Kids Living Wise and Healthy, or Locked Away in Isolation From the 21st Century?

A healthy lifestyle was led by the islanders of the remote tropical islands of the Vanuatu archipelago for centuries.

The community heads to the hills to tend their gardens carved from the steep slopes, covered with the tangle of tropical rainforest. Each day the men work to clear the next forest plot, while the women harvest for the evening meal and nurture the growing plants.

Each day it takes up to two hours for the community members to walk the kilometres to reach the gardens. The community’s vital supply of food. On weekends family and church are reached by foot. It can take them up to six hours by foot to travel the distances.

The motto of these islanders is early to bed, early to rise. After dark social activities are curtailed. Apart from the glow of the firelight, dark descends as a blinding blanket. There is no electricity. Next morning as the sun rises in the eastern sky and the crow of the roosters is heard, the people rise to once more begin the day’s activities.

For centuries the diet has been balanced with fish, yam and taro. Everyone has kept fit through walking. Kustom (custom) living has met everyone’s needs.

Modern times are challenging these lifestyles. The occasional shipments have introduced fizzy soft drink, packets of tasty sweet biscuits and huge sacks of rice. What little finance is available in the village is spent on these items.

For children and women, the greater dependence on commercial food stuffs, has seen their BMI (body mass index) skyrocket. A BMI of greater the 30kg/m² effects 26% of the women and 13%of the men.

The greater obesity of the human race is experienced by women. Around Ni-Vanuatu villages can be heard the introduction and compliment, “Fat, fat, my sister”. Fat, with the addition of sugar to the natural diet, is equated with prosperity.

Heart related conditions account for 20% . The probability of not reaching 40 years of age is 8.6%. With child birth, obesity increases. Very young women bear children and in quick succession. With only 17 nurses per 1000 residents, few young Vanuatu women have the support needed after childbirth.

The health system, and the school system, is not able to provide these young women, of the isolated tropical islands of Vanuatu, with the education that they need. They lack the wisdom to care adequately for themselves, outside of their ancient custom ways.

The government admits that is unable to support the Vanuatu people. Of the GNP 4.3% is provided for health and 11% for education. In the minds of the leaders of this Lesser Developed Country, neither is seen as an essential priority. Even this small amount is often bled off into more ‘important’ issues.

Consequently, few children finish primary school and even less attend high school. The government admitted in late 2007 that it does not have the finances to provide free education. With no-cash economies on most of the isolated islands, most villagers cannot afford to send children to school.

The extreme 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.

The chance to have a healthy and wealthy life gained through wisdom is beyond their control. The kids’ dreams go unfulfilled – of being a doctor, teacher, nurse. Without outside assistance these kids are condemned to remain in their isolated island homes. They will never see the inside of a high-school classroom.

Rick and Wendy Tendys 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.

You can be part of this exciting project and make a real difference. You can visit these children through Vanuatu-hotels for your all-inclusive-vacation arrangements.