VSAs window on the world of development issue one 2012

If you've finished reading this copy of Vista please pass it on to someone else so they can enjoy our news.

- Tena koutou o - Te Tuao Tawahi

Volunteer Service Abroad works with people in the wider Pacific adding the skills and energy of New Zealanders to strengthen communities striving for change.

Kia ora
As we began planning our 50th anniversary celebrations earlier this year, I found myself wondering how many volunteers had set off on assignment since I started my job in 2004. A quick check of our database came up with a figure of 458 volunteers and 28 accompanying partners, of whom 83 are currently on assignment. Another 20 are scheduled to leave in the next few months. For me, it was a good way of getting my head around what VSA has achieved since 1962. If the many extraordinary volunteers I have been lucky enough to meet during eight years can achieve so much, its hardly surprising that VSA has been so successful over the past 50 years. A 50th anniversary is a great opportunity to celebrate the past, and to think about what lies ahead. Its also been a chance for us to reflect on what makes VSA the organisation it is today. When we first started sorting through our archive of volunteer photographs to select images for our anniversary exhibition, Windows to Another World, it was tempting to focus on how much had changed over the last 50 years. Our younger staff were amused by the big hair and shoulder pads sported by our 1980s volunteers. Those of us who are a little older were surprised to see young male school leavers from the 1960s wearing suits and ties. We all had a laugh at the flares and maxi skirts from the 1970s. But as we narrowed down the selection of photographs a number of common themes began to emerge, whatever decade the photo came from. These eventually became the five themes that have shaped Windows to Another World Work, Learn, Play, Belong and Eat. For me, these five themes encapsulate what VSA is all about. Like any organisation, VSA has changed over the last 50 years. In the early days our volunteers taught in classrooms or filled hands-on roles in agriculture. T oday, they are experienced professionals who share their skills and knowledge to achieve exceptional things with our partners. But our core values are still the same and it is by adhering to these values that we continue to work with our partners to achieve lasting change. This is the last time I will write in Vista. I am finishing my job as CEO at the end of July. Like many of our volunteers Im ready to create some new challenges for myself. The Council is now in the process of selecting a new CEO. I wish my successor all the best he or she is lucky to be joining such a wonderful organisation.

About VSA
VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad) is a homegrown Kiwi volunteering organisation and has placed more than 3,500 skilled New Zealanders on volunteer assignments overseas since 1962. We recruit ordinary New Zealanders to achieve exceptional work with our partner organisations. Our work is locally identified, locally relevant and locally delivered. We are an independent charity and are non-governmental, non-religious and non-political.

Become a VSA volunteer

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

Become a VSA supporter

We send people not money, but we need money to send people. Visit www.vsa.org.nz to donate or to find out about becoming a VSA member.

Join a local VSA branch

Phone 0800 VSA TO GO (0800 872 8646) for details of the branch nearest you.
- Te Tuao Tawahi Volunteer Service Abroad Inc is a registered charity (CC36739) under the Charities Act 2005

Deborah Snelson, CEO

- Te T- ao Tawahi Volunteer Service Abroad u

Patron: His Excellency Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Jerry Mateparae GNZM, QSO, Governor-General of New Zealand President: Gavin Kerr, QSO Kaumatua: Awi Riddell (Ngati Porou), QSM Council Chair: Farib Sos, MNZN Council members: Don Higgins (Deputy Chair), Professor Tony Binns, Susan Hinkley, Dr Simon Mark, Evan Mayson, Sandy Stephens MNZN Chief Executive Officer: Deborah Snelson - Te Tu ao Tawahi Volunteer Service Abroad, 32 Waring Taylor St, PO Box 12246, Wellington 6144 AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND Tel: 64 4 472 5759 Fax: 64 4 472 5052 Email: vsa@vsa.org.nz Website: www.vsa.org.nz - Vista is the official magazine of Te Tuao Tawahi Volunteer Service Abroad Incorporated. Please note that views expressed in Vista are not necessarily the views of VSA. Editorial and photographic submissions to the magazine are welcome. Please address all queries and submissions to the Editor, Vista, at the address above. Please ensure all material is clearly marked with your name and address. VSA. All rights reserved. ISSN 1176-9904 Reproduction of content is allowed for usage in primary and secondary schools, and for tertiary studies. Vista is printed on environmentally responsible paper. It is chlorine free and manufactured using farmed eucalyptus trees.

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.

10 4 9 14
2 CoNVSAtIoN News, views and
happenings

contents
Vista issue one 2012

4 FeAture Ruth Nichol talks

to a mother and daughter who volunteered 44 years apart.

7 From the Field VSA volunteer

Leigh Joyce profoundly affected one mans life.

8 From the Field Bill Hardie

reflects on his early morning walks in Dili.

