In many western countries progress is measured using GDP or Gross Domestic Product. GDP is the measure of all things produced within the borders of a country and then sold. Many countries have placed their hope that by measuring GDP they can follow the footsteps of  western nations in lifting their populations into a better life. Since its inception, GDP has been criticized for many reasons, for example; how can unlimited growth be sustainable? How does GDP measure the well-being of the population? The answer is, it doesn't and it also isn’t sustainable. 

Vanuatu is a nation where a large majority of the population lives off the land in a subsistence lifestyle. They live comfortably because almost all ni-Vanuatu have access to traditional land, languages and culture which are the real foundations of well-being and contentment. The land is so fertile, providing not only food but also housing and more. Harnessing their traditional knowledge means they also live sustainably and their traditions, or Kastom, care for them as people as whole beings. However, none of this contributes to GDP which calls into question the usefulness of it as a measure of progress. This is especially true given that Vanuatu has no intention of giving up its traditions and way of life. 

Vanuatu is one of the few nations in the world that has refused to accept GDP as a measurement to decide how their country has been developing. In its unique way, Vanuatu has decided to measure its citizens well-being to understand its progress to ensure that decisions that are made affect well-being. GDP is still measured, but the well-being of the population is taken into consideration alongside it. In this episode, we interview Jamie Tanguay of the Vanuatu National Statistics Office to better understand this process and how it is undertaken. 

Links:

- Vanuatu National Statistics Office https://vnso.gov.vu/index.php/en/

- Alternative Indicators of Wellbeing for Melanesia: Cultural values driving public policy. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-46458-3_11

- Melanesian Spearhead Group https://msgsec.info/

"Many indicators that are now prominent in the Vanuatu development framework are relatable across the Pacific.  If the work Vanuatu is doing can help influence other countries in the Pacific to be more concerned with the well-being of their people rather than focused on endless GDP growth, that is the future we want to see.  A future with balanced and well-being centered governance and development." Jamie Tanguay @MetaloJamie

"This important report will be of great interest to all those interested in sustainability, self-sufficiency, traditional landrights and culture. It should also interest those economists who have often denigrated Vanuatu's oft-announced suspicions of the 'modern development agenda' promoted by all and sundry. This agenda seems to have always been oblivious to the fact that almost all ni-Vanuatu have access to traditional land, languages and culture which are the real foundations of Well-being and Contentment. As many economists seem to rely only on 'data' to enable them to think about anything, here is the data that will help them to understand that what many in Vanuatu have been saying for years is actually true." Kirk Hauffman

Music Credit: Surisuri basatura, choeur d'hommes (Maewo) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjsSvepLjc

What drives a person to overcome obstacles in life? We all know that life is going to give us challenges, struggles, and it will force us to face our own fears and realities and at the same time help us get a more clear perspective of our values and passion.

Listen to an inspirational story about how one Pacific Island woman overcame her fear of shyness and obstacles in life to find her passion in nursing the sick through her work as a registered nurse. We will follow her life journey from a young girl, refusing to give up on her education after failing her exams, and being rejected by several schools to continue her education by believing in her dreams, inspired by her faith in God, her Mom, her Grandma, and her passion for reading.

Celebrating Pacific Island Arts and Creativity through storytelling in the 21st century.

Since the beginning of Covid-19 lockdown, many Pacific Islanders found new ways to leverage the power of storytelling through creating podcasts. The inspiration for this is to pass on Pacific Island traditional knowledge and cultural values that inspires the younger generations.

In this episode, we spoke to Miriama Bono, an architect and painter from French Polynesia, who is Director of the Musée de Tahiti et des Îles. Bono has been instrumental in commissioning the renovation of the museum, as well as securing a number of international loans that return significant objects of Polynesian culture to the museum. One of her goals as the director of Musée de Tahiti et des Îles and as an artist, she was determined to bring to the forefront stories of cultural artists of Tahiti to the outside world. To show the world another side of Tahiti that the world doesn’t know.  Along with her husband, Benjamin Brillouet they both created two podcasts - one dedicated to art and creativity in Tahiti called Tahiti On Air that showcase stories of Polynesian Artists and creative individuals from different creative cultural avenues. The podcast shares inspiring journeys for others to witness the Polyniesan diversity and richness of artists from the Islands. The second podcast is called Parau Tama, a podcast dedicated to Polynesian tales and legends.

The podcast is dedicated to creation in Tahiti, but not only Initially focused on the creative process of Polynesian artists, the podcast's fields of interest now extend from artistic creation Talk a Podcast co-hosted by Miriama Bono and Benjamin Brillouet.

In this 2 part series on FOOD with our guest, Kirk Huffman, we discuss food in Melanesia. We look at food from two different lenses. Part 1 of the episode, we focused on Food and identity and in the 2nd episode, we look at the Cultural relationship between food and Women and Men of Vanuatu.

In this second part about Food and Identity in the Pacific, particularly in the Melanesia region of the Pacific, Kirk Huffman and I talk about the connection and importance in relationships between men and women and food.

In this 2 part series on FOOD with our guest, Kirk Huffman, we discuss food in Melanesia. We look at food from two different lenses. Part 1 of the episode, we focus on Food and identity and in the 2nd episode, we look at the Cultural relationship between food and Women and Men of Vanuatu.

