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Recently returned UniVol Charlotte Brewer tells us about making a difference – and lifelong friends – in Vanuatu.

VSA has been active in Tonga since 1965. One of our early volunteers to Tonga, Paul Karalus, was part of the school leaver programme and was placed with St. John's High School in Tonga in 1967. Paul taught English and Social Studies in the intermediate years at the school. At only 18, Paul met and fell in love with his wife, Tafolosa, from Ha’apai in Tonga. Although the couple returned to New Zealand and enjoyed teaching and learning Te Reo in Opotiki, they returned to Tonga to give their three young girls a chance to experience Tonga and gain fluency in Tongan. What started as a volunteering assignment for Paul, turned to living in Tonga for over half a century.

Meet VSA volunteer, Alastair Gordon, who’s picked up a second assignment in Timor-Leste with Kaebauk Investimentu no Finansas (Kaebauk). Kaebauk serves to provide loan and deposit products to Timorese nationals. Mainly offered in rural areas, it lays its focus on offering financial services to unbanked low-income entrepreneurs. Alastair is a Marketing Adviser for Kaebauk and works around helping this micro-finance organisation make more Timorese aware of their services. Here's a quick look at Alastair’s work with KIF…

Meet VSA volunteer Barry Binding, who has been with us since 2008. Barry's first assignment was in Bougainville for two years, where he later returned to pick up three additional assignments for another two years. This was then followed by a short-term project in Vanuatu, and finally a one-year assignment in Timor-Leste. Barry’s partner, Joanne Trimble, accompanied him during his many assignments in Bougainville and Timor-Leste. Over these ten years, Barry has undertaken core tasks with our partner organisations that range from building a library to assessing damage to employee housing post-Vanuatu’s devastating cyclone. Here’s a peek into Barry’s time as a volunteer in the Pacific…

Volunteer Tim Jones worked as a digital librarian and archivist at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Cook Islands Campus. USP in the Cook Islands offer a wide range of tertiary courses but they also hold important archival collections, and the goal of his assignment was to improve the organisation of and access to one of these collections: the papers of Ron Crocombe.

Meet Margaret Stevenson—a VSA volunteer who began her assignment in Timor-Leste as an Early Childhood Education Advisor. Margaret began her assignment as an e-volunteer and by mid-2023, a blended assignment was confirmed. Her role varied from providing training to Timorese educators to organising mini-workshops for teachers. Here’s a closer look at Margaret’s blended assignment and a peek into her everyday life as a volunteer.

VSA volunteer, Cameron Tonkin, worked as the Social Enterprise and Communication Assistant for Lafaek—CARE’s Timor-Leste educational magazine, supported by the New Zealand Aid Programme. His contributions included supporting the development of high-quality, engaging communications content across Lafaek's social media platforms to inform the followers of Lafaek's activities to promote their inspirational messages to the youth.

In the world of volunteering, there are people whose impact reverberates far beyond their work. Joanne Lentfer was one such person, a beacon of kindness and unwavering dedication to serving others. It is with heavy hearts here at VSA that we bid farewell to Joanne, who passed away on January 5th, leaving behind a volunteering legacy in both South Africa and, more recently, Tonga that will forever inspire and uplift.

Meet Jenny Fergus—a VSA volunteer who worked as a Nurse Practitioner Trainer in Vanuatu. Although Jenny was originally recruited to support capacity building, she sometimes found herself chipping in, such as seeing patients, and prescribing and dispensing medication. Despite the challenges, Jenny immersed herself in educating patients and families in the clinic setting, upskilling the staff, running a nurse-led clinic, and offering treatment plans. Here’s a peek into Jenny’s everyday life as a volunteer…

VSA volunteer, Leora Hirsh, worked alongside SPTO as a Grant Proposal Writing Mentor, at their head office in Suva, Fiji. “It was a privilege to share my grant-making knowledge with SPTO, national tourism organisations and small tourism enterprises from across the Pacific. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of adapting my New Zealand experience to suit the Pacific context.”

VSA volunteer Holly Coulter has been working alongside NRL Tonga’s VAV programme as a Community Development Advisor for gender-based violence and mental health. “The primary focus of the VAV program is to create awareness among the Tongan community, including secondary school students, by developing prevention programs to enable them to understand and speak out against gender-based violence.”

Charlotte Brewer works alongside WSB as the Youth Development Assistant at the Northern Care Youth Centre (NCYC)— a Wan Smolbag administered youth centre located in Luganville, Vanuatu. This multifaceted role includes raising awareness among the youth and the community, alongside contributing to the various initiatives undertaken by WSB.

Vila Central Hospital (VCH) is the main referral hospital in Vanuatu and is situated in Port Vila, Efate. VSA volunteer, Diane Edwards, works at the VCH as the Paediatric Mental Health Advocate. Diane started her first 12-month assignment with the VCH in December 2022 and is now returning to Vanuatu to commence yet another assignment at the start of 2024. Here’s a glance at Diane’s recent contributions and achievements at VCH…

Buin Health Centre (BHC) in Bougainville has a team of clinical staff, mostly nurses, who have formal qualifications and experience but have gaps in their skills in aspects of unit management that range from rostering and staff management to monitoring clinical standards and budgeting. VSA volunteer, Sarah Togher, assigned as a Unit Nurse Mentor, is contributing to improving a wide range of nursing management skills required to run a unit within the BHC.

VSA volunteer Katie Croom has seven years of nursing experience in New Zealand and Australia, and now she is sharing her skills with the nurses at the National Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands. She is part of the Infection Prevention and Control team, a role that varies from maintaining pest control standards to the safe management of needles.

The Savai’i Samoa Tourism Authority (SSTA) is an initiative by the Samoan government that was formed to address issues that face the tourism industry in Savai’i. VSA volunteer, Ruby Sparks, is tasked with building a website for the SSTA, where visitors can access information about the services and experiences on offer in Savai’i.

In early 2019, the Fred Hollows Foundation NZ opened the new Vanuatu National Eye Centre in Port Vila following a $2.5 million upgrade and expansion of the previous centre. The upgraded eye clinic and increasing eye care workforce have gone a long way to strengthen eye care services in Vanuatu.

As of 10 March 2023, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Port Vila reported some 251,346 people (about 80% of the population) and 30,000 households in all six provinces in Vanuatu had been exposed to the impacts of the cyclones. Authorities are assessing the full extent of damages.

Grace works as a Youth Programme Mentor at Samoa’s Family Health Association (SFHA), whose mandate is to deliver family planning and reproductive health services. Grace’s role is to help the SFHA recruit youth for its volunteer committee to run outreach programmes across Samoa.

Ask Miranda Williamson what her favourite part of living and working in Vanuatu is and she has no hesitation. “Storian,” she says.
It’s a term that’s particular to the people of her adopted home, where Miranda has taken a role as Museum Promotions and Archivist Advisor with the South Pacific World War II Museum, based in Luganville.