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Zip lining, snorkelling and fun in the sun in Vanuatu

 

 

The 2016 face to face fundraising competition winners from Australia and New Zealand, came together in November to Port Vila for a relaxing and insightful trip. We checked into our resort late in the night and the next morning we were woken to the sound of waves gently crashing into the shore at our own private beach! For the first two days of the trip, we swam, canoed to a small island, drank cocktails from coconuts and enjoyed a beautiful dinner provided by Cornucopia at the Lava Lounge.

 

One of the highlights of the leisure activities was the zip-lining throughout the beautiful jungle scenery at Mele, about 20 minutes open bus ride from Port Vila. All buckled up in our harnesses and safety gear, our guides led us to the first line, high up in the trees. The fundraisers took the first zip line with a little caution, but by the third line, the acrobatic monkey moves were on display!

 

 

Half of the crew spent the Sunday diving in some amazing spots around Efate island and surfing later in the afternoon. Others spent time by the pool, lapping up the pool side service and enjoying a dip in the private beach.

 

Vanuatu is a land of beautiful beaches, warm and friendly people and lot’s of coconuts. It is also a place that is regularly visited cyclones, the most recent being Cyclone Pam in 2015. A year and half after the cyclone ripped through the islands of Vanuatu, you could still see the repairs and building works in the capital Port Vila and throughout the villages that we visited on the main island, Efate.

 

The F2F fundraisers work hard throughout the year, connecting the donors with the cause and Cornucopia’s yearly face to face fundraiser incentive trips connect a lucky bunch of fundraisers to connect with some of the beneficiaries. It is inspiring to be able to see how the Red Cross is working with local village leaders to assist the communities where they need it most.

 

Kevin, from the Vanuatu Red Cross  was our guide for the next two days. Kevin has been working with the Red Cross in disaster response and management for over 10 years and came from a construction background. Up early on the Monday morning, we hired a bus with Kevin and drove to the other end of Efate, ready to jump on a banana boat, for a 30 minute ride across to the island of Moso.

 

 

The island of Moso has two villages and we visited both on this 32 degree (Celsius) day. The Vanuatu Red Cross were working with the local people on two key areas; the WASH program (water, sanitation and hygiene) and rainwater harvesting. There is no running water on the island and the people there rely on rain and bore water (see the well in the image below – image that this is where you get your water from!). Recently, Vanuatu Red Cross had worked with the local people to build and install rainwater tanks to assist in the safe storing of water.

 

 

After saying our thanks and farewells to the people at the first village, the face to face fundrasiers then started on the hours trek to the other side of island in the peak heat and humidity of the day. Each day the children from the first village do this trek to get to school – there are no roads or transport on the island – and walk back again. We were informed by Kevin that there had not been much rain lately which meant there were days when the school had to stay closed as they did not have enough water for the children. Luckily, today was a day when the school was open and children could sing, dance and learn. The principal welcomed us with a warm speech and the children sang one of their favourite songs – One, Two, Three Little Turtles – and of course, the fundraising canvassers sang some pop songs for the children.

 

After a boat ride back to the main island, we traveled back on the bus to another village, where we visited a school that had been affected by Cyclone Pam. The verandas and roofs of the buildings were literally blown away. Vanuatu Red Cross worked with the school and local builders to repair and rebuild the damaged areas of the school. The teachers we meet were so thankful of the quick repairs which meant they could get back to doing what they do best – teach and inspire the next generation.

 

The next day, the fundraisers took to the bus again, with Kevin and visited the Vanuatu Red Cross office. We were shown the emergency response centre and the warehouse. If another disaster was to strike, the Red Cross are ready to move into action at anytime and provide life saving resources.

 

The Vanuatu Red Cross is also helping young women in Vanuatu to become more financially independent by teaching them business skills and providing them with the tools necessary to build their business in horticulture or textiles. To assist, the fundraisers we joined the Red Cross and visited nearly every village on Efate, travelling across the entire island to deliver the tools needed for their businesses.

 

The trip was a great insight into the programs delivered by the Vanuatu Red Cross and provided a great opportunity for the fundraisers to get to know some of the many beneficiaries that are supported by amazing donors all over the world. Definitely a favourite place and cannot wait to visit Vanuatu again soon!

Limestone bat caves and blowholes in Tonga

 An island famed for its friendliness and hospitality, Tonga lived up to its reputation as the friendly Islands, with more then a few secrets uncovered along the way.

Our team of seven, made up of fundraisers from Australia and New Zealand were lucky enough to visit the friendly and hospitable Kingdom of Tonga in November 2014. Staying on the main island of Tongatapu it didn’t take long to settle into Tongan time, which is measured by the crow of a rooster and the fall of a coconut onto the pristine white coral sand beaches.

