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| Fencing: Rotary Club of Takapuna North International Director Stuart Kendon with two local helpers, working on fencing the Centre for the Vanuatu Society for Disabled People. |
Two Australian volunteers working with people with disabilities found a
little girl sitting in the dirt in a village on Efate. Her legs, severely burnt
from a candle lit under a mosquito net which caught fire, were deformed by scar
tissue. Lack of treatment has tightened the scars. Her legs have become badly
infected because she sits in the dirt, unable to move.
This is one of many sad cases in Vanuatu, where a lack of funding sees young and old with disabilities in life-threatening situations.
A skeleton staff hangs on to keep the Centre for the Vanuatu Society for Disabled
People (VSDP) open. Every day they turn up to work with little hope of
remuneration, to a building that has been condemned in parts as unfit for
public use.
Last July, the centre was humming with the sound of weed-eaters, electric drills and saws, and the smell of fresh paint permeated the air. The working bee on Children's Day was a statement to all: our centre is going tobe something our people can be proud of, and there are people who will make
this happen.
The Rotary Club of Port Vila, a new NGO called Friends of People with Special Needs, and the Rotary Club of Takapuna North from Auckland, NZ are working together to rebuild the centre.
This will provide premises from which field workers and volunteers can operate from, a centre where those with disabilities can come for workshops and help with healing, and a centre for building a team of people who will give support and hope to those who can't help themselves, through no fault of their own.
Three Kiwi Rotarians from Takapuna North Rotary, International Director Stuart Kendon, Murray Pearson and President Elect Phil Brosnan, worked the entire week to complete Stage 1 of four stages. They fixed up holes and did a lot of maintenance work, so the centre could keep functioning.
At the Children's Day working bee, local expats who included many Rotarians and their families, came to lend a hand. Friends of People with Special Needs provided lunch and also helped with the clean-up. There were a few special activities at the centre while some of the local Rotarians' children grabbed paintbrushes and spruced up a couple of rooms with the help of theirparents.
VSDP Director Elison Bovu organised the cutting down of trees to make way for a fence to define the boundary and prevent people from using the property as a right-of-way. During the week, Stuart and a couple of local helpers dug fence post holes in the heavy coral strata and rebuilt thefence.
Stage 2 at the end of last year involved 12 NZ Rotarians. It included the construction of an undercover play area for the early intervention programme - the Pikinini Group.
Stage 3 is the construction of a new office, kitchen and bathrooms, and Stage 4 is the demolition of the older section of the building. It is hoped that Stages 3 and 4 will be completed by the end of this year, according to the NZ Rotarians.
If anyone wishes to help on this project, please contact Marg Smith on margsmith@vanuatu.com.vu
Note:
There are no reliable recent figures for the number of people with disabilities in Vanuatu, but as estimated by the World Health Organisation,10% of the global population has a disability. Given Vanuatu's currentestimated population of 243,034, it is likely that 24,303 people living in
Vanuatu have a disability.
- by Marg Smith who runs the NGO, Friends of People with Special Needs, in
Port Vila
This is one of many sad cases in Vanuatu, where a lack of funding sees young and old with disabilities in life-threatening situations.
 |
| Men at work: The Rotary Club of Takapuna North NZ working party (from left) International Director Stuart Kendon, Murray Pearson and President Elect Phil Brosnan worked for a week with Port Vila expat Derek Hodder (second from right) on the first stage of upgrading the Centre for the Vanuatu Society for Disabled People. |
Last July, the centre was humming with the sound of weed-eaters, electric drills and saws, and the smell of fresh paint permeated the air. The working bee on Children's Day was a statement to all: our centre is going tobe something our people can be proud of, and there are people who will make
this happen.
The Rotary Club of Port Vila, a new NGO called Friends of People with Special Needs, and the Rotary Club of Takapuna North from Auckland, NZ are working together to rebuild the centre.
This will provide premises from which field workers and volunteers can operate from, a centre where those with disabilities can come for workshops and help with healing, and a centre for building a team of people who will give support and hope to those who can't help themselves, through no fault of their own.
Three Kiwi Rotarians from Takapuna North Rotary, International Director Stuart Kendon, Murray Pearson and President Elect Phil Brosnan, worked the entire week to complete Stage 1 of four stages. They fixed up holes and did a lot of maintenance work, so the centre could keep functioning.
At the Children's Day working bee, local expats who included many Rotarians and their families, came to lend a hand. Friends of People with Special Needs provided lunch and also helped with the clean-up. There were a few special activities at the centre while some of the local Rotarians' children grabbed paintbrushes and spruced up a couple of rooms with the help of theirparents.
VSDP Director Elison Bovu organised the cutting down of trees to make way for a fence to define the boundary and prevent people from using the property as a right-of-way. During the week, Stuart and a couple of local helpers dug fence post holes in the heavy coral strata and rebuilt thefence.
Stage 2 at the end of last year involved 12 NZ Rotarians. It included the construction of an undercover play area for the early intervention programme - the Pikinini Group.
Stage 3 is the construction of a new office, kitchen and bathrooms, and Stage 4 is the demolition of the older section of the building. It is hoped that Stages 3 and 4 will be completed by the end of this year, according to the NZ Rotarians.
If anyone wishes to help on this project, please contact Marg Smith on margsmith@vanuatu.com.vu
Note:
There are no reliable recent figures for the number of people with disabilities in Vanuatu, but as estimated by the World Health Organisation,10% of the global population has a disability. Given Vanuatu's currentestimated population of 243,034, it is likely that 24,303 people living in
Vanuatu have a disability.
- by Marg Smith who runs the NGO, Friends of People with Special Needs, in
Port Vila
