Page 5 - IB August 2020

Vanuatu

ON OUR COVER

Reunited for the first time in 24 years, Mary-Estelle Mahuk French or English people are now held by Ni Vanuatu. “It’s a
and her three sisters took time to remember the very first long process, but it’s really good to see all this change.”
Independence day, July 30 1980. “It took some time, but now we’re seeing real indepen-
Those who didn’t live through it may forget that 1980 was a dence, and I’m really proud to be Ni Vanuatu.”
turbulent time, and it wasn’t yet clear whether the new born Younger sister Margaret Naieu was in primary school at the
nation of Vanuatu would emerge intact from decolonisation. time. There was a celebration with people dressing up in the
The Kapalu sisters, as they were then, were spread between national colours. But it wasn’t all rosy. Her older sister Serah,
city and town. a young mother at the time, took Margaret and younger sister
For Mary-Estelle, a Malapoa college student at the time, it Ruth into hiding in deep bush when disturbances rocked the
was an exciting and confusing time. “On Independence day, island. Some parts of Tanna’s society supported Santo’s Nagri-
I was up at the park, in my Girl Guides uniform, watching amel revolt, and many wanted to carve a path of their own,
everything that was going on.” independent of the newly formed nation.
“I didn’t really know what was happening, what it meant to “I took my sisters and my children, and we ran away into
be independent. But then when it came—all the armies com- the bush. We were scared that people would want to kill us.
ing in from PNG, from Fiji, from France… then I’m thinking, We hid in deep bush, and didn’t even light a fire, so nobody
‘OK, this is really something happening.’” could find us.”
Malapoa’s student population were given brand new uni- “Now, I feel glad. I’m glad we took our independence. Now
forms, and proudly joined the victory march that kicked off we’re free.”
their country’s independence celebration. It took nearly a quarter century for the Kapalu girls to
How did it feel to march? Even now, forty years later, the celebrate independence together. Although their early experi-
excitement still glows in her eyes. “Wow, it was awesome. I ences of the event were starkly different, now they’re united
had that feeling that I was really somebody, and I was really in celebrating a country that has achieved many of its goals,
proud of who I am.” and is on course to even better in the years to come.
“I was really proud of my school, and at the same time of
my country, going through the process of independence.” Words: Dan McGarry
Forty years on, she feels that independence has achieved a Photos: Groovy Banana www.groovy-banana.com
great many things. Positions that used to be occupied only by

Islands Business, August 2020 5