting, positive
change to our region. Across 192 assignments in 12
months, volunteers spent the equivalent of 93 years
in the field. We ended the year with an operating
surplus of $330,598.

Income
VSA volunteer Jan Lewis with Sister Lorraine in Bougainville.

$8,615,710 Government grants

$880,023

Fundraising*

$131,060

Investment income

$262,945

Other

*Includes a major bequest

Expenditure

Other includes Partnership income

and member subscriptions

$8,170,077 Volunteer programme

expenses
$326,598

Head office

$1,062,464 Other
*Other includes Governance, marketing,
communications and fundraising

We receive the majority of our funding from our strategic partner,

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand Aid
Programme, to deliver our core programme, to which we contribute
10% of costs. By growing our partnerships with other New Zealand
and International organisations, and receiving increased support
from our generous donors, we are able to send more skilled Kiwis
to countries beyond the core programme, such as Fiji, Indonesia and
Nepal, and to implement the objectives of our Strategic Intent.

Registers of interest
in volunteering

Social media followers

1,468

35,343
25,127

271
2015

2016

With more volunteer vacancies

than ever before, a recruitment
campaign led to 1,468 people
registering their interest in
volunteering, up from 271 the
previous year.

2015

2016

Total social media followers

increased from 25,127 to 35,343

Babies by choice, not

chance, in Bougainville
VSA partner
Nazareth Rehabilitation Centre

Length of relationship
Seven years

Volunteers this period

Five

Total volunteers
Nine

VSAs long relationship with Bougainvilles Nazareth

Rehabilitation Centre with Sister Lorraine Garasu and
other Sisters of Nazareth has built on Bougainvilles
peace following the civil war 15 years ago.

Between 1 October 2015 and 30 June 2016, they have

continued this work. Five VSA volunteers have worked in
safe houses for victims of domestic violence; teaching life
skills to men and women to boost their incomes; on trauma
counselling sessions for the wider community; and outreach
to male community leaders to work with the perpetrators of
violence. This year nurse Jan Lewis collaborated on a sexual
and reproductive health (SRH) programme.
Jan set up workshops in Chabai with youth peer educators
to create a presentation, which they will deliver throughout
Bougainville. Jan says the Centre identified that young people
had limited formal sex education, so youth rely on each other for
information. The workshops address misinformation and myths,
identify health issues affecting youth, and reduce the incidence of
unplanned pregnancy and STIs.
Sister Lorraine required a holistic approach sex education by
itself was not enough, but must come within a wider context of
gender equity, human rights and healthy relationships. This is
the first time this has been undertaken as a package, Jan says,
and it appeared to connect the dots for many participants.
Jan previously lived in Bougainville from 2008-13, and her health
work within the community then led to her being adopted as a
chief of the Naboin Tribe.
After just 60 days on assignment, Jan needed to provide only
minimal guidance to the workshops, as staff and educators knew
their subjects so well. The facilitators had learnt the content of
their manuals and their public speaking skills were honed. The
second part of Jans assignment will monitor and evaluate the
results, but Jan is confident the inclusive approach will work. The
programme will have a particular emphasis on involving young
men, because if males are isolated there is the potential to create
unnecessary conflict. Relationships take two, so its common
sense to be inclusive.

SNAPSHOT HIGHLIGHT

VSA volunteer Herman van Gessel with Natalino Carvalho, Josefina Martins and
Deonisio Sarmento in Timor-Leste.

A financial support
network in Timor-Leste
VSA partner
CC Business Solutions

Length of relationship
Two years

Volunteers this period

One

Total volunteers
One

Finance mentor Herman van Gessel arrived in

Timor-Leste in July 2015 to pioneer a new volunteering
model for VSA. Instead of concentrating on just one
NGO or small business in his two-year assignment, his
goal was to spread his accountancy skills across nine
agencies in a hub and spokes model.