9 From the Field Janna Candy

is impressed by the can-do attitude of farmers in Bougainville.

10 FeAture VSAs programme

in Cambodia ends after 20 years.

12 GrowING Support The latest

news from our fundraising team.

14 Photo exhibition Dates and

locations for our 50th anniversary exhibition.

Vista issue one 2012

CoNVSAtIoN

Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cooks Polynesian Navigator

By Joan Druett (Random House New Zealand, 2012) Reviewed by Peter Swain

ancient knowledge. So precise was Tupaias dead reckoning, and so retentive his memory, at any moment, day or night, he was able to point accurately to the position of Tahiti. At one point he drew from memory a chart showing all the major island groups from the Marquesas to Fiji. Cook took Tupaia on his voyage south. Tupaia spoke directly to Maori who understood him perfectly. His name and story survives in Maori oral tradition. He was the first Polynesian to visit Australia. Tupaia was Cooks navigator, interpreter, translator, adviser, and intermediary in a clash of cultures. Tupaia died in Batavia, todays Jakarta, his contributions to Cooks expedition unacknowledged. His story was lost for over 200 years. Joan Druett, a maritime historian, has researched and written the remarkable story of Tupaia. This is a powerful narrative of first contact, cultural misunderstandings and appropriation. Peter Swain is VSAs International Programme Manager

On 6 October 1769 Nicholas Young spied the East coast of Aotearoa New Zealand from the masthead of the HMS Endeavour under the command of Captain James Cook. Cooks own journals and charts, and the many later accounts of his voyages of discovery across the Pacific, have established his reputation as the greatest European navigator of his era. But there was an earlier tradition he drew on, a tradition that Cook failed to acknowledge. In April 1769 Cook had arrived in Tahiti. At Raiatea he met Tupaia an arii, a high-born chief. Tupaia had trained as a star navigator, a way-finder, the inheritor of the long tradition of Polynesian navigation. He navigated Cook around the islands, sharing his

The arrival of Alison Turner as country programme manager in Bougainville in March means that VSAs five in-country staff are all now women. Alison, a two-time volunteer, took over from Murray Benbow, who is happily settling back into life in New Zealand One thing Im really enjoying is the New Zealand weather. For Alison, getting used to island life has been remarkably easy when shes not working for VSA she lives on the Chatham Islands. A lot of things actually work better here than they do in the Chathams, she says. In January, Alexa Funnell (below) replaced Steve Hamilton as country programme manager in the Solomon Islands. Alexa, who previously worked as a programme officer in VSAs Wellington office, is enjoying the diversity of culture within the Solomon Islands and the varied, interesting and challenging workload. I often think back to what we tell volunteers at briefings about being flexible, adaptable and patient, and try to practice this myself. Steve is now living in Wellington, working for MFAT on the Papua New Guinea desk. Alison and Alexa join our other overseas-based country programme managers, Hannah Stewart in Papua New Guinea, Karen Horton in Timor-Leste and Diane Thorne-George in Vanuatu. Keeping up the side for men is Polynesia programme manager Junior Ulu (above). However, while Junior travels regularly to Samoa and Tonga, at this stage he is still based in Wellington.

Girls can do anything

VSA Project Friendships ambassador for 2012, hip-hop and soul artist Ladi6, has a special connection with VSA. As a teenager she spent a year living in Tanzania where her parents, Vic and Losa Tamati, worked as VSA volunteers. In fact, it was while she was living in Tanzania that Ladi learned how to play the guitar and wrote her first song. Project Friendship 2012 runs from 612 August, and this years event is shaping up to be our most successful yet. As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, Project Friendship 2012 features a photo competition in which entrants have to take a photo that demonstrates friendship through sharing skills and helping each other. The lucky winner will get a digital camera worth more than $300. For more information about Project Friendship 2012, go to www.vsa.org.nz/what-you-can-do/schools-and-youth

