The donation program is narrowing the distance between Vanuatu and Narooma. Photo: Hayley Abbott Facebook.
Hayley Abbott knows life in Vanuatu can be pretty different to what she grew up with in Australia.
A few years ago she moved to the remote island country in the South Pacific Ocean to manage an expansion of the family business, Narooma Seafood Direct.
In a partnership with her friend Danielle Campbell, she has also been hard at work organising donations for remote communities.
“For the expats that relocate to the Pacific, there’s always an aspect of how we can help the locals,” she said.
People were able to donate preloved sporting equipment in the first donation round earlier this year, while donations are currently being gathered for a second trip.
“We started with that – the soccer club and the AFL club [in Narooma] donated. That was aimed at the kids,” she said.
“To see their faces light up when they’ve got a soccer ball or a T-shirt … is really cool. There’s things that we take for granted that is really, really difficult to get here.”
Chatting to her fellow sports clubs in Narooma to kick off the donations was an easy decision for Danielle, who is also Narooma FC president.
“They [kids in Vanuatu] don’t have this widely accessible stuff that you and I take for granted. We just go and buy things,” she said.
“Every year or two, you have to recycle equipment. Balls and playing shirts and all those things need upgrading because they get wear and tear.
“Clubs might buy a whole new strip with new sponsors on, and then they’re [wondering] what to do with all these old playing shirts.”
For the first round of donations, she contacted fellow clubs on the NSW South Coast, nearly 3000 km away from Vanuatu, to organise collections of preloved equipment, all so they could be sent to Sydney – and then to Vanuatu.
A second round of donations are set to close in mid-May, and further rounds are planned. Photo: Hayley Abbott Facebook.
Once the donations arrived they were distributed throughout schools on the remote northwest coast of Espiritu Santo, one of Vanuatu’s 80-plus islands.
The island is located in northern Vanuatu and is only accessible by boat.
“It’s completely isolated … absolutely no roads. You can’t walk there,” Hayley said.
“The only way to get to and from [there] is by boat, which is limited with the traders that go up there.
“Also, depending on the time of year, if the weather or the seas are rough, you just can’t get in there and can’t access these villages.”
Once the items arrive in Vanuatu, Hayley said a key part of the program is having the communities decide what they accept.
“There’s no point in putting 50 soccer balls in one village,” she said.
“[The question is] how we distribute it to get the maximum positive outcomes for the most people. We just work it out, divide them up, and then we work out a way to get it where it needs to be.
“It’s hard to describe, but it just works. That’s what Vanuatu and a lot of Vanuatu is built on, that community spirit.”
In the next rounds of donations, people can donate an expanded range of items, such as more sporting equipment, clothes and other items.
“This round, we’ll just get what we’ve got and play it by ear and get it across [to Vanuatu],” she said.
“Once we start working more closely with the villages, we get a better relationship with them [and can ask] what they need to make their quality of living better.
“Is it medical supplies that you need? Is it schoolbooks that you need?”
People can donate items at a drop-off point at 42 Glasshouse Rocks Road in Narooma.
