A helping hand for an 8-month-old survivor

8-month-old Nichola is one of the first babies in Vanuatu to receive nutrition supplements

 through UNICEF following Cyclone Pam. We visit him to see what difference they’re making.
UNICEF Pacific/2015/Berthe

I met Nichola for the first time when a nurse measured the circumference of his arm at Pango Community Centre in Port Vila, Vanuatu. I was relieved to see that the colour of the special measuring tape was green, meaning that Nichola wasn’t dangerously underweight.

Lessons in grief, hope and recovery from a seven-year-old boy.

Tavai Soalo, a facilitator in the UNICEF-supported Just Play sports for
development programme and Nalau.
UNICEF Pacific/2015/Berthe

“I remember Tavai. He came to my school and we played football”, says Nalau.

Tavai Soalo, a facilitator in the UNICEF-supported Just Play sports for development programme, also remembers Nalau. He was facilitating a Just Play session at Sorovanga School, Vanuatu, aimed at helping children to recover emotionally from Cyclone Pam, when Nalau shared his story. 

“We played games then I asked the children how they felt after Cyclone Pam” Tavai recalls. “I gently encouraged them to share their experiences, feelings, thoughts and even plans for the future.”

The tent that brought children back to school

Joana and Daisly used to miss school regularly before Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu. 
The unique experience of learning in a tent has brought them back. 
UNICEF Pacific/2015/Berthe

When Joana and Daisly share their experience of Category 5 Cyclone Pam, I can hear the horror of that night in their voices – voices that remind me of my two young sons and our own night of terror.

Seven-year-old Joana is from a small community in Port Vila. She was home with her younger sister and her parents when the cyclone hit Vanuatu with devastating force on 13 March 2015. She tells me the wind was so strong they had to shelter in a nearby shop after the cyclone ripped the roof of their house off. Fear still echoes in her voice when recalling the events of that night six months ago.

The best kind of traffic jam

 Long line of pick-up trucks loaded with tents and other education emergency
supplies ready for distribution to 11,000 children in more than 120
cyclone-affected early childhood centers and primary schools

Normally I dislike traffic jams, but I couldn't be happier to see this one. It doesn't matter that it’s 30 degrees Celsius here on Tanna Island, Vanuatu and that I’m drenched in sweat; seeing a long line of pick-up trucks loaded with tents and other education emergency supplies ready for distribution to 11,000 children in more than 120 cyclone-affected early childhood centers and primary schools makes my day. 

UNICEF overcomes huge logistical challenges to get life-saving aid to Vanuatu

Warehouse workers erecting a temporary storage facility to store supplies UNICEF received
from a 100 metric tonne shipment that arrived in Port Vila recently. © UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/McGarry

Port Vila, Vanuatu - It’s all hands on deck as 15 warehouse workers heave, push, lift and carry boxes of emergency supplies that have just arrived in a 40-foot container at the UNICEF ware-house in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

UNICEF’s emergency responses in support of affected children always include a strong supply component and the response to Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 cyclone that devastated the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu a month ago, is no exception. Today, 100 metric tonnes of essential emergency supplies have arrived all the way from Copenhagen.

UNICEF working with partners to deliver essential water and sanitation supplies to cyclone affected families on Ambrym island!

UNICEF and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) volunteers loading latrine squat plates to be delivered to communities on Ambrym island who lost their homes in Category 5 Cyclone Pam last month.
© UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Hing

Port Vila, Vanuatu - UNICEF has partnered with a local NGO in cyclone-affected Vanuatu to deliver vital water and sanitation supplies to 555 households on Ambrym island. With UNICEF’s support, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is delving water, sanitation and hygiene kits (containing water containers, buckers, soap and water purification tablets), water tanks and latrine squat plates to communities on Ambrym island who lost their homes in Category 5 Cyclone Pam last month.

Educators and creative artists come together with UNICEF’s support to address children’s emotional wellbeing after Cyclone Pam!