In this first part about Food and Identity in the Pacific, particularly in the Melanesia region of the Pacific, Kirk Huffman and I talk about the essentials of Aelan Kakae or Island Food where we dive into the different areas of food associated with the livelihood of people in pertaining to not just diet but also with identity, spiritual food, and food closely associated with women and men in ritual ceremony

In this episode we talk with members of the group, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change at https://www.pisfcc.org/ and how they can help make a difference in the fight against climate change. This group of young climate activists will share what inspired them to make a difference and how they are using what they learned in their education to help mitigate the climate crisis that is affecting Pacific Island Nations today.

The Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (P.I.S.F.C.C) launched a petition that calls upon leaders of Pacific Island nations, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to commence the process of seeking an advisory opinion on human rights and climate change from the International Court of Justice.

This regional youth-led organization who have been campaigning for an advisory opinion from the Court since 2019, welcomed the announcement as a huge milestone for the campaign when the Vanuatu Government announced its intention to take on the campaign to seek an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the issue of climate change and human rights. This marks a huge step forward in the campaign to have climate change considered by the World’s Highest Court.

Music Credits to Pacific Climate Justice https://youtu.be/aNK8NwSOvFA

Special Thank you to Chun Chia Tai who is our student volunteer and editor of this episode.

In this episode we talk with Anna Naupa, a Harvard graduate from Vanuatu about the importance of story telling in the historical record. The recent book Taf Tumas was published as an example of a locally produced historical record to highlight important contributions of people in Vanuatu in it's history since independence in 1980. The book can be found at http://www.taftumas.com .

In this three part series of celebrating Pacific Island women for their work as leaders in research and storytelling as part of the international women’s day, we had the privilege to speak to our second guest, Dr. Tarisi Sorovi-Vunidilo. Dr. Vunidilo is a renowned indigenous Fijian archaeologist, Fiji language expert, and cultural holder. She is also an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, where she teaches courses in indigenous museology and heritage management. 

In this segment, Vunidilo unpacked her love for story-telling, and her work as an indigenous archaeologist. She uses her platform to inspire her students about the history of places, artifacts, and indigenous people. She considers herself privileged to be an indigenous person, and sees her role as a bridge between western science and indigenous people of the Pacific as well as her own indigenous Fijan people - iTaukei (literally meaning ‘owner's of the land and resources in Fiji)

When she is not teaching in her classroom, you are sure to  find her on her popular weekly platform sessions on Facebook, YouTube, and instagram called ‘Talanoa with Dr. T’ where she co-hosts with her husband to share tutorials on Fijian language and heritage - that includes Fijian archaeology, anthropology and museology. The weekly Talanoa with Dr. T is an online platform for learning and the content ranging from teaching the Fijian language, to the history of Lapita pottery and Fijan mat weaving.  

Her popular online classes have grown from just tutorials for Fijian children around the world to an additional segment where she invites individual Fijians living around the world to come on her show to share their stories in order to create a place to bring everyone together. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLmUHiHb2i-2fCcvX6Ff6Q

https://www.facebook.com/talanoawithdrt

https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/pacific/fijian-treasures-that-are-treasured-–-our-shareds

https://www.tetaumatatoiaiwi.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Indigenous-iTaukei-Worldview_by-Dr-Tarisi-Vunidilo.pdf

11 - A Melanesian indigenous Tok Stori approach to research - Dignity Pasifik

As we celebrate the international women’s day on the 8th of March of 2021, MWT would like to celebrate three Pacific Island women for their work as leaders in research. We would like to recognize and highlight the work of these three scholars who have been quietly working in the background as researchers and writers in their own respective fields and their contributions to the field of knowledge as research academics, as well holders and protectors of their indigenous knowledge.

In this first episode of the three part series, we will talk to Mrs. Ruth Maetala, co-founder and CEO of Dignity Pasifik, a research firm in the Solomon Islands. Ruth spoke about how coming to terms with her own indigenous identity as a Gwailao woman from the Solomon Islands has given her the passion to look at her work as a researcher differently.

Next Episode will be a Talanoa with Dr. Tarisi from Fiji at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Tarisi is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where she teaches courses on Indigenous museology and heritage management.

Episode 10 What does it mean to be Indigenous with Kirk Huffman.

In this episode on the mat, we discuss what it means to be Indigenous. We will talk with Kirk Huffman, who is a good friend of the podcast and of Melanesian Women Today. He has worked and lived with indigenous people in many parts of the world. Kirk Huffman is both an Anthropologist and Ethnologist who pursued studies in Anthropology, Prehistoric Archaeology, and Ethnology at the universities of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Oxford, and Cambridge in the U.K.

We would like to thank the following contributors to make this episode - Vanuatu Cultural Centre for providing music; the United Nations for information in defining Indigenous; the Bougainville Island Bamboo Pipe Band, and to Agnes Binihi and her students at Tebakor College in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Finally, to our two wonderful mums who provided us with profound words of wisdom. To Mrs. Ana Tubuleca Tarere, a vey big Vinaka Vakalevu to you and to Mrs. Florence Korokoro, Tankyu Tumas for providing us your thoughts on being Indigenous.