A large majority of people in Vanuatu report having others they can count on in times of health or financial need. The number has dropped, however, by roughly 10% over the 10-year period from 2010-2020, signaling a loss in traditional social security and weakening kinship networks. Despite the trend, a majority of people still enjoy that safety net in Vanuatu today as evidenced in this episode. Episode 27 is the final episode and it underscores the importance of people maintaining vast social ne...
Oct 03, 2024•10 min•Ep. 27
Demand for cultural wealth items like pigs, yams, mats, and kava for traditional ceremonial uses - from marriages to circumcisions and more - is high in both urban and rural parts of Vanuatu. Those in rural areas overwhelmingly produce their own wealth with planning and hard work using skills passed down for generations, while those in urban centres depend more on money to puchase these items in order to participate in cultural exchanges. Money as a component of traditional ceremonies has made s...
Sep 26, 2024•12 min•Ep. 26
It is estimated that roughly 24,000 ni-Vanuatu men, women, and children live in housing located on land that is neither indigenous nor formally leased. Many of those in informal settlements are able to lead happy lives. Some live rent free on land through relationships built on trust and respect, while others live knowingly on land they have no right to occupy. And some enter an informal lease arrangement with a customary land owner, paying them an agreed rent on land. The major disadvantage of ...
Mar 14, 2024•15 min•Ep. 25
A majority of households in Vanuatu possess basic traditional production skills that serve to transform the natural assets they have access to - indigenous lands, forest and marine resources - into food, shelter, medicine, and more. The presence of these skills, moreso in rural areas, represents their continued usefulness as well as a cost savings and level of preparedness, and they help explain resilience in the face of natural disasters as well as the recent pandemic of Covid-19. This episode ...
Mar 07, 2024•15 min•Ep. 24
All people have the right to feel safe in their community, and in most places in Vanuatu a majority of the people do. However, in some places, particularly in Luganville and in Malampa Province, more than half of the population do not feel safe walking in their community or neighborhood after dark. The wellbeing of women in particular is burdened by feeling unsafe, helping to explain consistently lower reported life satisfaction of women compared with men. More and more men are reporting acts of...
Feb 29, 2024•11 min•Ep. 23
Education is linked with wellbeing in some obvious ways, with better health and income outcomes resulting from attaining higher levels. More than ten thousand adults in Vanuatu over the age of 25, however, have never attended school. Many of them are able to live a good life, with plenty of food to eat, a good house to live in, and a community and large family that can support them. This episode looks into the ways in which an "education of life" contributes to wellbeing and is important for all...
Feb 22, 2024•14 min•Ep. 22
Participation in ceremonial activities is considered to be important to a vast majority of ni-Vanuatu today, and the data shows participation is constant in both rural and urban areas. In this episode, we look at direct participation by the storyteller who has participated in rank or grade taking ceremonies, and the reasons why participation was important to him and his family. We also discuss indirect ceremonial participation as critically important to their success, with many ceremonies consis...
Feb 15, 2024•15 min•Ep. 21
The number of young people graduating from secondary schools and going on to post-secondary opportunities at Universities both at home and abroad has been rising steadily in Vanuatu with improvements to the formal education sector and increased scholarship opportunities. This means that more and more young people are not spending as much time on their ancestral lands, speaking their ancestral language, and learning about their identity in ways that also have an impact on their quality of life. D...
Dec 07, 2023•9 min•Ep. 20
Most rural villages in Vanuatu - where 75% of the population resides - have regular community meetings to discuss issues of importance to all members. The rules of "kastom" dictate how meetings are called and conducted, including who is allowed to speak and who controls the agenda. Today, more and more people are not attending meetings as they once did. This indicates a loss of respect for traditional leaders that call the meetings, and a loss of relevance of community meetings to the lives of i...
Nov 30, 2023•10 min•Ep. 19
Vanuatu is home to over 100 indigenous languages, each one holding the rich histories and stories of the many culture groups that call this place home. Traditional knowledge, measured in the 2020 NSDP Baseline Survey through knowledge of traditional songs, dances, games, and stories, is showing signs of decline. This is related to the decline in use of indigenous languages which carry knowledge forward from one generation to the next. This is also related to the decline in traditional production...
Nov 23, 2023•13 min•Ep. 18
Traditional leaders carry cultural norms forward through their duty of practice, acting as the keepers of kastom. But their performance does not go without scrutiny by the villagers that depend on their leadership. Statistics are reported on perceived performance of Chiefs in their roles as peace keepers, representatives of the community, vessels of traditional knowledge, and managers of community resources. In this episode, a villager gives an outside perspective of what he sees challenging tra...
Nov 16, 2023•14 min•Ep. 17
Chiefs have tremendous influence in communities across Vanuatu as traditional leaders that have earned their leadership status through traditional payment systems or through birthright and family status. As the authorities of traditional governance, Chiefs play critical roles in peace keeping, ceremonial activities, and resource management, among other duties. This episode features a Chief from the island of Tanna explaining some of the duties he holds, and describes how traditional governance i...
Nov 13, 2023•10 min•Ep. 16
Fish, invertebrates, shellfish, and crab have been important sources of protein and a dietary staple for most people in Vanuatu for as long as there have been people living on these islands. Traditional fishing practices, such as trapping and using a spear, enabled fishermen to obtain what they needed to feed their families. Taboos and other traditional means of conservation protected the crabs and shellfish from overharvesting. Modern fishing practices, coupled with economic incentives to take ...
Nov 02, 2023•12 min•Ep. 16
Vanuatu is both the country most exposed and most at risk to natural disasters according to the UN World Risk Index, and it has held those titles since the publication of the World Risk Report in 2012. The natural environment and people of Vanuatu are constantly prepared for or in a state of recovery, particularly as the frequency and severity of natural disasters has increased in response to climate change. In this episode, the storyteller speaks of the tremendous resilience of the people in th...
