Vanuatu

Research Paper Topics

So, for those wondering: why keep a blog? Is the experience not enough in itself? It is, and in all honesty, keeping a blog seems to be more of a hassle rather than a privelege, simply because there is too many moral-conflict on the part of the writer, when deciding what to *not* put up for the world to see, who to give the url out to, whether or not to "search-proof" your blog, and so on. BUT, inspite of all these minor internal dilemmas, this blog exists. Why? Other than the obvious goal of being able to let my family and friends know that I'm still alive in this part of the world, this blog is also an academic requirement for me to get one of the two anticipated Peace and Conflict Field Studies credits. One I receive merely for having the experience and keeping something similar to a journal (or, in my case, this blog). The second credit is a bit more of "real work" where I have to write a somewhat decent 30+-page-long paper on an issue related to Peace and Conflict Studies (which, according to my interpretation, basically means ANYTHING to do with humans and their interactions).

So, this post explores the 5 topics I have narrowed down to.

*Any comments on possible alterations or mention of issues/angles missed are most welcome.*

- Domestic Abuse: Over time, especially due to the flawed interpretations of missionaries, public opinion has become that custom allows the husband the right to physically abuse his wife, since he has paid a bride price for her. One Ni-Van woman did extensive field research in various islands to show that original custom did not include this belief. Ideally, I would like to contrast this with the situation in Pakistan, where men take certain quotes of the Quran(Korna) out of context to prove that religion awards man the right to beat his wife. I would like to see to what degree the colonization eras, in both countries, led to this "mixing-up" of belief systems. Another part of the this topic would be a "next steps" section, where I want to explore the capacity of women to be leading the movement back to original custom, in the case of Vanuatu, and original religion, in the case of Pakistan.

- Urbanization: 80% of the population of Vanuatu lives in rural communities, and only 20% in either of the two towns: Port Vila and Luganville. Even though rural living allows people unlimited access to food and shelter, increased number of people, especially youth, are moving to urban areas to find jobs, in order to be able to participate in the cash economy. However, as with any other country, there are too many people looking and not enough jobs. What is more is that now since the cash economy is taking precedence over the traditional subsistence-based lifestyle, more youth are interested in attending schools. However, primary and secondary schooling is not free in Vanuatu. So, a lot of times youth end up coming to the town in search of job or education, but in vain; nevertheless, they end up sticking around rather than going back to their villages. I would like to do something around this topic. I was thinking more around the changing role and self-perception of (young and middle-aged) women in urban settings, and how they are dealing with this time of change? Also, how are they dealing with the conflict and/or overload of responsibilities that comes from following, simultaneously, the gender roles assigned by the urban and the custom/traditional system.

- Ghetto-ficiation: I haven't done much reading on this topic, but I'd be interested in exploring the trend and history of shanty-towns and ghetho-fication, and the path followed by earlier subsistence-based collective communities, specifically those in the historically-lush areas of Africa. More specifically, I'd like to explore that trend and see any similarities or differences in how things are developing here in Vanuatu.

- Women in Leadership positions: Currently, there is only one woman MP in parliament. There is constant talk about increasing the representation of women in public and leadership spheres but there is no action. In addition, traditionally, the house is considered to be a woman's domain. One man told me that people here, "keep tradition, or custom, in their right hand and religion in their left", meaning to say that custom takes precedence in decision-making, and then religion, and then any other ideologies. Also, the practices preached by missionaries have failed to undergo the reform a lot of other churches are going through; this means that even religion can't be used as a tool to promote women's representation. I would like to do a compare and contrast of this situation with that of Pakistan where, tradition and religion are both used to prevent women from becoming visible in the public or decision-making sectors of society. If this topic, within itself, is limited than I can extend the paper by discussing possible action plans, ones that don't radically challenge the current belief system, but at the same time, can practically hope to better the situation

- Youth: Young people make up 40% of the population in Vanuatu at present. But to say that they are disempowered would be an under-statement. Schooling isn't free so only the privileged are able to go past primary and even fewer are fortunate enough to attend post-secondary institutions. Jobs are hard to find and salary level is extremely low even though living expenses are comparable to that of a small town in Canada. With the glaring exception of very few organizations such as "Wan Smol Bag", there are no strategies, policies or mechanisms in place to deal specifically with the problems and realities faced by youth. To add to this mix is the consumption of kava and alcohol: kava was, originally, only consumed by those over the ages of 28 or so. But, after independence, it is widely being consumed by boys as young as 13 and 15. Kava being a sedative, is seriously taking away from their potential and work abilities. Alcohol, being a relatively new introduction, is wreaking havoc as there are no programs in place to do alcohol awareness on fatal topics such as drinking-and-driving or date-rape and so on. In addition, since this is a non-traditional and non-local substance, people haven't built resistance for it. I am not sure of what to do around this topic, or how specifically women are involved in this as it is usually the men who frequent the kava-bars, but something of interest and something that could provide possible leads for a research paper topic.

posted by faa-T @ 6:23 PM