Our Ladi of Friendship

Vista issue one 2012

CoNVSAtIoN

For Katy Buess spending two years living in Vanuatu was a formative experience both personally and as an artist. The Invercargill printmaker originally went to Vanuatu in 2008 as an accompanying partner with her husband Rob Wait. She then became a volunteer in her own right, working as an art programme adviser at Stade medium security prison in Port Vila. Since returning to New Zealand she has found herself incorporating Melanesian colours and designs into her work. Being in Vanuatu had a huge influence on me, she says. It has also taken me in a new direction; although I still do a lot of printmaking I have also started making paper sculpture based on salusalu the garlands that NiVanuatu make out of leaves. Katy has donated three of her prints to VSA to help with our 50th anniversary fundraising activities. Two of them Laebri (library) and Kenu (canoe) are prizes in the VSA 50th anniversary raffle. The third, Kapkap Long Tingting Blong Mi (kapkap of my imagination) will be auctioned at the volunteer reunion dinner being held at Congress on 10 November. First prize in the 50th anniversary raffle is flights for two to Vanuatu and seven nights accommodation at Warwick Le Lagoon and Spa in Port Vila. Raffle tickets are available through VSA branches or at the 50th anniversary photo exhibition, Windows to Another World. To view the prints go to Katy Buess website www.swisters.com Like most graphic designers, VSAs designer Alana McCrossin loves typography and shes always on the lookout for new and unusual typefaces. Over the last couple of years shes been collecting photos of hand-painted signs taken by our volunteers and storing them in a folder on her computer called Typography from the field. I really like how quirky the signs are, and that they are so laboriously painted onto buildings and shop fronts that are often old or crumbling down, she says. Alana was sure the photos would come in handy one day and she was right. Hand-painted lettering from six of the signs feature in VSAs 50th anniversary photo exhibition, Windows to Another World, which opens in Wellington on 6 June. Alana has used the lettering to create the display fonts for the main headings in the exhibition including a font created from the lettering in the Tanzanian sign pictured above. Getting the hand-painted lettering into a usable form was a time-consuming process. Alana enlarged the letters from the photographs, printed them out, then redrew them by hand, either by painting them freehand or by making stencils. She then scanned them back into her computer to create a set of unique fonts. You can see the results of Alanas hard work at the exhibition, which is being held in four cities during June and July. The dates and venues for Windows to Another World are:
Wellington 615 June Asteron Centre, cnr Featherson & Bunny St AucklAnd 1824 June Australis Room, Britomart, 36 Customs St East nelson 413 July Nelson Provincial Museum, cnr Trafalgar & Hardy St dunedin 1727 July Community Gallery, 20 Princess St

Images from Vanuatu

In January we appealed for stories and photos from our returned volunteers as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations. Weve had a great response so far. From diverting volcanic debris to teaching thermodynamics, from playing rugby to dealing with the Tongan biting centipede, our volunteers have kept themselves busy over the past 50 years. The then and now photos of the volunteers are entertaining too if you look closely enough you can see they are of the same person. If youd like to share your volunteering story or read stories from our alumni go to www.vsa.org.nz/blog/alumni-stories

Share your story

Vista issue one 2012

FeAture

A life-changing experience
A lot has changed about volunteering since VSAs early days. But as returned volunteers Sally Keeling and her daughter Alice tell Ruth Nichol, the satisfactions are the same now as they were in the 1960s.

A devastating hurricane hit Samoa on the day that Sally Mirams and her fellow school leaver volunteer Judy Paul set off from Apia for the village of Poutasi in January 1966. We had to walk the last bit as it was not possible to drive, recalls Sally (now Sally Keeling). The hurricane made our introduction to the village very chaotic we arrived to a half-destroyed school. In those pre-internet days it was several weeks before letters about the action-packed start to Sallys one-year VSA assignment at Falealili Junior High School reached her hometown of Dunedin, where it eventually made it into the local newspaper. Sallys mother also remained blissfully unaware of her 17-year-old daughters unexpected encounter with a hurricane until well after the fact. It was possibly just as well, given what happened when the two eventually did speak by telephone several months later. It was hopeless we couldnt hear each other, and my mother cried. Like VSAs other volunteers at that time, Sally and her mother had to communicate by letter, old-fashioned aerogrammes that could take up to six weeks to make their way between New Zealand and Samoa, and arrived in Poutasi by bus about once a week. If a letter didnt come I would feel a bit flat for about half an hour, says Sally. Fast-forward 44 years and blissful ignorance was no longer a possibility when Sallys daughter, Alice Keeling, set off on her own VSA adventure at the beginning of 2010.

MArch 1962

deceMber 1962

1964

A group of more than 50 people meet at Victoria University to discuss ways that New Zealanders can volunteer overseas. Out of that meeting, VSA is born.
noVeMber 1962

VSA starts advertising for volunteers.

FebruAry 1963

Sir Edmund Hillary is appointed VSA president and VSA moves into an office in Mulgrave Street.
July 1963

The VSA school leavers programme begins. Four school leavers are sent to Sarawak (Malaysia) and two to Samoa.
1965

Vista issue one 2012

VSA appoints its first staff member Bert Hall, former editor of The Dominion and director of the NZBCs Sound Broadcasting.

The first volunteers, Ivan and Molly Short, take up an assignment with the New Zealand mobile medical unit in Thailand.

VSA starts working in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Brunei.

1966

VSA extends its programmes into Nepal, Indonesia and Kiribati.

