0.4 Vanuanui: Our community Vanuanui2 is a community of around 250 families located between the shores of the Pacific Ocean and the mountainous island hinterland. Families tend to include multiple generations with parents, married children and grandparents living together, sometimes in separate houses, on one piece of family land. The Inhabitants of Vanuanui The original inhabitants first settled around 3,500 years ago. The country in which Vanuanui is located has been impacted by waves of contact from several European countries. This was particularly intense during World War 1 when the country was seen as being of strategic importance. In the past, people from other countries were recruited to work in the plantations. While the majority of the Vanuanui population is indigenous, this has resulted in other groups making up its ethnic composition. A scattering of ‘outside’ people also live in Vanuanui – several missionaries, a tourist operator and a family who has been attracted by the lifestyle. The common language is ‘reo Vanuanui’, but the constitution of the country requires that official activity is also conducted in English. Community values Family and kinship ties are at the centre of the community and way of life. There is also a strong connection to the land, the sea and the streams that run into the sea. As well as a sense of family, the core values that drive the people of Vanuanui (Vanuanuians) are collectivity, reciprocity, consensus, spirituality, and respect for each other, for customs and protocols, and for their ancestry. Governance The country as a whole has a parliamentary government headed by a Prime Minister. Vanuanui has its own system of local government responsible for making operational decisions such as environmental management, public health, water and sanitation services, local economic development and tourism, municipal planning and transport, and social protection. Vanuanui is also run by a system of chiefs, who are responsible for family, civic and political matters and who represent the family in community affairs. Education Vanuanui has two primary schools and a secondary school that caters for students up to the end of their junior secondary level. Students wishing, or able, to go on to senior secondary attend a school about 45 minutes away by bus. There is road and sea access to other communities in the island and to the capital which is the commercial centre and overseas port. Economy The main sources of income for the community of Vanuanui are fishing and farming coconut, taro, bananas and vanilla beans. These products are sent to the capital as raw unprocessed goods. This income is supplemented by a small amount of tourism, family remittances from those living outside of the country and from overseas development aid. Recently an international company has been given rights to fish within the country’s territorial waters. 2. ‘Vanuanui’ is a made-up name and is not meant to indicate an identifiable community. APF HRCLD Guide 9