Butterfly Trust

It is over a year since Tropical Cyclone Harold devastated many communities in Vanuatu’s central islands. The rebuilding process continues, and as each annual cyclone season beckons, the need to Build Back Better is paramount. Climate and environmental changes remain at the forefront of concerns. In early March this year, Tropical Cyclone Niran swerved unnervingly close, threatening to unleash havoc and derail ongoing recovery efforts.

Our work continues in support of communities that were seriously affected or displaced. The Butterfly Trust is currently assisting local communities improve their drinking water sources, build better sanitation facilities and maintain personal hygiene such as handwashing. Vanuatu still ranks poorly when it comes to adequate sanitation infrastructure, water access and quality of drinking water. Despite being Covid-free, hand hygiene needs to be continuously enforced at villages and schools. Pollution of ground wells and other sources of water for drinking and food preparation are recurring issues that also need to be addressed. Escalating climate change impacts on low-lying coastal communities can no longer be put off.

We are emphasising WASH or Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, to link multiple objectives around Covid-19 Prevention, Community Development, Cyclone Recovery, Environmental Health and Climate Change Adaptation.

Despite the ongoing uncertainties exacerbated by the pandemic, the Trust has also resumed some of its development work in Health and Education.

Read our latest update for further detail.

Please give generously to help with the cyclone recovery and Covid-19 awareness.

In more normal times, the Butterfly Trust works with less materially privileged communities, primarily in Vanuatu. It focuses on health and education.

The Trust works closely with the Vanuatu Ministries of Health and Education & Training, and other organisations to ensure duplication of resources and programmes is minimised. The Trust has Memoranda of Understanding with both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education & Training.

All donations to the Trust are used 100% for programme work. There are no deductions for administrative costs from donations.

PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY so we can support as many local communities as possible.

Please visit our website at www.butterflytrust.org, or our facebook page at www.facebook.com/thebutterflytrust/ for more information, or for a thumbnail sketch of our work, read below.

More on the Butterfly Trust:

Since 2010, Butterfly Trust has established community development projects in education and health to assist remote communities in Vanuatu.

The Butterfly Trust is a New Zealand registered charity that works with village and urban communities.

The Trust's main objective is sustainable community development through individual empowerment and the strengthening of local structures and systems.

Specific projects include:

• Facilitating kindergarten teacher training and development for remote and outer island kindergartens in Vanuatu.

• "HELP GIVE A VILLAGE A FUTURE" - A secondary school academic and hardship scholarship scheme for students from the Maskelyne Islands, southeast Malekula, Vanuatu.

• Providing materials and resources for the development of schools, kindergartens and health facilities eg. solar power equipment, building materials, tools, dental equipment, educational resources.

• Vocational training skills eg. basic electrical and maintenance of solar power equipment, community building courses.

• Facilitating medical and dental volunteers to support and complement services at remote health facilities, integrating clinical, preventative and training components.

• Setting up a permanent dental clinic at Lamap Health Centre, south Malekula, Vanuatu, in partnership with the Vanuatu Ministry of Health.

• Partnering with local Vanuatu oral health awareness group - Vanuatu Oral Health Awareness (VOHA) to promote oral health and hygiene in schools and communities.

• Strengthening village community health education on the islands of Tongoa, Ambae and Malekula in Vanuatu.

• Disaster relief and recovery work, in particular 'Build Back Better' building education integrated with reconstruction and repair of cyclone ravaged buildings.

Contact Trustees David and Lynn Colbert

email: david.lynn@butterflytrust.org