In the troubled decade following Timor-Lestes independence

in 2002, NGOs mushroomed. Many senior public servants
learnt their skills at NGO level before moving on, often
to more secure jobs that dont depend on project funding.
However, all small businesses and NGOs struggle to find
skilled staff, manage their finances and keep donors happy.
Herman began with a main partner, CC Business Solutions
(CCBS), a Dili accountancy firm that does pro bono work
for NGOs and small businesses. He began training staff
in accountancy software, managing donor budgets and
implementing regular reconciliations and reporting systems.
He then moved onto other agencies. Staff working for the
Maryknoll Sisters, researchers Lao Hamutuk, English-language
training institute LELI and the Centre of Studies for Peace
and Development (CEPAD) were among the nine agencies
who benefitted from his advice and training. Finance officers
were always keen to receive help and ask questions, he says.
For a volunteer, this model offers the opportunity to work
with different people across different agencies. The model
can be applied to other disciplines, such as human resources
and IT, and will benefit small organisations who would not
otherwise be able to support a volunteer by themselves.
A CCBS accountant described Hermans work as a mentoring
model of short-term blocks of support. He will keep in touch
with the staff hes trained, visiting less frequently as their
skills develop. He will also put them in touch with each other
to create a local network of Timorese who can offer mutual
support once he returns to New Zealand in 2017.
SNAPSHOT HIGHLIGHT
This year, VSA and GHD put in place a chain model in
which GHD engineers work on water infrastructure in the
Cook Islands.
The chain began in March, when Roanna Salunga started as
a water engineer for the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
The next three GHD engineers in the chain of overlapping
five-month assignments have already been recruited, with the
final assignment due to complete at the end of 2017.
The Cook Islands are vulnerable to natural disasters and
drought, with the 11 Pa Enua (outer islands) especially
suffering from water shortages.

VSA volunteer Roanna Salunga on the job in the Cook Islands.

Ensuring access to
water in the Cook Islands
VSA partner
GHD

Length of relationship
Three years

Volunteers this period

One

Total volunteers
Three

VSAs partnership with GHD began in 2013, and has

seen GHD staff undertake one-off assignments in
the Pacific in waste management and provincial
government planning.

Technical support to the Pa Enua has been an on-going

problem due to lack of resources. GHDs engineers will
complete all preparations for improving OPMs water works in
the Pa Enua significantly speeding up the delivery of projects.
In just four months, Roanna's work has included scoping a plan
to rehabilitate Maukes water tanks; a water supply project with
local water engineers; a drought response plan; and consultation
with Infrastructure Cook Islands on waste and sanitation
policies. She says, Working hands-on with local communities
has ensured we take a realistic, practical approach.
Evan Mayson, Chair of VSA Council and Project Director
with GHD says, Our partnership with VSA not only enables
professional and personal development of our people, but
provides opportunities for anyone in GHD to apply their
technical skills in the development of communities in need."

2015-16 VSA ASSIGNMENTS

13% Asia

4% Micronesia
60% Melanesia
23% Polynesia

Papua New Guinea

Bougainville

Tokelau

Solomon Islands

Timor-Leste

Vanuatu

Kiribati

Samoa

Fiji

Niue
Tonga

Cook Islands

2015-16 FACTS & FIGURES

months spent
in the field

volunteer
assignments

partner
organisations

Volunteers shared their skills

across the wider Pacific in 192
different assignments.

Our volunteers spent 1457

months in the field which is
equivalent to 93 years!

VSA worked with 102 partner

organisations across the wider
Pacific.

The partnership VSA signed with the

Pacific Community (SPC) in February
2016 has provided greater opportunities
for volunteer placement and capacity
building in the Pacific.

VSAs partnership with Downer resulted

in Downer recieving an award for
Innovation in the Graduate Industry
from the New Zealand Association of
Graduate Employers (NZAGE).

VSA CEO Gill Greer was a finalist in the

Fairfax/Westpac Women of Influence
awards in 2015, recognising her long
career in local and global advocacy.

Thank you
VSA thanks its supporters, the New Zealand Aid
Programme and private and corporate donations
Te Tao Twhi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc is a registered
charity (CC36739) under the Charities Act 2005.

Teaching the teachers

VSA volunteer Te Kowhai Ohia (middle row, third from right) with tutors, administrators, maintenance workers and managers of CITTI.

