Vanuatu - A Canadian's Perspective

arved wooden bird on prow of traditional canoe.

Birds such as this attached to the prow of a canoe signify the traditional social rank that the owner has achieved. Photo ©S. Combs, 1987.

A Table of Contents for easy access to the different pages of this site.

A note about this site: My family (tolerant wife and two daughters aged 3 and 5) and I moved to Malekula Island, Vanuatu in February, 1987 and lived there for two years. In August, 1989, we returned to Vanuatu and lived in the capital, Port Vila, until leaving in November, 1992. This site is about rural Vanuatu, not Port Vila, and it obviously contains no up-to-date information about that town. Nevertheless, having read the accounts of missionaries, labour traders, explorers, and map-makers who worked in Vanuatu from 80 to 150 years ago, it seems that some things in rural Vanuatu didn't change between then and when I lived there. I see no reason why they have changed much since I left. Enjoy the site.

Vanuatu is an unknown quantity to most Westerners; I usually limit explanations to casual inquirers to the facts that it is a archipelago (Commonwealth Games map) located in the South Pacific between Fiji and Australia (Commonwealth Games map), and James Michener's "South Pacific" was set there. If the inquirer is of the older generation, I add that its pre-independence name was The New Hebrides and it was the site of the U.S.'s largest WW II base in the Western Pacific. These few connections to their experience are more than most Westerners want to know; nobody wants to puncture the South Pacific Illusion carefully cultivated over the past two centuries by novelists, travel writers, and the tourism industry.

The region is almost always portrayed as a paradise of warm breezes coming off blue seas, crossing sandy beaches, and rustling palm fronds. Under these coconut palms, it is said that unspoiled natives live close to nature in social harmony.

The South Pacific, however, is not a fantasyland, or a "paradise"; it is a real place. Living there is entirely different from holidaying at a resort located there. Like anywhere else, lots of things about the South Pacific are pleasant, and some things are not. I have experienced the fantasy, and I met many people who showed me much friendliness and tolerance. I have also passed my children out the window of a disintegrating building in a 170-mph cyclone and attended a meeting where members of a small village could not come to terms with what in Canada would have been a small case of social diversity. As for lolling about under coconut palms, that is for tourists and fools only - when a ripe coconut falls, it falls without warning and with deadly force.

hildren with teacher.

A small facet of Vanuatu's interaction with the new universe in which it finds itself: Grade One children and their teacher take a break from their measuring workshop (note one-metre sticks) to pose for the first whitemen through their village in some weeks. Photo ©S. Combs, 1987.

Vanuatu, as well as being a "place", is people. People who have had the Western universe forced upon them and are struggling to find a place in it. This site is about what I learned about Vanuatu during 1987-92, when I worked as a development adviser first to a regional government and then to the central government. One of the first useful things I learned was that Vanuatu was getting a lot of technical, monetary, and in-kind assistance for the stated purpose of helping it adjust to its new universe. I also learned that most of this assistance was not really helping the vast majority of ni-Vanuatu grasp control of their circumstances (i.e., "develop") or improve their lifestyles. Besides, very little of the progress attained is sustainable without continued aid. I concluded that aid donors, ni-Vanuatu politicians, and Vanuatu's people had conspired to form a "cargo cult" dependency. I characterize "underdevelopment" in Vanuatu as a clash of the Melanesian and Western cultures, with "bewilderment" being the operative word on both sides.

This WWW site is for those who want to explore what I call "Real Vanuatu". It is not an "official site". Although it contains information on travel in Vanuatu, it is not a tourism site. It certainly isn't the definitive site. Much of it probably isn't as accurate as it could be; it is just what I learned about Vanuatu. I had the opportunity to see a lot of Vanuatu; I lived on an outer island and in the capital, and I traveled throughout the archipelago. I had dealings with all the regional governments, most of the central government departments, and most of the foreign aid donors. I worked with ni-Vanuatu and foreign aid advisers. I socialized with expatriate plantation mangers and businessmen.

I thought that it was wasteful and a shame that many of Vanuatu's development decisions were made by ni-Vanuatu who did not understand the West and Westerners that did not understand Vanuatu. Here is my contribution to the knowledge of the latter:

A Selection of My Writings About Vanuatu:

I found that many poor development recommendations were made by aid advisors who mistook the urban Vanuatu where they lived for the "Real" Vanuatu; that is, the outlying islands where over 80% of ni-Vanuatu continue to live as subsistence gardeners outside the money economy. To get a glimpse of Vanuatu's social-geographic diversity, read about the Many Vanuatus.
The part of Vanuatu with which I gained the most familiarity was Malekula Island (map), where I lived with my wife and two young daughters for two years after arriving in February, 1987. I describe this experience as "Little House On The Prairie" meets "South Pacific". You may wonder Why and How the heck did we end up there, anyway? When we left Malekula, I wrote most of what I knew about Malekula's geography, economy, and people in my final report on Malekula.
The "Tourist Vanuatu" is pretty much like vacation spots world-wide: about like home except one feels one could explore the unknown beyond the golf course if one really wanted to, and a playground without the social constraints of co-workers, family and acquaintances. Do you have a hankering to actually go beyond the golf course and see the "Real Vanuatu" for yourself? Find out how in my guide to "Travel In Rural Vanuatu" or just go directly to "Places To See In Rural Vanuatu" for a few ideas on what is out there in deepest, darkest Vanuatu. Then, come with me on one of my more eventful journeys and battle geography, the elements, and killer insects to reach a remote village and return home.
So, just what is this kava stuff people come back from the South Pacific talking about? Find out more about Vanuatu's recreational drug of choice, reputed to be the Pacific's strongest!
Ever come across something that sounds like English with a South Seas twist while fiddling with your short-wave radio dial? Perhaps you have stumbled across Radio Australia's Tok Pisin service. Vanuatu's brand of pidgin English, Bislama, blends English, French, and village languages into a lingua franca that was developed as a precondition to emergence from the Stone Age.
An exploration of Kastom Vanuatu; a brief look at the rich traditions and customs of ni-Vanuatu with a few personal experiences and links to other sites on the subject. With each of over 100 language groups having its own kastom, there is a lot of variety throughout the archipelago.
In August, 1992 a Western curse of the twentieth century arrived in Vanuatu. Will broadcast television spoil a South Pacific paradise?
In Vanuatu, the Christmas - New Year Holiday is celebrated with true gusto combined with an unique South Pacific take on European customs.
A short tribute to James Michener, the author who died on October 14, 1997 at age 90. His books "Tales of the South Pacific" and "Return to Paradise" were partially set in Vanuatu and enriched my South Pacific experience.
My translations of three rare Bislama interviews with ni-Vanuatu men who served with the American Forces during the Second World War. Because the Japanese never invaded Vanuatu, not many people know it was the site of the American's largest South Pacific Base, from where the Solomons campaign was launched and supported. The effects of the American occupation were massive and lasting; these men were proud to have defended their nation and assisted the powerful USA.

Comments, suggestions, want to read more, or have questions?

Email me at: scombs@telus.net. I'll do my best to answer any questions, expand on topics, or provide what information I can on Vanuatu.

scombs@telus.net