Rice has become the mainstay of the communities living in the far northern, isolated tropical islands of Vanuatu. They have from generation to generation lived off the produce of the land. However, in recent years, their diet has been increasingly supplemented by imported rice.
For the remote tropical islands there is a reliance on the inter-island ships to arrive with supplies. These can get very low as these ships may arrive once every six months. That is provided they don’t go aground on the coral reefs.
The price of rice is affecting these people’s food supply. In one week the price of rice has gone from Vt 3150 (US$34) per 25 kgs bag to Vt 4100 (US$44.3) in Port Vila, the capital. For the remote islanders, the additional shipping cost is putting rice way beyond their meagre economic reach.
These communities have a ‘no-cash economy’. By selling a few items to the occasional tourist that comes through, a small income is generated. Usually though they provide produce in exchange for services.
Pentecost island recently saw the closure of a secondary school with the students sent home, due to a lack of food. The school can no longer able feed the students from the school fees. The cost of rice - the staple food - has become prohibitive and the school gardens cannot keep up with demand.
The youth of these remote islands get little help with their advancement when their tummies are empty and the schools are closed. In the 21st century, these disadvantaged children constantly struggle to gain the knowledge and skills they require.
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Primary education undertaken at the end of the village is achieved squatting on their haunches at solid wooden benches. Readers are passed around so that the students can learn to read.
They share pages from an exercise book to have something to write on. Pencils are broken into three to be able to write.
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The MAP News, 179th Ed., 06 January 2007 — Mangrove Action Project::
Asia has the largest area of mangroves, followed by Africa and South America. However, in some areas the erosion rate was beyond remedy.
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Things like writing paper, blackboards and chalk are treated as if they are pure gold. Students sit an entrance exam at the end of primary school, which allows them to go on to high school, provided their parents can raise the school fees. As the boarding school fees are prohibitive in a ‘no-cash’ economy, only very few of the students have the opportunity to go on. As an education is not free throughout Vanuatu, many children miss out.
The horrific consequences of this are:
• only 55.8% of Vanuatu kids will get to grade 6;
• of those only 18.2% will go to high school ;
• 26% will never go to school at all.
Education was not seen as a priority in 2007. Beyond the main islands, the Vanuatu government admitted that it did not have the resources or the finances to provide education.
Rick and Wendy Tendys, the founders of YouMe Support Foundation, are raffling Seachange Lodge (a private holiday home, plus 6 luxury holiday apartments) on the Internet, to raise funds for non-repayable high school education grants for the children of the outer islands of Vanuatu. This is a World First, Blue Moon Opportunity that will change someone’s life, as well as the lives of these children.
The only salvation for these distant communities is for their children to become educated and gain jobs. Then the price of rice, even, though it is high, will not prove to be a problem to the community in general. You can help make a real difference in the lives of these people.
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Basic Food Beyond The Tropical Islands South Pacific Meagre Income.