 

We visited many of the unique local sites such as Captain Cooks landing, Anahulu – a slightly terrifying and spectacular underground limestone cave colonised by bats, the blowholes, Tsunami Rock a rock wrapped up in a myth almosts as big as the rock itself apparently a tsunami washed the rock up 100 metres inland, and the local markets.

 

However the highlight of the trip was visiting the Tongan Red Cross headquarters, in Nuku Alofa the main town on the island of Tongatapu.

“The highlight of visiting Tonga Red Cross was meeting the staff, and the spirit of the guys, going the extra mile, I loved Inoki’s presentation and thought it was very well prepared and presented, the overall operation was very professional.” Ed Williams

“ I thought that the OTA Centre was great to see, and it was very interesting to hear about the satellite phone, and how it used in the aftermath of cyclone Ian, it was also great to meet the whole Tonga Red Cross team and see what they all do” David Black

 

we will always remember the beautiful friendly people, the very easy laid back attitude on the island and the very untouched pristine beauty of the scenery….

 

Trekking up volcanoes and swimming with whale sharks

The Philippines is a Southeast Asian country in the Western Pacific, comprising more than 7,000 islands.    The country has a population of more than 100 million people of which one-quarter (26.5 million) of the population fell below the poverty line.  The Philippines lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, which causes the country to have frequent seismic and volcanic activity, Typhoons and Tsunamis.   As recent as October 15th 2013, an earthquake in Bohol & Cebu killed 222 people and injured 796 people while causing $4 billion in damage.

 

To take a group over to meet and interact with the Philippines Red Cross was an incredible privilege.   The Red Cross Globally has a mandate to prevent and alleviate suffering where ever it occurs within our community.   In the Philippines where the country has such a large number of people living below the poverty line and is also subject to such extreme weather and seismic/volcanic activity the Red Cross is the life blood of the nation.   The Philippine Red Cross runs 6 major activities, Blood Service, Disaster Management Services, Safety Services, Health Services, Youth and Volunteer Services.
Visiting the Disaster Command Centre in Manila was a highlight of our first day as we learnt and observed the military style management of surveillance and preparedness in their operation to react immediately when required.    They operate through 6 different chapters within Philippines to ensure that they can respond quickly and effectively.     Working or volunteering for the Red Cross is such an important role and you could see the pride in the staff and volunteers as we observed them being trained in first aid.

After visiting the head office in Manila we traveled out to one of the Chapter offices in Batangas province to be able to learn how the Red Cross operates and interacts in a more local community.    We were surprised to see the volunteers learning Surf Life Saving training techniques and learning how to operate “rubber duckie” boats and training as lifeguards.

 

However it made sense, when a service is not available in an area, the Red Cross will provide that service to ensure they “prevent and alleviate suffering”.  We later learnt the Red Cross also provides the ambulance service and fire brigade services in many Chapters as these services are not offered by the government or other organisations.    The hospitality offered by our Red Cross hosts was incredible and we got to experience and witness many local traditions and enjoy scrumptious meals together.

 

 

Outside of our time with the Red Cross we also got to travel to some amazing destinations throughout the Philippines including trekking to the top of a Volcano at Taal, visited the Hill Tribes in northern Luzon to meet the Ifugao people and stay overnight with a panoramic view of the Banaue Rice Terraces and achieved a bucket list item for many travelers and adventures by swimming with Whale Sharks in Donsol and scuba diving with Manta Rays.

 

 

Everyone on the trip was incredibly appreciative of the incredible hospitality that we received by our Philippine Red Cross hosts and many locals that assisted throughout the week.

 

 

Police escorts, mangroves and malaria in South Sulawesi

Our Indonesia adventure started in the Port town of Makassar, in the South Sulawesi region. The face to face fundraisers that won the 2015 annual fundraising incentive were in for an exciting 3 days in Makassar, visiting the local programs with the Red Cross, and then off to Bali for some R&R. To get our bearings in Makassar, I met a wonderful local Tuk-Tuk driver, Ali, who helped us with transport around the port town.

 

On our first day, we boarded a boat and headed across the water to a small island for a snorkeling session and to try some of the local foods – the fried banana with hot sambal chili sauce was favoured by all of us and didn’t last long.

Day two was exciting! We met our guide, Sacha, who had been posted in Indonesia, working with Red Cross for many years and we jumped on a bus and headed off to one of the schools in Indonesia. The Red Cross is supporting children with disabilities. We spent the morning speaking to the children and teachers and playing some educational games about water and sanitation.

 


 

Eye operations, sunsets, and volunteering in Fiji

Our team made of fundraisers from Australia and New Zealand, were welcomed with open arms in Fiji.

We started our adventures with a relaxing sunset by the pool of our very comfortable resort, after a good nights sleep we were off to meet with Fiji Red Cross the next day.

We found the senior management extremely welcoming, delighted to provide us the time, and curious as to how we helped the ARC in particular provide funding to the FRC. The Director General gave us a full presentation on how the ARC (and NZRC) provide funding to FRC and how they spend it.

