Learner Engagement in Community Health and Development: Islands, Isolation and Impact

Having both worked extensively in relief and development, the authors took the opportunity to join a group of dedicated individuals to travel to the island of Paama, Vanuatu, at the beginning of 2018. A long-term connection dating back to 2001 between community elders from the village of Liro and volunteers from Dunedin, New Zealand, meant that much of the hard work of developing trust and establishing relationships had already been done. (Figure 1 shows the situation of the remote island of Paama within the archipelago of Vanuatu.)