So much of the work VSA does in the

Cook Islands is about providing for greater
economic development. As a nation
spanning more than a dozen beautiful
islands, the Cooks main industry is tourism,
but increasingly locals are finding other
business opportunities.
To take the greatest advantage of those opportunities, they
need a whole host of skills and training. Thats where VSA
volunteer Te Kowhai Ohia comes in: shes been working
with the Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute (CITTI)
to teach the teachers about how to effectively engage with
students, and facilitate the best outcomes for the Cooks next
generation of skilled workers.
The tutors at CITTI are all subject experts, and highly skilled,
so Te Kowhais job is to help them teach those skills to their
students in the best possible way.
I spend a lot of time helping tutors with the skills of teaching,
she says. For example, weve got tutors enrolled in a National
Certificate in Adult Education and Training with SIT
(Southern Institute of Technology). Its distance learning, so I
help them through it and give it some context, particularly as
some of our staff have English as a second language so Im
often working to try to contextualise for them.
I do a lot of lesson observations and provide feedback to the
tutors, and I also model how to facilitate, particularly when
working with adult students. But there is already a whole lot
of good stuff happening that I can assist with. A really fresh
example of that is a session I had with a tutor who teaches
customer service: her thing is embedding Cook Island values
in the customer service experience here in the Cook Islands,
and she wanted a way to test how much students had taken
on board.
I suggested getting them to do a group exercise where they
created a short advertising song, a jingle to promote the
essence of the programme, says Te Kowhai. A couple
of weeks later I followed up and the tutor told me theyd

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basically created a chant in the traditional Cook Island style.

It really showed how we need the [teaching] content to fit the
people [and] to translate it into a relevant and meaningful
experience.
Like many VSA volunteers, Te Kowhai has more than one
string to her bow. Shes also project-managing for the Gender
Project, which is focused on the economic empowerment of
women in the Cooks. I also have the privilege of supporting
the [CITTI] management staff, so Im currently facilitating
the development of a four-year strategic plan for our
organisation, she says. Weve got a very new management
team so being able to sit alongside them and help them and
learn from them has been really cool.
For Te Kowhai, that kind of shared experience has been
incredibly rewarding. I just want to thank VSA and CITTI
they're such cool organisations and they look after you really
well and Im just so thankful for the opportunity.

We are a better organisation

for having Te Kowhai as part
of the team.
CITTIs Director, Caroline Medway-Smith, says that
appreciation is reciprocated. It became evident very early
on that Te Kowhai was going to be a key player in the
development of CITTIs staff, she says. Te Kowhais ability
to interact with people and engage at so many different levels
is enviable. The commitment she has shown to new tutors in
particular has been outstanding, demonstrating both patience
and caring.
With such a strong bond, continuing the assignment was just
about inevitable, and Te Kowhai is staying on another year to
do even more good work. Caroline is rapt. CITTI is a better
organisation for having Te Kowhai as part of the team and
we're thrilled that she is returning to complete another year
with us.
TEACHING THE TEACHERS VISTA / 11

Along for the ride

VSA volunteer Tony Bovill and Timor-Leste microlets.

Volunteering abroad offers people a

chance to become immersed in another
culture, change lives, and have their own
lives changed in return. But what about the
spouses and partners who up sticks with
their loved ones to somewhere where they
may not even speak the language?
For Tony Bovill, his time in Timor-Leste as an accompanying
partner has been a great experience: You could write a book!
It has certainly been a life-changing experience that I am so
grateful to VSA to have had, he says.
One of Tonys side lines is his role as microlet guru. Hes
become the go-to for learning how to navigate the sometimes
baffling system of small vans that comprise Timors public
transport system. I travel the length of Dili twice daily and so
using microlets is my mode of transport. Over the time that
I've been here I've learnt where to 'change' from one route to
another, says Tony.

Mike Tate, whos accompanying his partner Pauline Dennehy

in the Cook Islands, agrees. Get involved with the partner
organisations, with the locals, and with the community. Put
yourself out there. Ive found sports, especially waka ama, to
be a good way to get involved and meet the locals.
Id been a kayaker before I came here and when I got here
I joined a waka ama team. They had an international event
and a couple of evenings a week would do training. There
was a junior competition between different schools that had a
programme of six weeks prep, so Id come down to the lagoon
and coach kids from Tereora College, says Mike. It was just
about giving them the technique and then helping through
the regatta over a couple of days. Working with the kids was
a really good way to meet with locals.