FeAture

The pair emailed regularly, and Skyped every couple of weeks during the 10 months Alice spent as a special needs programme assistant with Callan Services for Persons with Disabilities in Papua New Guinea. Alice was slightly older than her mother had been when she began her UniVol assignment, and she had just finished a BA in development studies at Victoria University. She had also spent a year living and volunteering in Germany and Britain after she left school. Even so, Sally admits that she had some anxious moments while her daughter was living in PNG. Of course I worried, she says. I was upset when Alice had a nasty bout of malaria, but being able to talk to her on Skype was certainly a reassurance.

For Alice, modern telecommunications did more than just make it easy for her to stay in touch with her family and friends while she was away. She says they also meant that Papua New Guinea in 2010 was a very different place from Samoa in 1966. Because of things like the internet, the people I worked with are much more connected to the rest of the world than the people my mother worked with in Samoa in the 1960s. That means they have different attitudes and a greater understanding of what is happening in other places. There were other differences too. While Alice shopped for food at the local market in Kokopo, Sally, who shared a flat with her fellow volunteer Judy Paul (now Judy Johnston) had her food delivered each week

courtesy of the families of students from the school. Sometimes their food basket came complete with a live chicken, much to Sallys alarm. Fortunately Judy was made of sterner stuff, and she took on the job of dispatching the chickens. I said to her You kill and Ill cook, recalls Sally. We had a pressure cooker to cook them in they werent very tender. For Sally, the year she spent in Samoa was the start of a long relationship with VSA. She was the first returned volunteer to be elected to the VSA Council, and she went on to become a VSA staff member. Since then, her working life has taken several different twists and turns she is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Otago,

1970

1974

1984

VSA moves to new premises in Pipitea Street. The first volunteer is sent to Papua New Guinea.
1972

VSA redefines itself as a development organisation, rather than simply an aid organisation.
1977

Sir Ron Trotter forms the VSA Foundation to help VSA raise 20 per cent of its annual budget.
1985

A volunteer is sent to Bangladesh.

1973

The first volunteer is sent to the Cook Islands.

1978

VSA starts working in Bhutan.

1986

The school leaver programme ends, reflecting the changing needs of partner countries.

The first volunteer goes to Tuvalu.

VSA begins its Africa programme, based in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Vista issue one 2012

FeAture

Keeping it in the family

When Alice Keeling went on a UniVol assignment in 2010 she joined several other families in which two generations have volunteered with VSA. Since then, the traffic has started to go the other way. Dunedin couple Roger and Judy Hogg, who finished their two-year assignments in South Africa late last year, became volunteers after their daughter Rachel spent a year in South Africa as a UniVol in 2008. She was so enthusiastic about her experience that we started looking online at VSA job possibilities, says Judy. Now VSA has chalked up another intergenerational milestone the first grandchild of a former VSA volunteer has recently become a volunteer. Nicola Fowlie (right) began her 10-month assignment as a tourism and hospitality assistant in Bougainville in April, 34 years after her grandparents, Stan and Norma Fowlie, headed off to spend two years with VSA in Tonga. Stan was on assignment with the Tupou Young Farmers Association and Norma (left) worked as a womens extension adviser. Shortly before she left New Zealand Nicola visited her grandmother now widowed and living in a retirement home in Tauranga and they reminisced about Normas experiences in Tonga. Nan is starting to have a few problems with her memory but she enjoyed telling me some stories about her time in Tonga. Nicola also typed up a collection of short stories Norma wrote after she returned from Tonga. They include a story titled Christmas 1978 Tongatapu, in which, much to Normas delight and astonishment, one of her adult sons turns up unexpectedly on a flight to Tonga from New Zealand. The son who turned up that Christmas was my father, Warrick, says Nicola.

Christchurch, specialising in ageing. But volunteering in all its forms has continued to be central to her life. That notion of service and of learning through experience really was a formative experience for me. Alices VSA experience is starting to shape her life too. The year she spent in Papua New Guinea helped confirm that she wants to become a teacher; she has recently finished a teacher training course in Christchurch. And like her mother, she feels profoundly grateful for having been able to have the extraordinary experience of being a VSA volunteer. It really is a chance to see another world, she says. After studying the theory of development studies it was such a privilege to be able to see local people taking ownership of what they do, and to see the grass roots approaches that really do work.

1987

1990

Tanzania is added to the Africa programme. The first volunteer is sent to Tokelau. VSA Programmes Unit is established and three regional programme managers appointed.

Three VSA volunteers are sent to work in Hong Kong teaching English in a refugee camp for Vietnamese boat people.
1991

the New Zealand government. VSA moves into an office in Molesworth Street.
1993

VSA starts working in South Africa.

1998

Volunteers are sent to Namibia.

1992

Vista issue one 2012

VSA starts working in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, supported by a coalition of New Zealand NGOs and

VSA starts working in Bougainville after the decade-long civil conflict comes to an end.