Two of the workshop participants Alex and Angelina in the field doing photo shoots with the children
of Vila East primary school. © UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Hing

Port Vila, Vanuatu - More than 50 professionals from diverse backgrounds in health, education and child protection are now well placed to help meet the psychosocial needs of children distressed by Cyclone Pam and its aftermath.

A cyclone-affected school welcomes children back to class.

Dorah James and her eight-year-old son, Daniel at Mele Maat Primary School, Efate Vanuatu. Their home was completely destroyed by Cyclone Pam but Daniel is keen to return to school as soon as possible.
© UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Sokhin

First grade student Daniel Jojo (8) is pleased with the finished blue and yellow paint on his face and proudly shows it off to his mother, Dorah James.

Yellow and blue are the colours of his school, Mele Maat Primary, on Efate Island, Vanuatu. Today, less than three weeks after Category 5 Cyclone Pam badly damaged the school, completely destroying four classrooms, Mele Maat Primary has opened its doors once again to welcome students, teachers and fami-lies. The students have not been to school since Cyclone Pam struck so the school has organized a special event that they hope will help the children to recover emotionally and think of the school as a safe space for them to come, learn and play.

Children go back to school in Vanuatu

Pupils sit inside a UNICEF tent, being used as a temporary school
structure © UNICEF PACIFIC/2015/Sorkhin

After a disturbing event like Cyclone Pam it's important to get children back to learning and playing as soon as possible. Unfortunately, many of the schools in Vanuatu were heavily damaged and will take months to rebuild. But, thanks to UNICEF's support, pupils from St Joseph's College and Vila East Primary school were able to get back to school yesterday.

A father prioritises his daughter’s education amidst the destruction

Story of 10 year old Joana from Black Sand area on her experiences when TC Pam hit Port Vila and how she and her family fled to her aunty’s house for safety. Her father, Edward, says that despite losing their home and their crops and not having enough money, his priority as a father is to get his children educated. UNICEF Pacific/2015/Further Arts

Edward Bani understands sacrifice. He supports his family in Black Sand, one of Port Vila’s poorest communities, by working as a labourer building roads on Tanna Island, a boat journey of several days from Vanuatu’s capital. He was there when Cyclone Pam, an unprecedented Category 5 tropical cyclone, hit Vanuatu, bringing absolute destruction and affecting more than half the country’s population on 22 islands.

Cyclone Pam affects everyone in the family

L-R. Joyleen, Nathan and Lawrence in the health clinic where they sheltered from Cyclone Pam with five other families. One family is still sheltering there after their home was completely destroyed. UNICEF/2015/Sohkin

Joyleen (16) comforts her little brother Nathan (4) as he recovers from the brief shock of a potentially life-saving measles vaccine injection. The tears soon disappear and he is quickly back to his curious and social self. 

Tropical Cyclone Pam

Updates from Alice who has been deployed to Vanuatu to assist with preparations for the imminent arrival of Tropical Cyclone Pam. 

If you've ever wondered why Vanuatu seems to get so many disasters this vlogs also explains many of the reasons why preparedness is so important for a disaster-prone country like Vanuatu. 

What types of disasters affect your country? Share your experiences below!

Note: To view other Vlogs click the playlist 

Celebrating 25 Years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Cook Islands

Girls and boys during their water break with
UNICEF Pacific’s Deputy Representative, Isabelle Austin.
©UNICEF Pacificy/2012/Olul

Twenty-five years ago the world made a promise to children; promising that we would do everything in our power to protect and promote their rights to survive and thrive, to learn and grow, to make their voices heard and to reach their full potential. This promise was called the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in 2014 we spent the year celebrating its 25th birthday by working with children and communities to highlight the rights that it promised for children, and supporting children to enjoy them. These are just some of the ways that we celebrated the anniversary in the Pacific: 

A right to play: 

