Freda Willie: leading the way for people with disability in Vanuatu

Above: Freda Willie. Photo: Glen Pakoa / Oxfam

Through the AHP’s Disaster READY program, country committees in Fiji, Vanuatu, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea partner with local disabled people’s organisations to support inclusive preparation and responses to disasters.

In Vanuatu, Freda Willie is the Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Officer with the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (VDPA), working closely with Disaster READY partners to ensure the rights of people with disabilities are not overlooked when communities, governments, NGOs and other partners are planning for or responding to disasters.

Oxfam Vanuatu’s Glen Pakoa profiles Freda’s work and motivations.

“My dream is for future generations of people who are living with disabilities in Vanuatu to be able to have equal access to disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts.”

Meet Freda Willie, 42, of Tongariki Island, Vanuatu. She is the Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Officer with the Vanuatu Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (VDPA) and is supporting the Australian Humanitarian Partnership’s (AHP) Disaster READY program in Vanuatu.

Freda is outgoing, and is passionate about articulating the rights of people with disabilities.

In her role, Freda hopes to increase awareness on disaster risk reduction (DRR) for people with disabilities in communities throughout Vanuatu. She also wants to push for more grassroots implementation of gender-focused DRR programs.

“People with disabilities are currently included in Disaster READY efforts mainly through disaster preparedness awareness and relief distributions, and consultation meetings with them and their representatives in cluster meetings. There’s lots more Disaster READY inclusion and awareness work to do,” explains Freda.

Out of the shadows

Freda was born with disabilities. However, it was not until she was two years old that her parents realised that she had difficulties with her speech and walking, which resulted in speech impairment and paralysis in both legs.

As a young child, she was fortunate to attend a specialist school in Fiji where she could access facilities and learning opportunities not available in Vanuatu. After returning home, Freda wanted to continue school, but her parents were worried that she would experience too much discrimination from other students. So, like many young people with disabilities, she stayed at home.

“I spent nineteen years at home and the more I stayed in the house, the less exposed I became to the public. This fed my insecurities and I started to wonder what people would think of me if they saw me in public. For nineteen years I did not go to town or even to the nearby shops,” says Freda.

The Vanuatu Society for People with Disability (VSPD) brought Freda out of her home and got her mobile with a wheelchair. VSPD also set Freda on her disability advocacy career path. She started acting and fundraising for the Rainbow Disability Theatre, and it was here that Freda met her partner, Sergio Moses, a founding member of the theatre group. Now they have an eight-year-old son, Michaelson, who was born without a disability.

“When I discovered that I was pregnant, I was very scared. I had a lot of negative criticism from my friends and family. Many of them believed I shouldn’t keep the baby. It was a difficult time for me, but I kept my faith, stayed strong, and I knew I had rights to be able to have a child just like my friends. Sergio and I had decided to keep the baby regardless if it had a disability or not. We feel blessed to have our son,” says Freda.

Freda has since broken many boundaries and societal expectations, including studying at the University of South Pacific and working as a tourism sector disability advocate to improve accessibility.

Above: Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Officer Freda Willie and Oxfam’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Sairos Matlock, discuss promoting the rights of people with disabilities during disaster, preparedness and recovery in Vanuatu. Photo: Glen Pakoa / Oxfam

Supporting disability inclusion

Freda is excited about the opportunities that Disaster READY is bringing to people with disability in Vanuatu.

“Through Disaster READY, VDPA and VSPD are taking the lead in promoting the rights of people with disabilities during disaster, preparedness and recovery. But there is still a long way yet to go,” says Freda.

“We need to work with our government, humanitarian partners and civil society organisations to prioritise disability inclusion and disability budget allocation in Vanuatu’s national development plans. Together, we need to ensure that the needs and rights of people with disabilities are met when it comes to dealing with natural and man-made disasters.”

As the VDPA’s Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Officer, Freda is taking on the challenge of making sure Disaster READY reaches remote communities where people with disabilities live.

Working with over 3,000 VSPD registered members who live with disabilities, Freda is confident that through her advocacy efforts she will contribute to eliminating the stigma facing disabled people in Vanuatu and increase their representation and participation in Disaster READY.

“There is a number of things that need to be done to ensure people with disabilities are involved in planning and implementation of Disaster READY activities. We can start by inviting them to the table, to ensure full participation of people with disabilities in disaster-related activities and ensure all our partners act on disability inclusive disaster risk reduction,” asserts Freda.

Working in partnership

Freda is working with a range of partners including VDPA, VSPD, the National Disaster Management Office, disabled people’s organisations, Community Disaster and Climate Change Committees (CDCCCs), and Vanuatu’s AHP consortium (Action Aid, the CAN DO Network, CARE, Oxfam, Save the Children, and World Vision) to promote disability-inclusive Disaster READY activities.

“To measure the success of Disaster READY disability-focused programs, awareness is needed throughout the islands of Vanuatu, even in the most remote areas, so people with disabilities learn that they have the right to participate in all DRR related activities,” explains Freda.

“People with disabilities need to be educated on ways of preparing for and responding to disasters like knowing what the early warning signs are, how disability inclusion works when evacuating people with disability to evacuation centres, etc.”

“The Vanuatu government, partners and communities, including CDCCCs, should also understand the specific needs of people with disabilities in disaster risk reduction. We can achieve this by continuing to work together,” says Freda.