Peter Arwin outside the Arawa Health Centre.

Leigh Joyce examining turtle eggs with local children in Bougainville in 2001.

Leigh Joyce radio tracking kakapo on Hauturu/ Little Barrier Island in May this year.

Schooled for success

Most of us have had memorable teachers, but few of us could say that they had truly changed our lives. Peter Arwin, manager of the Arawa Health Centre in Bougainville, is one of the few who can. He says that his Year 9 maths and science teacher, VSA volunteer Leigh Joyce, had a profound effect on the future course of his life. If it wasnt for her I wouldnt be in the position I am today, he says. She laid the foundation without her I wouldnt have made it this far. It was 2001 and Peter, then aged 22, wasnt your usual first-year secondary school student. Neither were his classmates at Mabiri High I operated an open door policy, and many of them came at night for extra tuition some turned up even though they had malaria. School in Bougainville. They ranged in age from about 16 to 30, and they were all former combatants who had fought in the 10-year civil war in Bougainville. The conflict, which finished in 1998, had disrupted their education, but they were all keen to learn a quality that Leigh quickly recognised. They were all incredibly bright and motivated and amazingly dedicated, she recalls. I operated an open door policy, and many of them came at night for extra tuition some turned up even though they had malaria. When she first arrived in Bougainville with her partner, Richard Walle, who was a VSA volunteer based at Arawa Carpentry, Leigh intended to spend the year working on her PhD, a study of kakapo. Instead, she found herself teaching maths and science at Mabiri High School, a former boys agricultural college. Although not a trained teacher, she had taught briefly in

Samoa and Thailand, and had also done some university lecturing. Despite her academic background she found the Papua New Guinea examinations for maths and science surprisingly demanding. I remember reading through some of the national exam papers they had to sit and I found some of the questions really difficult to interpret in terms of what was required. Fortunately, Peter along with many of his classmates passed the exams. He went on to continue his secondary education at Bishop Wade High School, before studying applied science at Divine Word University in Papua New Guinea. He became manager of the Arawa Health Centre last year. As for Leigh, her life has remained largely island-based since she and Richard returned to New Zealand. They spent five years working for the Department of Conservation on Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds, and are now based on Little Barrier Island. And while Leigh has never returned to the classroom, she is still teaching. I home-school my two children using the Montessori and New Zealand curriculum. Theyre great students.

2002

2008

2012

The first VSA volunteers arrive in Timor-Leste.

2003

The first volunteer is sent to Zambia.

2010

VSA expands its short-term volunteering programme.

VSA moves into an office in Johnston Street.

2007

Victoria University joins the UniVol programme.

2011

The UniVol programme begins with eight students from Otago University. VSA moves into an office in Waring Taylor Street.

The VSA Council decides to focus VSAs work in the wider Pacific, and phase out the country programmes in Africa and Asia.

Vista issue one 2012

Top: A typical Dili smile. BoTTom: Red onions for sale at a market.

A boy carries produce down a Dili street.

Top: A satisfied microfinance customer. BoTTom: Bill Hardie with his colleagues.

City of smiles
For bill hardie the smiles he saw on early morning walks through Dili with his wife Julie reminded him how resilient the people of Timor-Leste are.
Julie and I went for a walk most mornings popular, but the risk of crocodiles and the at 6am as daylight arrives. Temperatures in knowledge as to where the sewerage ends up Dili at this time of day are a relatively cool was enough to dissuade us. 25 degrees. The neighbourhood is already On our walks we saw young boys with active, and most people greeted us with a large woven baskets full of fresh bread rolls smile and a bondia (good morning). (baked in wood-fired brick ovens), calling The morning activities are a reminder paun paun paun as they sold their wares. of the challenges many Timorese face on a At 10c per roll, these are a cheap and tasty daily basis. Take water for example. We were breakfast. Unfortunately the local children privileged to have a reasonably reliable water who are lucky enough to have any money supply to our house (though it was not of seem to prefer the deep-fried pastries and drinkable quality). Many people in Dili do doughnuts that are also on offer but a lot not, so they line up to fill plastic containers less healthy. at various places along the road often a Other boys push carts full of firewood dripping pipe in a storm drain to carry they have walked for miles from out in back to their house. Morning ablutions are the countryside to sell their small bundles. a challenge for many too, and we often saw Still more sell fresh fruit or vegetables and people walking along the road with a towel various other wares, eking out a meagre and a toothbrush, presumably to visit a living to assist their families. friend or family member who has a shower There is a rubbish collection system or at least a water supply. which works quite well teams of city Dili, which has a population of more than employees regularly pick up rubbish 200,000, has no sewerage system. Houses from concrete bins along the main streets. are supposed to have septic tanks, but few Generally the neighbourhood pigs and dogs do, and those that exist are not maintained give the garbage a good working over first and probably dont work. That means that an effective recycling system. Young boys in some areas there is evidence (visual and and old men can also often be seen working olfactory) of raw sewerage in the puddles through the piles searching for aluminium and streams. Swimming in the sea off Dili is cans and other items of value another
8 Vista issue one 2012

