From Melbourne to Motueka via Luganville

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I had always wanted to volunteer overseas so when I was living in Melbourne and heard about Australian Volunteers International, I jumped at the chance to apply for a volunteer position in tropical Vanuatu. Luckily my application was successful, and I became a Business Development Advisor for VANWODS, a microfinance organisation, based in their office in Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo for 18 months.

My role was to help the current members manage their small businesses and also help expand the organisation. I developed a number of financial literacy workshops which I delivered in villages located on the outskirts of Luganville township and in some of the small islands across the channel. 

Seeing the VANWODS members grow their businesses was truly inspiring. With a lot of hard work, they ran businesses that varied from making bread to running a small retail store in their village to selling fruit and vegetables at the local market. To see our members earn enough money to pay for their children's school fees, buy a solar panel so they could have electricity in their house, or buy a rainwater tank so they could collect clean water for drinking was the greatest reward! 

Living in the tropics meant the usual weather challenges. Not long after I arrived, we had a 7.2 earthquake. Being raised in New Zealand, I was used to earthquakes but not one of that magnitude! Luckily there were no serious injuries or deaths, although we did have to clean up the mess in our office at Unity Park as our computers had jumped off the desks! Heavy tropical rain also caused flooding in the office on a regular basis - nothing that a good mop couldn't fix!

As a volunteer, you often end up helping in many unexpected ways, so while you are passing on some of your knowledge, you also learn a lot of new/different skills. In my spare time, I wrote articles for the local newspaper (Daily Post) to promote the hard work of VANWODS and its members. I also successfully applied for a small grant to run workshops such as screen-printing t-shirts with local designs to sell to the cruise ship passengers. 

A personal highlight of my time in Vanuatu was the sister ceremony that my dear friend Lifan Bill organised for me. I had no idea what was about to happen, I was just asked to come to Lifan's house at a certain time. Waiting for me was a beautiful island dress, a huge spread of traditional food, and a very touching ceremony, including speeches from all members of Lifan's family. Something I will never ever forget. I spent many weekends with Lifan and her family, swimming at local beaches, teaching her kids how to snorkel, and planting vegetable seeds with Lifan on her plot of land. Saying goodbye to Lifan at the airport at the end of my assignment was incredibly hard.

After my assignment, I returned to Melbourne and worked for a number of charities, including the Australian Red Cross where I met Leina Isno, who at the time was working for New Zealand Red Cross.

After moving back to New Zealand in 2021 due to my mother's declining health, Leina asked me to help coordinate Bislama Language Week activities for the Nelson-Tasman region.  Having grown up in windy Wellington but deciding to live in the beautiful Tasman area, I knew no-one in Nelson-Tasman so had to reach out to many employers to find out where the ni-Vanuatu seasonal workers were based. This was made a whole lot easier when I met Valorie Patrick who had moved to Motueka from Vanuatu several years before. 

Over the last 3 years, Valorie and I have coordinated a number of events for our local ni-Vanuatu community including quiz nights, string band competitions, Independence Day celebrations, sports weekends and movie nights. We even volunteered to be electoral officers at a polling station in Motueka for a Vanuatu referendum! 

We have had great support from many local businesses and community organisations for our events. I love being involved with the local Vanuatu community in Nelson-Tasman as it brings back so many happy memories of my time living in Luganville. 

By Robyn Aburn