Last summer I went to Vanuatu as a volunteer with Youth Challenge Australia hoping to learn more about Ni Vanuatu culture, about the complexities of community development and whether this was the sort of field I would like to work in. It is incredibly hard to paint an accurate picture of my experience on Tongoa, as it is so caught up in the people and the small things; preparing food in a big group of women all laughing and telling stories, playing chasey with a band of smiling cheeky kids, digging for taro in the cool early morning or swimming in the warm tropical ocean after a day of digging a muddy trench. 

I learnt that indeed community development work is complex and also something I would like to do more of. However one of the most significant things I learnt was that the people that I stayed with, the people that I had hoped to assist, were in some ways more fortunate than myself. Despite not having access to adequate health care or post primary school education, the people on Tongoa lead lives that to many of us sounds paradisaical. Food, although you must work to grow it, is free. So much time is spent with family and friends, whether it is fishing in the reef surrounding the island, cooking together in big groups at night or resting in the shade on a hot afternoon and telling stories. 

The opportunity to look at my own life with the perspective gained from living in a different culture is the biggest gift I received from my time in Vanuatu and to my mind much greater assistance than I was able to give my friends on Tongoa. It has compelled me to live differently than before I went to Vanuatu and inspired me to reach out and create my own community at home.