NEWSPAGE 29 October
2010

(Photos: Anika Moa / Cure Kids)

(Photos: Close Up / The Fred Hollows Foundation)

SAMOA: Simple operations saving Samoans' sight
Source: TVNZ ONE News

A simple operation that takes just a few minutes but can have dramatic results is a luxury in Samoa.

Cataract surgeries are performed routinely in New Zealand, giving the patient back their eyesight and their life.

But in places where healthcare is a luxury, eye surgery and the doctors to do it are a low priority.

Close Up travelled to Samoa with the Fred Hollows Foundation to witness the small miracles that take place in people's lives.

Yulia is a mother and grandmother who lost her eyesight and became very angry with life.

"I know I'm not a perfect person and every day I cry out to Jesus that I want to see," the 68-year-old said.

She blames herself that she is unable to be the woman she used to be.

She said she just quietly went on doing her chores, but as her eyes got worse she internalised her anger and lost her confidence.

Yulia has cataracts in both eyes - a debilitating condition with an easy fix.

But there is no ophthalmologist in Samoa and in S'Avaii where Yulia lives they have had an eye nurse for only one year.

Tasi Leo said he is on his own working across the whole island as an ophthalmic nurse.

Dr Dirk Harder from Germany said if everything goes well the operation itself only takes five to 10 minutes although there is some preparation and recovery time.

"The pure operation time of five to 10 minutes - it's a small time that changes people's lives," he said.

It's a rudimentary operation compared to what would be performed in a clinic in New Zealand and it's also cheaper with less waste.

Harder said they try to keep their costs low and simple but he believes the results are comparable. The team hopes to perform about 100 operations while in Samoa.

Yulia's health has crippled the family and her daughter has been forced to leave her job, and her husband, in American Samoa to care for her mother.

Tina said a burden has been lifted off her shoulders now her mum has got her eyesight back.

And Yulia said she can do everything again.

"But I do have to be careful...in case I compromise the amazing work that has been done.

Photo Caption: Dr Dirk Harder together with the Fred Hollows Foundation traveled to Samoa in order to conduct approximately 100 surgeries during his stay.
 

(Photo: NZ Government)

AUSTRALIA: Report shows Oz-Pacific scholarships need better targeting
Source: Australia Network News

A new study says Australia's education and scholarship spending in the Pacific needs better targeting to help develop the region's leaders.

The Sydney-based Lowy Institute has mapped the region's leadership for the first time, focussing on East Timor and Samoa.

The study found a good education is fundamental in making a leader.

It recommends Australia's planned $US1.4 billion dollars of spending on scholarships, over the next 5 years, be better targeted.

The study's author, Fergus Hanson says in Samoa that could mean awarding more scholarships to people who hold traditional matai titles and to girls who have played a leadership role at school.

The study also recommends a greater focus on improving school education and a bigger role for the private sector and non-government organisations in mentoring leaders.
 

(Photo: State of Hawaii)

HAWAII: Hawaii aims for microthermal solar utopia
Source: CBS Interactive

It's not every solar project that gets its own ground-blessing ceremony.

But the Kalaeloa Solar One project will pay back native Hawaiians with both energy and rent through a partnership with Keahole Solar Power, Hawaiian start-up Sopogy, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL).

Which is why there was a ground-blessing ceremony held for the project yesterday in Kalealoa, Oahu, west of Honolulu.

Sopogy is supplying its micro-concentrated solar panels (MicroCSP) for the 5-megawatt thermal solar plant that will tie-in to a new plan for the Kalealoa community near Honolulu./p>

Sopogy's panels are actually small solar troughs with reflective coating that direct sunlight onto a pipe running through it carrying oil. That hot oil is then run through an Organic Rankine cycle: the oil is directed to a boiler where it's converted into steam then directed to power a turbine to generate electricity, after which it's re-condensed and sent back through the pipes for reuse.

Sopogy's proprietary system also has built-in storage that enables it to retain electricity for later use, allowing the thermal solar plant to still supply electricity for a portion of time at night or on cloudy days.

While the 5-megawatt project may seem small compared to the 392-megawatt or 1,000-megawatt thermal solar projects reported about in recent weeks, this is Hawaii's largest concentrated solar project to date. The MicroCSP Sopogy system that has been operating in Kona, Hawaii, since 2009 is 2-megawatts.

The project will contribute, of course, to Hawaii's now well-known goal to get 70 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2030.

But in addition to supplying enough electricity, the solar project also seems to be a test case for the DHHL, the state agency trust that manages and develops the protected lands for native Hawaiians and has leased out the land for the solar project. Kalaeloa, where the solar plant will be located, consists of 3,700 acres of land. It encompasses the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station lands, which were recently handed over to the state, and remain largely undeveloped.