Oct 26, 2023•12 min•Ep. 14
Kava has tremendous cultural significance in Vanuatu and has since become a major export and source of income for many farmers. Nearly half (47%) of all men ages 15 and older are active kava drinkers, and more and more women are starting to drink kava. This episode of "Storian blong Gudfala Laef" features a storyteller that actively drinks kava. He discusses how he was introduced to kava, and how his relationship to kava has changed over the last 16 years since he started drinking kava as a scho...
Oct 19, 2023•14 min•Ep. 13
Traditional healing, through herbal or leaf medicines and massage treatments, is considered safe and effective by most people in Vanuatu. For many with simple ailments, they are able to get treatment without having to leave their community. They don't require an ID to receive treatment - in fact, in most cases they are familiar with the person behind the medicine and are able to feel comfortable with them. In many parts of the country, traditional healers are more accessible than nurses and doct...
Oct 12, 2023•12 min•Ep. 12
Smoking is a public health issue predominantly driven by young men in Vanuatu. More than 1 in 3 males smoke cigarettes or tobacco regularly. Smoking is highly addictive regardless of educational attainment or location and can lead to severe consequences, from cancers to heart problems and more. Smoking shares a relationship with kava consumption, however, the data suggests young males are smoking before they have started drinking kava, making tobacco a potential gateway to kava drinking. A small...
Oct 05, 2023•9 min•Ep. 11
Those born with a disability and those having developed a disability at some point in their life experience life differently than those without a disability. From education to public transportation, the challenges facing families of people with disability are greater in size and number, and these challenges prevent some people from living a good life. Episode 10 features a storyteller that has experienced life once without a disability and now lives with a lot of difficulty with her mobility. He...
Sep 28, 2023•12 min•Ep. 10
A large majority of ni-Vanuatu are food secure, and a large majority of ni-Vanuatu households feel their families have enough or more than enough access to healthy local foods. Beyond food security a majority of ni-Vanuatu enjoy food sovereignty, able to control food production systems and actively engaged in agricultural production. Much of this benefit is through the continuity of recognized indigenous land rights and the continuity of traditional knowledge and food production skills. This epi...
Sep 21, 2023•13 min
Many adults in Vanuatu recall a time when every small store sold kerosene used to fuel lanterns. Families gathered around the lanterns to eat, talk, and even read at night. Solar energy has overtaken and almost eradicated kerosene as the most common form of energy used by households in Vanuatu. This transformation came at cost to the consumer, with successful programmes supported by the government to subsidize home solar systems in an effort to push for renewable energy independence. Episode 8 t...
Sep 14, 2023•9 min•Ep. 8
Vanuatu is now supplying more labor via seasonal worker programs in Australia and New Zealand than any other Pacific Island country, and has grown a dependence on these regional labor programs. Ni-Vanuatu are attracted to the income potential as well as an opportunity to experience something different and new. For many, the labor programs are their best or only opportunity for decent pay. Thousands have returned with savings that have enabled them to acquire land, build a home, pay for school fe...
Sep 07, 2023•9 min•Ep. 7
Do you know youth that are willing yet unable to find work? This episode delves into youth unemployment in Vanuatu with a storyteller that shows unemployment as a phenomenon for those that have completed formal education, as well those that may have left the system at earlier ages. Data on youth unemployment in this episode is taken from the period prior to Covid-19 lockdowns and the associated impacts on the local economy in Vanuatu, therefore the story illustrate unemployment relates their exp...
Aug 31, 2023•10 min•Ep. 6
In honor of the Provincial School Games underway in Port Vila this week, this episode features a young woman from the island of Pentecost tell her story of how her family supported her pursuits in sport to where she is now, studying on a full scholarship and representing the nation at international competitions while continuing to train in the sport that brings her joy.
Aug 24, 2023•10 min•Ep. 5
In this episode, the storyteller describes traditional housing and the advantages it has over housing that uses foreign materials such as concrete and corrugated iron. The perception that traditional housing is somehow inferior to other housing is incorrect. Traditional housing is sustainable, clean, and safe. Moreover, it's affordable for those with free access to land and natural resources. A majority of housing in Vanuatu is built using local natural resources.
Aug 17, 2023•10 min•Ep. 4
In this episode we hear the traditional marriage story of a young man and young woman in modern Port Vila. Both storytellers are from SHEFA Province. Cultural rituals require Traditional Wealth Items that hold value in ritual exchange. These items include pigs, mats, yams, kava, and other items as determined by the rules of a particular group. The young couple were supported by their extended families on the islands for them to get married in custom in Port Vila. This episode explores themes of ...
Aug 10, 2023•8 min•Ep. 3
The storyteller in this episode is a woman that lost her husband, leaving her with young children to raise as a single parent. Her husband's family, of different island origins, became estranged over time, threatening her son's future access to his ancestral lands passed down through his late father. The story emphasizes the pronounced vulnerability of women in Vanuatu when it comes to indigenous lands as discovered in official statistics on housing and food production. As important as it is to ...
Aug 03, 2023•8 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Storyteller hemi talem aot impotens blong kastom graon long laef blong hem mo ol man ples blong hem. Kastom graon hemi sapotem bigfala majoriti blong olgeta pipol long Vanuatu bitim 1,000 yia i kam kasem tede. Identiti blong olgeta man mo woman Vanuatu i joen wetem graon. Majoriti blong olgeta pipol long Vanuatu i kontiniu blong yusum kastom graon blong olgeta blong fidim famle, haosem famle, mo long fulap narafala samting we yumi nidim vatu blong pem sipos graon i no gat.
Jul 20, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 1