reminder of the deep poverty that still exists in this country. Work is being done to improve things; one morning, on one of our regular routes, we noticed a couple of new stainless steel water tanks with taps below, courtesy of Japan. But the scale of the task is enormous. Dilis public infrastructure (such that it was) was trashed during the Indonesian withdrawal after the independence referendum in 1999. The population is growing rapidly but the city lacks the skills and systems to build and maintain the basic utilities that we take for granted in New Zealand (well maybe we dont take them for granted anymore in our home town of Christchurch) There are huge opportunities for volunteers to make a difference in Timor-Leste. It was a privilege to be part of what is happening. This might all sound a bit depressing. But its not. The smiles on faces are genuine. The resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of the people is impressive. I worked as a finance team mentor at Moris Rasik, an NGO that provides microfinance services to the poor. Microfinance (loans, deposits and insurance) allows clients to start and grow small businesses and thus begin to climb out of poverty. It works. There are huge opportunities for volunteers to make a difference in Timor-Leste in many different fields. It was a privilege to be part of what is happening.

Top: Proud farmers show off their rice seedlings. BoTTom: Linda (left) & Janna arrive in Panguna.

Lawrence Legenda and his daughter show off their backyard garden.

Top: James Toroansi displays his book-keeping. BoTTom: Checking out the rice harvest.

Hungry for knowledge

Janna Candy was impressed by how a group of rural farmers in Bougainville made the most of the training provided by her partner organisation.
(IATP), delivering training courses to help When her shoes got too uncomfortable, Janna Candy took them off and walked rural farmers increase their productivity. barefoot just like the people who live in Jannas role as a VSA volunteer was to the isolated, mountainous area of Panguna help Linda and her colleague Pearla Buak in Bougainville. improve the way they collect and analyse I discovered theres a good reason why data about the training courses, and how they do it, which is that its much easier they present and report the data. to grip the ground with bare feet, says In late 2009, the IATP ran a series Janna, who walked for a total of 13 hours of training courses for farmers from the during an intrepid two-day journey through Panguna district site of the infamous the Panguna district with her colleague Panguna mine and still a no go zone Linda Ningo. On the first day we walked more than 10 years after the end of the over four mountains I have never felt so Bougainville crisis. The training was a first exhausted in my life. for many of the farmers, whose education But despite the exhaustion and the had been interrupted by the crisis. sore feet it was worth it. The trip was an And as Janna and Linda discovered amazing experience: Some of the people we when they arrived in Panguna to evaluate met told us that we were the first outsiders the results of the training, the farmers were that had come into their villages in 20 years. enthusiastic students. Armed with their More importantly, it was also a chance for new knowledge, they had set up backyard Janna and Linda to see for themselves the gardens, rather than growing their main remarkable impact that just a small amount crops in gardens a long distance from of training can have on people thirsty for their homes. knowledge. This means they have to make fewer long Janna and Linda spent two years working and back-breaking walks carrying heavy together in the monitoring and evaluation loads, and they dont have to make so many team at the Kairak Vudal Resource Centre overnight stays in their gardens. in East New Britain. The centre manages the Many had also started mulching, and Integrated Agricultural Training Programme using crop rotation including planting

legumes to improve the quality of their soil, and make their gardens more productive. They were incredibly enthusiastic about the changes they had made since the training, says Janna, who returned to New Zealand at the end of last year. Even more remarkable was the entrepreneurial spirit that the training had unleashed in some of the farmers. One man, James Toroansi, for example, had not only rehabilitated his cocoa block, he had also introduced ducks, pigs, inland fish farming and a canteen. He had made enough money to build a permanent house for his family and increase their standard of living. Others had embarked on projects such as making jam and growing spices and rice. They had also set up an integrated farmers group to share their experiences and help others benefit from their knowledge. It was an awe-inspiring experience, says Janna. I got the feeling that everyone was so hungry for knowledge that they really took what the training gave them and did amazing things.

Vista issue one 2012

The people are fun and engaging, and they respect you especially if youre a volunteer and a low income earner like them

Cambodia get back on its feet. They were based in the capital, Phnom Penh, or nearby Takeo and Svay Rieng provinces, and worked in a wide range of areas, from health and education to tourism and urban planning.