The solar plant is tied to the Kalaeloa Master Plan development project consisting of 6,350 residential units, as well as commercial, retail, and office space estimated to create 7,000 permanent jobs as part of a partnership with the DHHL.

In addition to supplying solar energy, the Kalaeloa Solar One project will also pay rent to the DHHL for the space its solar arrays occupy. That income will be used to build residences and fund programs for native Hawaiians.

Photo Caption: Aerial view of Kalealoa.
 

(Photo: Secretariat of the Pacific Community)

NEW CALEDONIA: New Caledonia gets organic certification system
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

Under an agreement signed today at Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, the association Bio Calédonia will manage an organic certification and labelling system in New Caledonia. This will allow certified produce sold in New Caledonia to carry the Organic Pasifika label. This is the first time such a Participatory Guarantee System has been set up in the Pacific region.

The Organic Pasifika label is a guarantee that the products meet the Pacific Organic Standard, developed by the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom). SPC acts as the secretariat for POETCom and is the custodian of the Organic Pasifika label. SPC Director-General Dr Jimmie Rodgers noted that the certified products would meet standards equivalent to those of the European Union, and that once a system of third party certification was in place they would be eligible for export to Europe.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Jean-Louis D'Anglebermes, Member of the Government of New Caledonia, noted that in addition to the benefits stemming from regulations on pesticide use and environmental impact, organic fruits and vegetables were better tasting than their non-organic counterparts.
 

(Photo: Secretariat of the Pacific Community)

WORLDWIDE: SPC will be a larger organisation in 2011
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Press Release

In January 2011, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) will be a larger organisation with more staff and additional programmes, according to its Director-General, Dr Jimmie Rodgers.

‘SPC is about three key development outcomes - sustainable human development, sustainable natural resources management and development and sustainable economic development. These are also our key result areas,’ he said.

Dr Rodgers was speaking at the opening of the 40th meeting of the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA - SPC’s governing body) at SPC headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia. Representatives from 24 of SPC’s 26 members are attending the meeting, which runs from 25 to 29 October 2010 and covers issues that are of high priority for Pacific Island countries and territories, including agriculture, aquaculture, culture, fisheries, forestry, gender, ICT, human rights, maritime transport, Pacific Legislatures for Population and Governance, public health, statistics and demography, youth and cross-cutting areas including food security and climate change. SPC leads regional initiatives in many of these sectors in partnership with other regional and international organisations.

SPC will expand significantly in January 2011 with the full integration of two of these regional organisations: the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), and the South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA), which initially merged with SPC as a stand-alone programme at the start of 2010. The move of the two organisations to SPC is the result of decisions made by Pacific Forum leaders to reform the regional institutional framework with a view to achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in delivering services to members.

SPC members, many of whom are also members of SOPAC and SPBEA, stressed the importance of the work of both organisations to Pacific Island countries and territories as they welcomed them to their new home in SPC.

SPBEA and SOPAC are both based in Suva, Fiji Islands, increasing the number of SPC staff based in Fiji to more than half (360) of SPC’s 600 staff in 2011. Noumea has just over 200 staff, while remaining staff are based in the North Pacific regional office in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, smaller country offices in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and field operations in 10 other island countries.

Dr Rodgers said that 2011 would be a crucial year for SPC in ensuring that its expansion in terms of programmes and staff was supported by strong capability in planning, financial management, human resources, administration, legal issues, programme support, ICT and change management.

He highlighted the following milestones for 2011: continued full and effective delivery of all existing SPC services as well as all services transferring from SOPAC, SPBEA and PIFS to SPC; optimal corporate (finance / administration / human resources), programme support and ICT services needed to support the expanded organisation; finalisation of the long-term sustainable financing strategy; review and updating of the organisation’s legal and strategic documents - the Tahiti Nui declaration and the SPC corporate plan 2007 - 2012, strengthening the organisation’s resilience, its ‘engine room’ and its strategic engagement, policy and planning facility.

The Director-General expressed appreciation for the continued support of members and development partners in providing funding for the work of SPC, saying that the spirit of partnership doubled the value of the efforts of every organisation. In this regard, he noted the success of the joint country strategies that are developed between SPC and its member countries and territories to ensure that members’ priorities are addressed in a way that meets their individual needs. A major development in 2010 was the decision by the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) to produce ‘all CROP’ joint country strategies with members as a valuable tool for improving coordination of services delivered by all participating CROP agencies to each member

The CRGA meeting, which ends today, has a packed agenda that includes presentations by members on the impact of SPC’s work in their country or territory.

‘SPC is a complex organisation operating in a number of countries with staff from throughout the region and all corners of the globe’ said Dr Rodgers, ‘but size doesn’t mean we’re out of touch. Among our strengths is our ability to take a cross-cutting approach to issues like energy, for example, which affects every aspect of economic and social development.’

‘In the end, SPC is united by one main aim - to make a difference to the lives of Pacific Island people.’