Out with the old and in with the new: Using Akvo to collect and analyse WASH in Fiji schools

Nasautoka District School students. ©UNICEF Pacific/2014/Hing

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) partners from the Fijian Teachers Association, Fijian Government Ministries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil-society organizations worked energetically over the week to learn to use a tool that will allow them to bypass regular, time-consuming steps in collecting data. From this moment on, WASH partners will no longer rely on pencils to mark responses for a survey, organize tattered papers from the field, nor enter rows of data into a spreadsheet. Instead, they will utilize a phone application called Akvo (which means “Water” in the language Esperanto) in order to administer a survey, plot data points on an interactive map, craft informative analyses, and produce graphs. This all sounds fancy, but what does it mean?

Little beginnings

Linline with her father and daughter.
 © UNICEF Pacific./2014/Thakkar

Imagine being a little girl in a village of less than 500 people on an island in a country that most people don’t know exists. You live in a simple home – dirt floor with a tin roof. No modern gadgets like washing machines, vacuum cleaners or television. In fact, not even electricity. If you are lucky, there is a generator and enough fuel for it to provide some light after sunset. You are likely to drop out after primary school because your parents cannot afford secondary school fees. As a young woman, you will have your first child before the age of 21. Considering two out of three women in your country are victims of violent and sexual abuse, you are likely to experience that as well. Your daily routine involves waking up between 6-7 am, cleaning your home, doing the laundry, washing utensils, subsistence farming, cooking and caring for the family – every single day. This is your life.  

Did you PLAY today?

Rorona Kalsakau, Just Play Project Manager leading a
Just Play session at the at the Vanuatu Society for
Persons with Disabilities in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
©UNICEF/Pacific/2014/Alcock

Everyday around the Pacific region, children gather in open spaces, at community schools and on empty pitches to take part in Just Play sessions. Equipment bags come out, cones and balls line the field. 

Children gather around their coach and wait in anticipation as the Challenge of the Week from the last session is reviewed. Hands fly into the air in response to their coach’s question: “Who worked hard to make health lifestyle choices, eating 2 fruits and 3 vegetables today?” Smiles can be seen, and applause heard coming from the group acknowledging their accomplishment. 

What is happiness?

A proud happy country. UNICEF Pacific./2014/Thakkar

Pharrell Williams took the world by storm with his ‘Happy’ song. It went viral within days with people around the world making their own video, dancing and clapping along with the tune.

World Cup Fever in the Pacific and Just Play

Football World Cup 2014 has managed to mesmerise the world in unprecedented ways. Even countries like the USA and India who weren’t typically known as “football countries” have not been able to escape the charm of the game and the contagious enthusiasm of its fans. Vanuatu is no exception to that phenomenon. Yes, World Cup fever has gripped even the countries of the Pacific!

Students thank UNICEF and New Zealand during visit by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director and Regional Director

Lyrics of the song the children sang during the visit.
© UNICEF Pacific/2014/Tahu

The lyrics of the song speaks volumes of the gratitude that Titinge Primary School students have towards the Government and people of New Zealand as well as UNICEF. Their appreciation is for enhancing their learning environment through the solar power for schools pilot project and the upgrade of water and sanitation facilities.

Early this week the students got the chance to present the song to the Ms. Yoka Brandt, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director (DED), Daniel Toole, UNICEF Regional Director (RD) for East Asia and Pacific and a representatives from the New Zealand High Commission Office, during a special visit to the school.

Data collection, the easy way! 2-6 June 2014 in Port Vila, Vanuatu

On the way to Nguna, Vanuatu. © UNICEF Pacific/
2014/Leben

Everyone who has ever conducted an interview using paper and pen in the field quickly encounters the same problems: backpacks heavy with paper, ink running in the rain, surveys blowing away in the wind, and decoding illegible handwriting. And then there are the hours of typing from paper to computer with the ever present problem of data entry errors.