You could write a book it's

been so life changing.
From showing visiting relatives and friends around the sites
of Dili, which I did by microlet, its grown to becoming a
part of new VSAers induction and introduction to Dili. I've
also taken embassy staff from both the New Zealand and
Australian embassies and the spouses of New Zealand Police
and Army people based here.
Tonys advice for would-be microleteers is plain-spoken: Start
by joining and alighting from the street level and not from the
footpath otherwise you're bound to crack your skull!
Fortunately, his advice for accompanying partners comes
in warmer tones. I'd recommend enclosed sandals, a
broadbrimmed hat, a camera and, most importantly a sense
of humour, adventure, common sense and empathy and you'll
love it.
12 / ALONG FOR THE RIDE VISTA

Top: Mike Tate watering plants. Below: Waka ama training.

Connecting People Transforming Lives

Helen Reynolds in Timor-Leste

Helen Reynolds was a successful artist in Wellington when
she and her husband decided they needed to try something
different and altruistic and volunteered for VSA. It wasnt
without trepidation: giving up a comfortable life somewhere
you know for a lot of unknowns isnt for the faint-hearted.
Her husband Alistair chose to volunteer with the Institute for
Business Development, a government body based in Dili. As
part of the VSA pre-assignment process, Helen went along
and received all the same briefings and help as her partner.
In Timor-Leste, Helen spent the first couple of weeks with
Alistair learning the local language, then buying a motorbike
and getting used to the local road culture. Theres a lot to do
setting up a home and having someone else able to go out and
find those hard to find items was a real help.
It wasnt long though before a local cooperative group caught
her eye and being in-country meant she could try before
you buy going along to meet the local people who ran the
centre and having a chat with them. It turned out to be a
good fit between the experience Helen had in the art market
of Wellington, and the need for the local cooperatives to make
their goods appealing to the mixed marketplace of Dili. Helen
now formally volunteers with the HAFOTI cooperative.
When asked what fills her day, Helen replies, surprises

because you never really know what is going to happen. On

paper, Helens day consists of things ranging from basic financial
literacy training to designing labels or advising new cooperative
members, but she's always prepared for the unexpected to
happen.
Helen has also been amongst the first volunteers in Timor-Leste
to e-volunteer. She will be mentoring from New Zealand for a
few months re-designing the website, designing new packaging,
and bringing samples of body scrub back to investigate other
markets.
See the story below for a more in-depth look at the Hafoti corporative.

VSA volunteer Helen Reynolds with the soy milk production team, Timor-Leste.

for ways to improve their business and find other products.

In the cooler hill climate they can grow soybeans, and thanks
to the donation of a soybean press and training on how
to use and maintain it, they have just started to produce
soybean milk. Timor-Leste has some of the highest rates of
child malnutrition in the world, and cheap, locally produced
protein sources are hard to find.

Part of the soy milk process, Timor-leste. Photographer: Helen Reynolds.

Hafoti Womens Co-operative

by VSA volunteer Alex Wilson

In the hills overlooking Dili is the Aileu womens cooperative.

With around 30 members of all ages, they make up a
significant proportion of this small farming community. The
cooperative provides a job and income in an area with very
few alternative ways of making a living. It sells a number
of products including a salt body scrub and cassava chips.
Both do well in Dili, an hour and a half away down a sharply
twisting road. All the profits come back up the same road to
the cooperative members and their families.
As with any business, the cooperative needs to keep looking

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After the beans have been through the extraction process

and the milk sent off to be sold, the remains get recycled in
the local recycling plants the small black pigs who wander
up and down the steep landscape here. Nothing is wasted
during production: milk that doesnt pass the quality standards
also goes to the pigs. The milk that does is sold to local
schoolchildren by the cooperative members, who are already
thinking of ways to expand their range by adding flavouring
from a nearby vanilla farm, which also happens to be a
cooperative.
Developing this new product line demanded experience with
the type of machine to buy, and knowledge of how best to
extract the milk. Fortunately, because they are part of a larger
cooperative, theyve been able to get advice from a Caritasfunded food technologist brought in from New Zealand to
help local groups. Spreading the cost across many cooperatives
makes this affordable.
VSA volunteer Helen Reynolds has been working on the
production, marketing and packaging of the milk. Other
advice comes from Hamahon Feto Timor, or HAFOTI,
which in the local language means to stand up. This local
NGO supports groups in seven districts. VSA has supported
HAFOTI with five volunteer placements over the years and
has been a big part of their expansion.