Chum riep leah Cambodia

VSAs last volunteer to Cambodia finished his assignment in March, marking the end of our 20-year programme there.
When Bev Wickham first arrived in Cambodia in 1992 a group of Khmer Rouge guerrillas were living in the hills behind Kus Commune where she worked as a nurse. They made regular night-time raids on the villages below, including one that killed the 18-year-old sister of Bevs counterpart Khom. It was a grim reminder of how dangerous Cambodia still was, even though it was officially at peace after 20 years of civil war. But spending two years as a primary health care adviser based in Takeo province gave Bev an insight into how people can retain their humanity despite being deeply traumatised. The Khmer people I worked with were so gentle and generous and friendly, even though they had nothing it was just incredible, she says. Bev was one of the first three volunteers to work in Cambodia when VSA began its programme there in 1992. They were part of a huge wave of foreigners who flooded into the country in the early 90s after the Paris Conference gave the UN the authority to initiate a ceasefire. Since then, more than 80 VSA volunteers have worked in Cambodia, helping to rebuild the war-torn country. By the time VSA arrived, Cambodia had few highly educated people left most had either been killed or had fled. Health and education services were almost nonexistent and many people were starving because rice crops were destroyed or simply left to rot in the fields. VSA volunteers played a small but important role in helping

More recently, a succession of volunteers have worked at the National Library in Phnom Penh, including our last volunteer in Cambodia, Tony Morine, who finished his assignment in March. The National Library was another casualty of the Khmer Rouge. They threw out and burned most of its books and bibliographic records and at one point used the building as a piggery. VSA volunteers worked alongside local librarians, helping them preserve what remained including a unique collection of palm leaf manuscripts and rebuild and catalogue a new collection. For VSA Council chair Farib Sos, the library project has a special significance. He spent many hours studying at the library before arriving at Victoria University as a Colombo Plan student in 1972. It now looks like the library I remember the chief librarian is really grateful for the work VSA has done. Many former VSA volunteers have maintained strong links with Cambodia. Some found paid work and stayed on after their VSA assignments had finished, including several who are still living there. A few even found love there, and married their Cambodian colleagues. We were just captivated by it, says Jan Nye who ended up spending five years in Cambodia with her husband Rob Joiner, three of them as VSA volunteers. The people are fun and engaging, and they respect you especially if youre a volunteer and a low income earner like them. According to VSA chief executive officer Debbie Snelson, working in Cambodia provided invaluable lessons about the reality of working in a post-conflict society. We have since gone on to work in similar countries. Working in Cambodia increased our understanding as an organisation about how long recovery takes and how things play out with rebuilding civil society. She says the success of the programme, especially over the last 11 years, can be partly attributed to Cee Chan, a Cambodian Kiwi who worked as VSAs field officer in Phnom Penh from 2001. Cee helped volunteers deepen their understanding about Cambodia and its culture, which in turn helped make their assignments all the more successful. He was a wonderful ambassador for VSA with a deep commitment to supporting Cambodias development.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Biology students from Phnom Penh University collecting water samples; A woman standing in a rice field; Books on the shelves of the Cambodia National Library; A monk greets the early morning; Cee Chan in his office; Bev wickham checks out a child in Kus Commune; A cyclo driver on the streets of Phnom Penh.

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Nicola Fowlie made and sold cupcakes in central Wellington on Valentines Day.

John Putt is organising a reunion concert of the bands that played at the legendary Putts Pub during the 80s and 90s.

Crafters at the Stampin Up day organised by Tee-Jay Horrall in Wanganui.

Annabel Normal (right) chats to David Wakelin at a tea party in Nelson in February. Annabel is now working as an adviser with the Festival of Pacifc Arts being held in Honiara in July.

Anna Blackwell and Marian Bland (right) at Ranfurly Manor.

Volunteers step up to the fundraising challenge

Recently selected volunteers are proving to be an inventive lot when it comes to fundraising for VSA before they leave to go on assignment.
Among the fundraising activities they have been involved in are a tea party in Nelson, a crafting day in Wanganui, and selling homemade cupcakes in central Wellington on Valentines Day. In the pipeline are a second crafting day, and a reunion concert of bands that once played at the legendary Twin Pines Tavern in the Bay of Islands during the 1980s. encouraged to raise $2,000, while those going on assignments of less than 12 months are encouraged to raise $1,000. Friends and families are pitching in with the fundraising. Tee-Jay Horrell, whose son Aaron is on 10-month assignment as a UniVol in Papua New Guinea, raised $850 for VSA at a crafting day in Wanganui in January, and she is running a second crafting day on 16 June.

