The remote northern islands of the Vanuatu archipelago have for centuries provided a healthy lifestyle for the islanders.

Each day the community heads to the hills to tend their gardens carved from the steep slopes, covered with the tangle of rain forest. The men work to clear the next forest plot, while the women nurture the growing plants and harvest for the evening meal.

It takes up to two hours every day for the community members to walk the kilometres to their gardens. The community’s vital supply of food.The visits to family and to church on the weekends are undertaken on foot. Up to six hours walk may be undertaken.

These islands function on the motto early to bed, early to rise. With no electricity and just the glow of the firelight after dark, social activities are curtailed. The blackness of the night forms a blinding blanket. As the rooster crows, the sun climbs in the eastern sky, and the activities of the day begin once more.

For centuries the diet has been balanced with fish, yam and taro. Everyone has kept fit through walking. Kustom (custom) living has met everyone’s needs.

Modern times have slowly caught up with these isolated people. The occasional shipments come with huge sacks of rice, tins of fish, packets of tasty sweet biscuits and cans of fizzy soft drink. What little money the villagers have gets spent on these items.

The BMI (body mass index) of women and children has skyrocketed with the greater dependence on commercial foodstuffs. 26% of the women and 13% of the men are affected by a BMI greater than 30kg/m².
The greater obesity of the human race is experienced by women.

Around Ni-Vanuatu villages can be heard the introduction and compliment, “Fat, fat, my sister”. Fat, with the addition of sugar to the natural diet, is equated with prosperity.

Heart related conditions account for 20% of all deaths across the world. The probability of not reaching 40 years of age is 8.6%.

Obesity increases after child birth. Young women bear children at an early age and in quick succession. With nurses only available to 17 /1000 residents, few young women have the support needed after childbirth.

Neither the health system, nor earlier schooling, has provided these young women of the isolated tropical islands of Vanuatu, with the necessary education. Outside of the ancient custom ways, they lack the wisdom to care for themselves adequately.

The government admits that is unable to support the Vanuatu people. Of the GNP 4.3% is provided for health and 11% for education. In the minds of the leaders of this Lesser Developed Country, neither is seen as an essential priority.

Even this small amount is often bled off into more ‘important’ issues.
As a consequence, few children complete primary school and even fewer attend high school.

Many of the villagers live on isolated islands in a no-cash economy. The government admitted in late 2007, that it does not have the finances to provide free education.

The horrific consequences of this are:
• only 55.8% of Vanuatu kids will get to grade 6;
• of those only 18.2% will go to high school ;
• 26% will never go to school at all.

The wisdom required for a healthy and wealthy life is beyond their control. The next generation is in danger of not being educated to the ways of the 21st century. The kids’dreams remain unfulfilled. Outside assistance is the only answer for these children if they are to see the inside of a high-school classroom.

YouMe Support Foundation, a Child Trust Fund, is dedicated to giving these children a high school education. A chance to gain the wisdom and to lead the villagers to a more healthy and wealthy life.