The focus of these programs is community resilience. A big factor in community health is the education and management of dengue fever, with 2000 current cases across Fiji. It was interesting to learn that their climate change focus is how diseases move into other areas as the change in climate takes effect, which informs the identification and management required.

We were then invited to attend the flood emergency response briefing for that day, which is the Red Cross’s part in responding to floods on 27 Feb that have impacted many villages around Fiji. Well over 2,000 households were impacted across Fiji; the Red Cross through its assessments identified and assisted 500 of the most vulnerable households where they had either lost everything, or had been evacuated, through to those most at risk of post-flood water-borne disease outbreaks such as Typhoid, Dengue Fever and others.

While it is the latter phases now and Red Cross is winding down, we were invited to participate in a full day of volunteering the next day going out to affected villages doing assessments and distributing hygiene kits that will help against disease prevention. This was set up for the following day, and we agreed to meet back at 9am. The team commented many times on being included in the briefing, in effect seeing the office in full operational mode, and were very honoured by this inclusion.

The following day, we headed to the Pacific Eye Institute, a fabulous new building substantially funded by FHF-NZ. We met with the Director, General Manager and one of the key doctors on the Institute originally from the Solomon Islands, Dr Mundi.

FHF-NZ has been involved in Fiji since 2002, which led to the development of a strategy in 2005 to extend eye health services in the Pacific. The PEI was established in 2006 in the Solomon Islands and then moved to Fiji in 2007, with the current building completed in 2011 and already extended in 2013.

While cataracts are still the main cause of blindness in the Pacific at the moment, the big focus is shifting to diabetes as this will overtake cataracts shortly and is becoming a chronic problem. Diabetes causes extensive damage to the eye and must be picked up early to assist in immediate treatment and behavioural change.

 

Eye operations, water celebrations, and sailing around Ha Long bay

Most of the team have fundraised on behalf of the Red Cross for many years, this is the first time that they have seen firsthand the work of Red Cross in another country. The chance to witness and get involved directly with the work of the Red Cross, interact with the amazingly happy children as well as walk 3 kilometers in muddy gumboots, provided a once in a lifetime experience for all of us.

  • Conducted a Fundraising and Regular Giving presentation and discussion with key Vietnam Red Cross staff,
  • Help with bio-sand filter construction
  • Involved in hygiene and sanitation participatory education with village elders
  • Observe Children’s Hygiene and Sanitation Training
  • Attended water day celebration at local primary school

The Red Cross representatives that we met and worked with were wonderful, warm and open to sharing their experiences and knowledge of Red Cross with us. These memories will be with us forever. Wishing you all the best and continued success with the Water and Hygiene Programs (PHASE, CHAST and the bio-sand filter) and we look forward to hearing about the great difference it is making to the lives of the people in North Vietnam.”

 

  • Visit to the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology and opportunity to observe a cataract surgery.
  • Eye screening including eye health education and communication activity in Mai Chau.
  • Visit to the Social Disease Control Centre of Hoa Binh to have a briefing on what FHF has been supporting to improve the local eye care services.

“Although most of the team having fundraised on behalf of the Fred Hollows Foundation for many years  this was the first time that they had seen firsthand cataract surgery. The chance to witness and get involved directly with the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation was priceless. Interact with the amazing staff, doctors and beneficiaries in Vietnam as well as enjoy the cultural experiences organised at Lac Village in Hoa Binh provided a once in a lifetime experience for us all.

The Fred Hollows representatives that assisted during the trip and with the earlier preparations including Phan Nguyen Song Thao and Ngo Thi Phuong Anh were wonderful, warm and open to sharing their experiences and knowledge of Fred Hollows and Vietnam with us. These memories will be with us forever.  The fundraisers left excited about being able to share their personal stories with their team members and the Australian public who they meet.”

Vietnam is such an incredibly beautiful country and so rich in culture and history.  Apart from the charity interactions with Red Cross and Fred Hollows the group had the most amazing time interacting with locals and being guests to several banquet dinners.   These celebrations would go late into the night as we greeted and honoured important officials and respected elders with rice wine and speakers – as you could imagine the speakers got pretty loud as the night went on.   As we were staying in local villages during the day we would play sports with the children, ride bikes through the surrounding countryside and buy clothing and souvenirs from the household markets. It was truly experiences that no tour guides could offer.

At the end of the week, and after saying farewell to our charity hosts, the group headed down to Ha Long Bay for an overnight Junket boat trip.  Hạ Long Bay includes 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. We learnt that the limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments to create this incredible UNESCO World Heritage site.  Our boat trip visited incredible caves and local fishing villages where the locals live on floating houses and are sustained through fishing and marine aquaculture. And with the additional activities of kayaking through a cave in Cat Ba Island and being able to swim and backflip from our Junket it was the perfect conclusion to our trip.