ALONG FOR THE RIDE VISTA / 13

Sexual health in Vanuatu

Left to right: Oscar, Nellie, Lonia, VSA volunteer Bronwyn Hale, Eddy and Rose in Vanuatu. Photographer: Kalena Jordan.

Huge boxes of chocolate-flavoured

condoms may not be the first thing you
think of when you think of Vanuatu, but in
Bronwyn Hale's office, they could be the
first thing you see.

achieved together. Its really a blessing that she came.

Bronwyn did a very good job with the funding. She worked
through the negotiations and we now have the funds, and we
are the first to be doing this, and were doing a great job.

Sexual health work doesnt just pay off in terms of individual

gains: by promoting family planning, communities will be
better able to prepare for the future. Bron says Vanuatus
In a country where 57 percent of the population are under 25,
youth bulge calls for action. In another fifty years those
and 22 percent of people who are tested have chlamydia an
youth will be ageing. Theres a need for some forward
STI which can cause long-term health problems including
planning for this cohort as that happens.
infertility and blindness the work Bron is doing with the
Vanuatu Family Health Association to train nurses and get
funding for sexual health programmes is critical.
Its about working with professionals who are very receptive to
most methods of family planning, including condoms. If the
people on the ground who are doing the work are on board,
the first step is taken. But were also working with community
leaders. We dont just need the skills and experience, we need
the buy-in, says Bron. We work with the nurses and with
the leaders.

It's a blessing Bronwyn came

we're doing a great job!.
Bronwyn unboxing condoms in Vanuatu. Photographer: Kalena Jordan.

After that its about access. Thats why we use distribution sites
such as nakamal (bars and drinking spots). Its mostly male
Where Ive just been for the last two weeks, money isnt
condoms because theres still some skepticism for hormonal
important. But a roof over your head and vegetables in the
forms of contraception. Condoms are a bit more tangible and
garden are and thats work that the youth are responsible for
not just about contraception theyre key to reducing STIs.
in their communities. Which is why we really make it clear
in training that contraception is about family planning, not
Brons just got back from training village nurses in some of
family stopping.
Vanuatus more remote provinces. These nurses are often the
only medical presence for miles. These nurses get help to the
people who need it. Like the woman who has to catch a boat
to get to the nearest health centre because shes got a 1.5kg
baby who needs care from qualified professionals, if it survives
of Vanuatu's
the journey.
population is
This training is a critical part of Brons assignment. Her
under 25.
colleague Julie Aru is immensely proud of what they have
14 / SEXUAL HEALTH IN VANUATU VISTA

Connecting People Transforming Lives

Rebecca Vella-King

Neelum Patel

Jared Linnell

Bougainville Univols
VSA Univols (left to right) Rebecca Vella-King, Neelum Patel and Jared Linnell on the Rotokas trail in Bougainville.

Fifteen years after Bougainville's brutal

conflict ended, the country is ready for
a new chapter. In conjunction with the
government of Papua New Guinea, a
referendum on its future political status is
planned for 2019.
With the new beginning comes hope, and that hope is
tangible when VSA UniVol volunteer Neelum Patel talks
about her work at the Nazareth Centre teaching young
Bougainvillean women English, maths and sport.
Id love to come back in a few years to see the girls that
Im teaching, their confidence going up, and to see them
succeeding in their business, she says, just to know they
have the confidence to know they can do anything. Theyll
have their personal independence.
Fellow UniVol volunteer Rebecca Vella-King speaks with
the same feeling. Bougainville was my first choice for an
assignment, she says. When I was quite young we had a
Bougainvillean woman, Josephine, stay with us for a few
days while she was promoting her book. I was six and didnt
really understand what an incredible person she was but
when I was a bit older I read her book and was amazed by
her experiences and her strength. One of the great things
Ive done here is manage to catch up with her a few times.
Rebeccas part of a small team establishing a new
environment bureau. Its such an exciting place to be in
terms of setting up the government and the referendum,
she says. It can be frustrating but you really get to know
people here and I feel a bit closer to people's real lives. It
feels very safe and very friendly.
Bougainville has a real sense of community and a collective
will to build a new nation that has captured Neelums heart.
Id never even heard of the place I remember going to the
[UniVol] briefing and I was like where is that? Its been
amazing I cant imagine being anywhere else now.
For both volunteers one of the most memorable experiences
was visiting a remote village in Sisivi. As Neelum describes

