Hilary Clinton recently reinvented herself as a tough beer loving heroine of the working classes, when she ditched her First Lady persona. However, a politician in Vanuatu, makes Hillary’s efforts pale into insignificance.

Another woman, a world away in the South Pacific, made headlines when she ran the gauntlet to successfully enter the fractious world of politics.

Jenny Ligo from the island of Ambae in Vanuatu, an island nation of the South Pacific, made the headlines last year also, when she ceremonially clubbed pigs to death at her wedding, as custom law demands.

Jenny is once again in the limelight, as she ceremonially clubs more pigs, so as to have the right to enter the political arena. In her new found role of high Chiefly Leadership, Jenny is only the second woman to achieve such an honour.

It is rare for a woman to achieve a high ranking chiefly title, in an ancient society that has been dominated by the male fist of authority for centuries. Jenny’s herculean task was to club to death more pigs to death in a special ceremony, where Chief Paul Tahi, declared Jenny to be the ‘Mother of the Nation’.

A high pitched, ear splitting, death defying squeal from an endangered pig, warns its companions for miles around, that it is in trouble. Jenny bravely faced this 11 times. The pig killing ceremony a necessity if Jenny is to stand for her electorate in the upcoming elections later this year.

This pales Hillary Clinton's beer swilling efforts into pale obscurity, as most people could not endure seeing one pig clubbed to death, let alone a number of pigs.

“I am not a woman who sits and waits to be served. I am a leader and I mean business when I say I am going to reach out to the people,” said Jenny Ligo. Most people would have to agree that Jenny is not backward when it comes to expressing forthright sentiments.

While both Hillary and Jenny have huge issues to cope with in the political arena, Jenny has an added burden through custom magic.

Over 100 years ago a young priest was shot and killed on her home island of Ambrae, causing a curse to be cast on the northern part of the island.

"This ‘curse’ has stopped any forward development" the locals claim.

Late last year, Bishop James Ligo, reconciled the descendants of the murdered priest and the local people. Now the island can begin to finally progress forward, the locals say.

Jenny’s aunt, Grace Molisa, was a women’s right’s activist. She became the first woman to hold the post of Private Secretary to Prime Minister Father Walter Lini. He was the first Prime Minister to the newly independent nation of Vanuatu, (formerly known as the New Hebrides).

It is believed Jenny will make a difference in the education of the children of the nation, which was nominated ‘The Happiest Country on Earth’, in 2006. Hopefully this anonymous quote will not symbolize Vanuatu. ‘Where there Is no school, you need to build another jail.’

When most of the people in Vanuatu live in a Cashless Economy and education is not free, the literacy levels of Vanuatu are not something to be proud of.

These stats have changed little since 1998:

#Only 55.8% of kids will get to year 6;
#Only 18.2 % will go to high school;
#26% never go to school at all.

You can assist the next generation of Jenny Ligos to become educated through a Blue Moon Opportunity. A Child Trust Fund has been privately funded to give children from the Outer Islands non-repayable education grants for high school. The first students will enter this program in January 2009.

Jenny Ligo will become involved in this scheme, so children will be given the opportunity to understand not only the ancient custom ways, but the benefits of the modern ways of the 21st century.

The only lasting way to bring about real change is when that change is brought about internally, through education.