Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Young Australians Sharing Skills with our Pacific Neighbours Case Study Click on either of these two links for further information about this case study: Teacher's Notes Student Activities In The Maldives... Caralene Moloney is training netball coaches, as part of a national campaign to increase the fitness and self esteem levels of Maldivian women. Studies show that increasing the health and self-esteem of women in developing countries inevitably improves the health of their families, where women are the primary carers. The Maldives consists of over a thousand islands, which are spread across the equator in the Indian Ocean. Its closest neighbour is Sri Lanka. Well over half of the population of the Maldives is below the age of twenty-five. During her travels around the islands, Caralene has found the girls she has met to be enthusiastic to play netball. However, no one in the islands knows how to umpire or coach. To overcome this, her idea is to train teachers at Male Teachers' College in sporting administration and netball coaching. Then when the College students return to the islands as teachers, it is hoped that they will establish netball as a recreational activity in their communities. In Fiji... Peter Vanderwal is working with the Rotary Club of East Suva on the 'Beam of Hope' project, which aims to reduce the incidence of diabetes induced blindness among the indigenous people. His work ranges from assisting with education programs to increase the Fijians' awareness of early warning signs and treatment for the disease, to efforts to obtain donations of wheelchairs. In the Solomon Islands... Emma Stone is expanding the existing seed production centre in Honiara to the regions. This will help local people to gain independence from the big seed companies and will support the traditional subsistence agricultural system which is threatened by cultural and environmental changes. In Vanuatu... Luisa Rust is working on a banking project, to educate the community about loans, saving and interest. 'Wanem bank nao yu stap bank wetem?' - Who do you bank with? she asks. Many people in Vanuatu can not read or write and they live in communities and villages which are spread over 80 islands where over 100 indigenous languages are spoken. Traditional marketing tools such as brochures are thus of no use and providing banking services is financially and physically difficult. Luisa is producing a radio drama with the assistance of a local theatre group, Wan Smol Bag Theatre Company. Her messages about banking will be entertaining and will reach people living on outer islands, and the problem of illiteracy will be overcome. In Nepal... Dzung Le is utilizing his recent degree in Information Technology, working with an organisation in Kathmandu on a database project, where small loans such as 2000 rupees (AUD$50) can affect the life of a villager and a small rural community. In Bhindasavani... Bhindasavani village, 40km east of Kathmandu, grows rice, sorghum, wheat and other crops. The village's Savings and Credit Organisation (SCO) is one of the most successful co-operatives in Nepal. With over 3000 members, it runs a savings scheme whereby people of the village put in 10 rupees a month (that is about two cents). Loans are given to members on a need/grant basis. It is not uncommon for a loan to be taken out by a woman to buy food for her family. A loans committee approves each loan. There is a 98% repayment rate because, in a rural village, people know each other so there is great peer pressure to meet the repayment, and the money is the community's money. SCOs exist because poor people cannot get loans from the banks. By forming a group and mobilising their savings, the community can provide capital for people to start up a business. In Bhindasavani one woman in her late fifties took out a 25,000 rupee (AUD$500) loan to start a knitting business. She bought an old manual knitting machine and some wool. She operates her business from a room in the second storey of an ancient brick house with cracking boards. In the room is her bed, knitting machine and a cupboard. She makes woollen jumpers for schools and a broker buys them from her by the kilogram. She has managed to repay the loan within a year. As well, she has learned to read and write from the education programs the SCO funds. She has never been to school nor seen the world beyond her village. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. The average GDP per capita is AUS$63.58 and 80% of the population live in poverty. There is a 75% illiteracy rate - higher among women. Through the community's effort to save, the quality of life in the village of Bhindasavani is starting to improve. Several water taps to ensure a constant supply of water nearby have recently been installed, and a small hydro dam is providing some electricity. As Dzung Le visits the villages he writes how he has been struck by: 'a remarkable sense of hope here, a feeling that if they manage to pool all of their resources they could alleviate some of their country's sufferings. It is inspiring!'.   Top © Commonwealth of Australia