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it, Going up to the village I cant even explain it, it was

incredible and so beautiful that I dont even feel like it was
real now. It was like a dream.
It was awesome, says Rebecca, because when youre
travelling as a women sometimes things can be a little
restricted, but on that day a couple of village women took
me under their wing and taught me how they cooked and
lived and even let me record them singing. It left me feeling
really privileged.
Jared Linnell is another UniVol volunteer in Bougainville.
Hes been project-managing a government website that has
just recently gone live at www.abg.gov.pg
The day-to-day difficulties of putting together a complex IT
project in adverse circumstances have been more than made
up for by his experiences. The community bonds within
the VSA community here are really strong and with the
locals too.

There's a lot of people really

excited to present their
country to the world.

Theres a lot of eagerness in the leadership, in the

government, to bring Bougainville back into the world, he
says, Its part of a necessarily slow healing process since
the crisis and I think theres a lot of people really excited to
present their country to the world.
For me its been a really special experience to be able to
contribute to that, through the website which will help
connect Bougainville. I think its something very special to
look back on.
The UniVol programme is a collaboration between VSA
and Auckland, Massey, Otago and Victoria Universities.
Students studying Geography or Development can
apply for a 10-month assignment.

BOUGAINVILLE UNIVOLS VISTA / 15

Getting the groundwork right

VSA volunteer Bruce Johnson, Minoru Nishi, VSA volunteer Kerry Killorn and VSA partnerships officer Bridget Cassie in Tonga. Photographer: Rory Harden.

To grow a successful export market you

need a steady supply of product and
consistent quality. Its something that
Tongas agricultural sector was struggling
to achieve, but with the care and persistent
work of VSA volunteer Bruce Johnson, and
the backing of the Nishi Foundation, thats
quickly changing.
Working with Nishi, Bruce has spent the last year
implementing a model for training and educating fruit and
vegetable farmers in everything from basic bookkeeping to
animal welfare and soil science. The project, the Farmers Field
School, includes a series of handbooks produced by Bruce.
Its already had success with students improving their farming
practices and, in one instance, opening a nursery growing and
selling vegetable seedlings.

and forth, and of course there were transport and weather

difficulties, and we had to do a lot of work in Tongan it was
difficult for me as I didnt read or speak it.
This is Bruces third assignment as a VSA volunteer, and with
his now extensive experience hes got very good advice for
people wanting to volunteer in Tonga. Its a very easy place
to volunteer, theres always electricity and water, and you can
generally get what you need when you need it.
As straightforward as Tonga can be for an assignment,
theres still a lot of good work that can be done to grow
capacity and make meaningful change. Another student of
the Field School, Malia Feleti, says the project has been a
great opportunity. I would like to thank everyone for this
opportunity to participate in this training because it will be
useful for my family, society and me in the future.

One student, Leopino Lakalaka, says the course has been a

revelation. I am 65 years old and what I knew about farming
in the past was just to provide food on the table for the
family, friends and relatives, he says. I've learned that this
knowledge I have from this training will help me be a good
farmer and that I can make money from the crops I plant.

the project has been a

great opportunity.
Thats the kind of result that has led to plans to expand the
programme from its homebase of Eua to every part of Tonga.
Bruce says this is the legacy he wants to leave from his time as
a volunteer. Ill be pleased to see these farmers schools rolled
out throughout Tonga. I think its a really good programme
and it really fits Tonga, and that will happen every farmer
should be able to access one of these schools.
The project has not been without challenges, though. Theres
some difficulty in working on an offshore island: we had
to be really organised and coordinated in terms of the back
16 / GETTING THE GROUNDWORK RIGHT VISTA

Tindall / VSA volunteer Kerry Killorn at the vet clinic in Tonga.

