My friend Mary

I met Mary in this village nearly seventeen years ago.  We were a little family of four on a faith adventure in Vanuatu and she was working for her provincial government in partnership with an NGO. We found in common our faith, our love for the people of Vanuatu and an interest in enterprising solutions for the nation.

We kept in touch by sporadic emails. Mary’s internet service was ad hoc and dependent on her employment. Ours’ back home in Australia was brilliant in comparison.  We spent a week with Mary and her husband in their home on the neighbouring island several years later and Mary visited our home in Brisbane.  I met up with Mary again last year, when she was in Australia on a speaking tour with ActionAid.  It was as if nothing had changed, and yet it had. 

Mary was now a widow.  I already knew that from her correspondence.  We were both much older and so were our children.  Mary was now a grandmother; me, not yet.   I was in full employment and Mary was hopeful. 

Mary has communicated with me-and with others, that she faced many challenges as a widow in her culture. She chose to do something about this. She found her voice. 

Tanna Island, a large southern island of Vanuatu, is Mary’s home. Tourists know Tanna for its live volcano called Mt Yasur. I am a rather proud -and in hindsight a somewhat crazy, tourist who climbed it and eyeballed it’s molten depth!  Mary’s home is on her husband’s family’s land but she is vulnerable to family pressures to relinquish it.  In spite of being amongst family, I recall Mary’s anger when as an early widow, she was propositioned by some of the married men she knew.   

In recent years, Mary has sought to speak up for women and especially widows in her region. She has many ideas, but little funding or support. One of her desires is to train the women in the provinces to help them package, preserve and sell their produce. She also wants to empower these women in leadership. As a part of her journey, Mary ran for provincial government.  

Mary’s political journey started nine years ago when she sought endorsement to contest the provincial elections. Her article for the Pacific Institute of Public Policy called The Long Journey-Political Acceptance of Women, outlines the challenges she met as a possible candidate. I found it especially sobering to read of what happened to women who considered voting for her.  

I love the women and men of Vanuatu.  Our family counts amongst our closest friends ni-Van families that live in the Capital Port Vila, Erromango Island-where this photo was taken, and Tanna Island. Our first few visits to this tropical archipelago were as tourists. Our latter is simply to visit our friends. My husband, son and many male friends would add ‘and for the fishing’!

Recently, I have been confronted to read formal documents of support for our Pacific neighbours highlighting the sexual abuse against girls in Vanuatu as one of the highest in the world. The inequity in women’s leadership in this Pacific nation has not gone unnoticed either. 

I thank God for women like Mary who won’t be silenced and is speaking up for the women of Vanuatu.  My question and prayer is, what more can I do?