development’, F.S.P.-style

Trade Winds

Working hard in Tonga at ‘people development’, F.S.P.-style

David Wyler is the Tonga direc tor of the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (F.S.P.). The foundation is a small non-profit body based in New York State with a New York office staff of seven peo ple. There is also a field staff of 13 based in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Fiji and Tonga.

In Tonga its role is primarily funded by the U.S. Government.

However, F.S.P. itself is a fund raising organisation: “We collect funds from other foundations, from Rotary clubs in New Zea land and Australia, and from organisations in Europe, Den mark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom,” said Mr Wyl er. The United States cannot pro vide government to government aid in the South Pacific and aid grants must go through private agencies. At present about 75 per cent of total F.S.P. funds are coming from the U.S. Govern ment. However, this in no way “hinders or creates any barriers to our work”.

In Tonga the F.S.P. program has an annual budget of about $U5350,000 which is divided into the four major project areas: subsistence fisheries develop ment, village women’s develop ment, vocational agricultural training a small projects as sistance program set up in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac and rural water supply.

In the case of the fisheries development program the Ton gan Government approached F.S.P. in 1977 to provide assist ance in outer island areas to set up a training program for subsist ence to fishermen. The aim was to upgrade the fishermen’s skills in order to provide the begin nings of a cash income. F.S.P. worked in conjuction with the

U.N. Development Program to

develop 7 m to 8 m diesel powered fishing vessels which are now working in Eva, Vavau and Haapai on a commerical basis with local fishermen. The men are trained for six to 10

months on the vessels and if they like the work and have saved enough money, they approach the Tonga Development Bank for a 50 per cent loan. They also receive a 50 per cent grant from the Tonga Government. At the moment seven men have their own fishing vessels making money as a direct result of this program. “This is not a great number but it is seven more than were here five years ago. Obvi ously, when you get one or two successes, many people follow.”

Two of the demonstration boats were lost during Hurricane Isaac but the program is now

operating again, mainly in

Vavau. With Japanese aid, the program is now providing the grant element for 60 vessels over the next five years in the form of diesel engines and electrical equipment. The United Nations

Capital Development Fund is

providing the loan element through the Development Bank.

F.S.P. has learnt in its fisheries program that as the work has developed there has been a great need for ice and ice boxes on small fishing dories and

the larger F.S.P. boats. “We worked for years with the gov ernment boat-building yard and we were lucky to get 10 boxes built a year. We’ve given con tracts now to three local men in Vavau and we’ve had 10 boxes in two weeks. We have a little industry in the making.”

When F.S.P. first started its village women’s training prog ram five years ago with the Catholic Sisters, David Wyler was unsure as to where the prog ram would lead. The Sisters started off in 13 villages and today are working in almot 150 villages with about 400 women’s groups. These are not all newly created groups the Sisters have largely reinvigorated groups which existed in the past.

During her reign Queen Salote set up a national women’s organ isation, the Langa Fonua. This still exists but its only visible presence today is the Langa Fonua Handicraft Centre. The

original aim of Langa Fonua was to encourage women to improve their homes, to raise a little in come, to plant a garden, and to produce traditional mats and tapa cloth for their own use, social functions and for sale. The movement waned in the ’6os and early ’7os and the Catholic Sis ters have played a very signific ant role in reviving the aims of Langa Fonua.

“The Catholic Sisters have re vived the thoughts and feelings that were created 30 years ago by the late Queen . . . these thoughts and memories are still alive in people here the groups were still there, but they were latent.”

F.S.P. has provided transport travel and training funds for the sisters who go into villages to conduct seminars for interested women. The Sisters’ aim is not to take over any village life.

They emphasise the role of wo men in the family. Committees are organised and each group is given a grant of $lO or $2O as seed money to initiate fund raising. “Some groups have turned the $lO-$2O into $2OOO in a week, some have raised only $2OO, but the amount doesn’t matter so much. They are setting their own goals and objectives.”

Projects the women have in itiated include the construction and repair of home kitchens, toilets, showers and water tanks.

The Tonga team leaders: Seini I.

M. Vakasiuola (left), assistant director, and David Wyler, di rector, run four major projects.

Backed by F.S.P. support a workman repairs water tanks in Haapai after Cyclone Isaac.

as well as the erection of pig proof fences around villages and

planting vegetable gardens. “We

have found out with many of these groups that they have taken over the leadership roles in the villages; they are filling a great void in the leadership needs in

Tonga.”

David Wyler stresses that “de

velopment is people develop

ment; if you stray from this strategy you are going to have problems. First, you have to know people, you have to trust people, to have faith in them.

The money is secondary but it is a necessary item. The important thing in development work is finding out where to put the money and how much to put in.

It’s tough and we’re trying our best. But we realise you have to have a good network of contacts,

you have to be here, at this level, on a day-to-day basis.”

As David Wyler sees it, one of the biggest problems of working in the Pacific is avoidance of the duplication of efforts, either at government or non-govemment

levels.

W. G. Coppell.

The F.S.P. fisheries demonstra tion and training boat Manga off Haapai.