Tonga's Vet, Kerry Killorn

Kerry Killorns assignment has crossed over with Bruces a few
times, and theyre great mates. Kerrys currently the only vet in
Tonga, and in the course of his time there hes not only helped
out with the Field School, but with two Tindall Foundation
grants provided through VSA's long-standing partnership with
Connecting People Transforming Lives

the Foundation, hes been able to upgrade the veterinary clinic

hes been working out of, start improving pasture for feed,
and training for pest and animal management. The Tindall
Foundation grants have been of enormous importance, he
says, and the results of these grants will be present for a long
time to come.
Along with some assistance from local business people and
concerned residents, the first grant has enabled us to turn the
veterinary clinic into a functional small animal hospital which
cares for hundreds of animals each month. Volunteer vets and
vet nurses from SPAW (South Pacific Animal Welfare), who
provide week-long veterinary clinics to Tonga and other Pacific
nations, now base their clinics at this site and have a really
good relationship with the staff. Theyre talking about making
more regular visits because they have been so successful.

working with the local people at their pace and with what they
have available to them at the time.
Its an approach that has seen Bruce make some significant
changes and build strong relationships with locals. Providing
support, training and mentoring to staff and watching them
grow in self-esteem and confidence as time goes on has been a
huge highlight of my time here, he says, and I have had the
pleasure of meeting and working with some people whom I
greatly respect and admire.

50% of Tonga's
workforce relies
on agriculture
for income or
subsistence.

As with Bruce, part of Kerrys success has been patience

and persistence. His advice? Dont get excited about the
big projects that are planned to happen and the large-scale
changes you would be able to make. Just concentrate on

Not a pipe dream

VSA/World Vision volunteer Trevor Gatland with members of the Luli Luno community, Timor-Leste.

We were at at Luli Luno a village so

remote you have to walk to it and got
their water system going. Just seeing the joy
from the community at having water on tap
was really something else. I knew it would
be a good moment, but I really didnt
realise how good.
Thats Trevor Gatland talking about one of the highlights of
his assignment advising a World Vision Water, Sanitation
and Hygiene (WASH) programme in Timor-Leste. Hes been
on assignment for a year and a half now, helping build local
infrastructure to bring water to villages via community taps.
The project has helped change peoples lives. Rather than
spending hours fetching water, village people have time to
grow food or work on education. But those changes havent
always been permanent.
Some previous water projects have had build quality problems
which meant they havent lasted as long as they should. Part
of my assignment as a qualified plumber has been to improve

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product knowledge and trade skills like fabrication. Thats the

secret to building infrastructure that will last.
Trevor advises a team of five. These guys are smart. Theres
the project coordinator, Angelo Ximenes, whos a mechanical
engineer, and has a couple of water projects under his belt.
Hes 27, and there are four technical facilitators essentially
their foremen. They work with the communities to get them
to fabricate the work and ensure that its built as per design.
Its a good team that does good work. Weve really improved
on the longevity of these projects this infrastructure will be
there for decades.
Trevors back in New Zealand for a couple of weeks. Ive
found that having done this work in Timor, it does change
you while Ive been back I feel like theres a calmness about
life that Timor has given me.
Early in my assignment I spoke with an old freedom fighter
who talked about his long fight for his country, he described
what were doing as bringing freedom to people. Thats stuck
with me.
Unsurprisingly Trevor is keen to take on another assignment
in the future.
NOT A PIPE DREAM VISTA / 17

Althea Lambert

Martin Child

Advancing Gender Justice

UN Women / VSA volunteer Althea Lambert in Timor-Leste.

All too often, women and girls carry the

heaviest load: they're more likely to be
poor, less likely to be represented in their
country's government.

UN Women / VSA volunteer Martin Child in Fiji. Photographer: Murray Lloyd.

their obligations to the UNs Convention on the Elimination

of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
That means helping them report on and assess their legal
and social status regarding gender justice, then meet the
recommendations that come back from the United Nations.

