From generation to generation on the far northern, isolated tropical islands of Vanuatu the people have lived off the produce of the land. In recent years, though, their diet has been supplemented by imported rice. Rice has now become the mainstay of their food supply. For the remote tropical islands, rice is provided by the inter-island ships that arrive at random times. As a ship may arrive only once every six months, the supplies can get very low. That is, provided the ships do not run aground on one of the May reefs of the archipelago. In Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu, the price of rice has gone from vt 3150 (US$34) per 25 kgs bag to vt 4100 (US$44.3) in one week. The price of rice is forcing the island people to rethink their food supply. In addition, shipping costs are placing rice way beyond their meager economic reach. These are communities that have a â€no-cash economy’. They provide produce in exchange for services, and occasionally sell a few items to the infrequent tourists that come through. Due to a lack of food, a secondary school on Pentecost Island was forced to close its doors and send the students home. The staple food has become prohibitive and the boarding schools no longer able to feed the students from the school fees. The supply of food from the school gardens cannot keep up with the demand. Closed schools and empty tummies do little to help the advancement of the youth of these remote islands. It is a constant struggle for these disadvantaged children to gain the knowledge and skills required for the 21st century. In the villages primary education is undertaken while children are squatting on their haunches at solid wooden benches at the end of the village. Pencils are broken into three to be able to write. They share pages from an exercise book to have something to write on. Things like chalk and blackboards and writing paper are treated as if they are pure gold. An entrance exam is sat at the end of primary school that allows a few to go on to high school. That is if their parents can raise the cash for school fees. As the boarding school fees are prohibitive in a â€no-cash’ economy, only very few students go further with their education. Education in Vanuatu is not free. The dreadful consequences of this are: â€Only 55.8% of Vanuatu kids will get to grade 6; â€of those only 18.2% will go to high school ; â€26% will never go to school at all. The Vanuatu government admitted in late 2007 that it did not have the resources or the finances to provide education beyond the main islands. Education was not seen as a priority. 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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