Humans of Carey: Tahnee Wood

Outdoor Education and Middle School Teacher

In 2018, I was fortunate to be granted leave from my position at Carey to move to Vanuatu where my husband, Andrew, and I undertook volunteer positions through the Australian Government’s Australian Volunteers Program. We were there for 15 months, with our two young boys, Fraser, 3 years old at the time, and Lorne, 10 months old. Andrew, a career firefighter, was placed at the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila and I volunteered at a local school in a Grade 2 classroom.

Vanuatu is the most disaster-prone country in the world and with the developing climate emergency, this tiny nation of low-lying islands is one of the most vulnerable in the Pacific. We had our fair share of disasters while in Vanuatu, with notable events being the evacuation of 11,000 people off an outlying island due to a volcanic eruption, and an earthquake that triggered a tsunami in the southern islands. In response to many of the disasters, Australia sent its humanitarian relief ship HMAS Choules to deliver essential supplies such as food and shelter. Interestingly, the Choules was also deployed to Mallacoota to evacuate people trapped in this year’s bushfires. As volunteers in Vanuatu, we were invited to tour the Choules and I recall feeling an overwhelming sense of pride as I viewed the Australian Aid kangaroo logo on the containers of aid supplies, knowing that my country is helping our lesser-developed neighbour in times of humanitarian crisis.

My work in the classroom with the local (ni-Vaniatu) students was inspiring. There is no public education system in Vanuatu and sending a child to school is often too expensive for many families. Often, parents of multiple children have to make a gut-wrenching decision about which child they will send to school and which will move straight into the workforce, essentially missing out on a formal education. As a result, the majority of students were highly motivated and seemed to genuinely relish the learning experience. I noticed, however, the crippling weight of responsibility on some children, who knew their families were placing all of their hope on them to succeed and support the entire family once they join the workforce as an educated adult.

Remarkably, Vanuatu is one of only 12 countries in the world to not report a single case of COVID-19 to date. They shut their borders early and, as an extra precaution, went into a strict lockdown to stifle community transmission. They are now enjoying the same freedoms as their pre-pandemic lives. Unfortunately, their economy is suffering, as tourism is their largest export, but they are a happy and healthy nation who celebrated 40 years of independence in July – parades, performances and large-scale street parties were held as normal.

The Pacific Island culture and lifestyle was an incredible experience for our family. Fraser and Lorne flourished, picking up both French and the native language, Bislama. They learnt to snorkel before they could swim and enjoyed the love of a country which cherishes pikininis (children). Often voted the happiest country in the world, Vanuatu will forever have an important place in our lives.