When women are involved in leadership and decision-making, It can be a long process, but as Martin says, When we get
significant policy or legislative change, its obviously really
and when girls get the same access to education as boys, the
rewarding.
entire country benefits with better social, environmental and
economic development outcomes.
One of the big issues is discriminatory legislation theres
Pacific countries have some of the lowest rates of participation a lot of outdated legislation particularly in terms of sexual
assault, and not recognising rape within marriage. Often, just
by women in parliament and local government in the world.
getting
a sexual assault from police to courts to prosecution
There are actually more Tongan women MPs in New Zealands
can
be
incredibly
difficult.
Parliament (two) than in Tonga's (none). To quote UN
Women, This absence of women in decision-making and
Our struggles are the same
leadership in the Pacific is largely a result of negative gender
stereotypes, encouraged by socio-cultural norms and processes
... and our joys.
such as inherently biased justice structures and systems.
Two VSA volunteers taking big steps to build a culture that
is more accepting of womens rights and improving justice
systems in the Pacific are Althea Lambert and Martin Child.
Althea has recently started her assignment in Timor-Leste
working as part of UN Womens End Violence Against
Women programme. If women and children cannot live free
from violence, the economic health of a country is severely
compromised and for a new vibrant nation like Timor-Leste,
this spells disaster, she says.
And there is clearly a problem: in Timor-Leste two out of
three women have experienced either physical or sexual
violence in their lifetime.
But to implement significant social change, the legal tools
need to be in place. As Althea notes, In 2010, Timor-Lestes
Law Against Domestic Violence was passed, and this gave the
long-awaited leverage for violence prevention interventions to
be planned for and budgeted for at national level. It signalled
that impunity for perpetrators was no longer acceptable.
Getting laws like that in place is what drives Martin Child.
Hes based in Fiji but works around the Pacific at the
parliamentary and civil leadership level to help nations meet
18 / ADVANCING GENDER JUSTICE VISTA

In the face of such overwhelming challenges it could be easy

to despair, but the people that Martin works with are a source
of immense inspiration. When we get together in a room
with advocates from the community and the government
and they all want the same thing, and they've been pushing
for it long before I came and will keep doing it long after I
leave when I see that level of dedication, passion and sheer
persistence, I always walk away a little bit less cynical and a
little bit more hopeful.
Nearly 6,000 kilometres away, Althea echoes that sentiment.
I came to Timor-Leste to do this job working for women,
for gender equality and to help take us forward from being
stuck in the circles of abuse and violence, of suffering and
harm. We work together, side by side. Our struggles are the
same and our joys.

5.5% of Pacific
Parliamentary seats
are held by women.
(not including NZ, Australia and the French Territories)

Connecting People Transforming Lives

Ensuring availability and sustainable

management of water and sanitation for all
is one of the Sustainable Development Goals
agreed on at the UN General Assembly in
September 2015.

Can you imagine

a life without safe
water to drink?
WASH is international
development speak for
Water, Sanitation and
Hygiene projects.

A group of children carry empty plastic containers down to their water source to fill up and clean
themselves at the same time Tanna, Vanuatu. Photographer: VSA / World Vision volunteer Peter Brown.

Women and girls benefit the most from clean water.

They are most likely to be the ones spending time
collecting water for their families which means
they miss out on an education. and thus lack the
opportunity to make a living, as well as being likely to
get sick with water related diseases. Additionally, girls
will often drop out of school because of the lack of
private sanitation facilities.

In many Pacific countries where

VSA works, many people do not
have access to clean water. For
example in Timor-Leste 28 percent
of the population dont, in Papua
New Guinea thats a staggering
60% of the population, and in
Kiribati it is more than a third.
Timor-Leste population

28% NO access
to clean water

This year:
4,541 people across the Pacific have been provided
with new or improved access to drinking water or
sanitation facilites by VSA volunteers and local partners
working together. In the next 12 months we are planning
more WASH projects.
What your donation means
By supporting VSA volunteers you are helping us to
work to work with communities to ensure more people
across the Pacific have better access to water. You will
be part of a global effort to working to end extreme
poverty by 2030.
Donate online vsa.org.nz/donate

Kiribati population

33% NO access
to clean water

Papua New Guinea population

60% NO access
to clean water

Sources: Water: At What Cost? The State of the Worlds Water 2016, Water Aid.

Inspiring
Change

New Zealanders
making a lasting
positive difference
in the world

Become a volunteer
VSA has over 100 volunteer vacancies available each year
for New Zealanders to share their skills and knowledge with
communities and organisations already striving for change.
Our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds,
from small business mentors, lawyers, teachers, IT
specialists, engineers and eco-tourism operators.

Support VSA

Find out more

Make a donation. Its a gift

that will keep on giving
because the programmes
that VSA volunteers help
put in place will continue to
have a profound impact after
they leave.

Our volunteers all have

stories to tell. When you visit
www.vsa.org.nz to see our
vacancies or to donate, read
about the work theyre doing
every day to create a better
future for all of us.

24
/ MALIANA NIGHTS VISTA
www.vsa.org.nz

VSA covers flights

accomodation,
insurance & some
expenses. A living
allowance is also
provided.

VSA Online:

Call:

0800 872 8646