Talofa Lava Respected Friends!
2019 is shaping up to be a year full of Pacific Promise. This past December our Board of Directors launched an annual appeal and were thrilled to see such a wonderful response. Thanks to the generosity of our community we raised over $13,000 and grew our PPP Esmonde Endowment Legacy Fund by an additional $9000!
As we grow closer to our 45th Anniversary in 2020, we have many exciting programs underway or in development and look forward to sharing updates with you. Within this edition of Pasifik Currents we share an inspiring summary report of Vendors’ Collective Voice from our partner HELP Resources in Papua New Guinea. This critically important program is designed to improve the lives of women market vendors and their families in PNG.
From March 8 to 10 PPP is thrilled to host Australian Aboriginal Artist Florence Gutchen, and Australian Arts Administrator Lynette Griffiths soon to be in residence at the Museum of Anthropology for their exhibition “Marking the Infinite” Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia as featured in the article from our Board member Dr. Carol Mayer, Curator of Oceania, at MOA. Be sure to follow our social media to get the latest details!
RedTide 2020: International Indigenous Youth Climate Action Summit organizing is under way with foundation work to ensure that Indigenous youth are centred fully within this important initiative. PPP Associate Pawa Haiyupis is facilitating the participatory engagement process and coordination of this environmental action program planned for the Summer of 2020. Dates and details for how you can get involved and support RedTide 2020 will soon be circulated. If you have an interest to engage within this powerful program, please email PPP at info@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org.
One Wave Gathering 2018 continues to reverberate! In Spring 2019, One Wave programming is part of several community-building arts projects soon to be announced. And as the province of British Columbia gets ready to host the International Women Deliver Conference, PPP is helping mobilize critically important Indigenous and Pacific-focused side events. If you or a colleague are attending this Conference or you want to get involved, please let us know!
Lastly, as storm season in the South Pacific is upon us, PPP urges you to remember our Pacific Resilience Fund . This flexible fund allows PPP to provide small grants in support of community initiatives that build resilience in South Pacific communities. Recently we were pleased to receive the phase 1 final report from the Loreto School in Fiji for their school rebuilding, and we hope to join them on their next project phase where they plan to finish a walkway that keeps students mud-free as they traverse the school grounds during severe rain events. And, we are working with Samoa Social Welfare Fesoasoani Trust as they design and deliver citizen defense programs for young offenders in Samoa, both building and protecting community. It’s much-needed work like this that keeps us inspired and Pacific peoples strong.
Thanks for joining us on this journey!
Muavae Va’a, President April Ingham, Executive Director
Note: PPP Board Member Lorna Eastman generously transferred her personal Endowment Fund of $6500 into the PPP Esmonde Endowment Fund, which was then matched with $2500 from the Smart and Caring Fund (Anonymous Gift). All funds are held in trust within PPP’s Esmonde Legacy Endowment Fund held for perpetuity with the Victoria Foundation.