the heady days of the pub he ran with his siblings at Haruru Falls in the Bay of Islands. Hes delighted with the response hes had so far, with most of the bands that played at Putts Pub during its heyday signing up to play at the reunion concert on 10 June. Were all still good mates, and I thought we could get one or two to do a concert. From there it was just a few short steps to having nearly all the musicians and permission to use the pub as a venue, says John. John leaves a week after the concert for the island of Ambae in Vanuatu, where he will work as a vocational training adviser at the Torgil Rural Training Centre. Marian Blands employers at Ranfurly Manor, a resthome in Feilding, didnt think twice when it came to supporting her fundraising efforts for VSA. Ranfurly Manor contributed a generous $1,000, and many of Marians colleagues, such as facility manager Anna Blackwell, have also made personal donations to her online fundraising account. We have 100 per cent faith that Marian will do a fantastic job in Timor-Leste, says Anna. I know they will recognise her skills once she gets over there. Marian left in May to start a six-month assignment as a business administration adviser with the East Timor Development Agency in Dili.

So far out-going volunteers have raised almost $40,000 since September last year I just love what Aaron is doing and its also and as an added bonus, their activities a good excuse for a girls get-together, are also helping to raise the profile of VSA. says Tee-Jay, who is an independent Im very impressed with what everyone is demonstrator for crafting company Stampin doing to reach their fundraising targets. By Up. I intend to run a fundraising day for getting so much support its really helping VSA each term this year. to make more people aware of the great work we do, says Karla Paotonu, VSAs So far out-going volunteers fundraising manager. Volunteer fundraising was introduced last year to help raise the independent funding VSA needs to keep its programme at the current level. Volunteers going on assignments of more than 12 months are

have raised almost $40,000 since September last year

For John Putt, fundraising for VSA has provided the perfect opportunity to relive

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From: to: subject: Hi Everyone

ndraising Manage Karla Paotonu, VSA Fu All VSA supporters Fundraising update

GROWING Support

exhibition, Windows to 50th anniversary photo arrangements for our lson and Dunedin. king the final o travel to Auckland, Ne As I write this we are ma n on 6 June. It will als o VSAs work over the opens in Wellingto a wonderful insight int Another World, which exhibition it provides ance to see the I do hope you get a ch them! Orbit past 50 years. tickets or a book of 50th anniversary raffle get to buy one of our the first prize airfares nt for donated While youre there, do r travel, has generously into a draw to win a anises all our voluntee more tickets you will go the company that org Travel, . If you buy 20 or nated by Orbit Travel. two people to Vanuatu ued at $900 also do and accommodation for e in the Wairarapa val s Wharekauhau Lodg night for two at luxuriou at lies ahead. Id ance to think about wh tone, and its a good ch our regular giving portant miles Getting to 50 is an im coming a member of e you to think about be und for another nity to urg sure that VSA stays aro like to take this opportu way of helping to make g.nz e; its a great r website, www.vsa.or programme, VSAfutur VSAfuture by visiting ou n find out more about to this 50 years. You ca nation form attached rk, you can use the do like to support our wo mp saves us the ud t a sta In the meantime, if yo the Freepost option bu st it to us you can use . Just fill it out and po page cost of postage! rt. Thanks for your suppo Karla karla Paotonu ger VSA Fundraising Mana www.vsa.org.nz

Karla Paotonu promotes VSA to festival goers at WOMAD in Marc h.

VSA hillary Club launched

To kick off our 50th anniversary celebrations we launched the VSA Hillary Club in February. Its a major donor club that honours the memory of our founding president, Sir Edmund Hillary. In return for their support VSA Hillary Club members have the opportunity to visit an in-country programme, meet recently returned volunteers and attend an annual lunch with other Hillary Club members.

Building a better life for Pacific families

The response to our March appeal has been fantastic weve raised more than $21,000 so far and donations are still coming in. This years March appeal focused on VSAs work helping people in the Pacific to become financially independent and build a better life for their families. It featured the work of volunteer Jacky Fuller who is working with the Small Business Enterprise Centre in Apia. At present, two thirds of people in Samoa live a subsistence lifestyle. Organisations like SBEC are helping them use local business opportunities to make a better life for themselves and their families.

To find out more about the VSA Hillary Club, or to become a member, contact Karla Paotonu 04 495 8526, kpaotonu@vsa.org.nz

Flight of the Christmas Kiwi

Our Christmas fundraising appeal raised just over $6500 the equivalent of 361 volunteer days. Those who donated to the Send a Kiwi this Christmas appeal received a plantable Christmas Kiwi Christmas decoration to send to their families and friends. During the appeal we made our first foray into selling online; well set up the VSA online shop again this Christmas.

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PHOTO :

Layne Stevenson

615 June weLLINGtoN Asteron Centre cnr Featherston & Bunny St 1824 June AUCKLANd Australis Room, Britomart 36 Customs Street East 413 July NeLSoN Nelson Provincial Museum cnr Trafalgar & Hardy St 1727 July dUNedIN Community Gallery 20 Princes Street