Any Suggestions for Gifts to Remote Island Communities

[eliems]

Guitar Strings ... they love guitar strings!

[CharlesFCook]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I dont think you should take anything.

If you take goods and give them away you are cutting off the buisness that normally supplies them. Then these islands wont have anywhere to shop!

Much better is to take MONEY and buy the things you want to give from the local island shop and give them away. (This is proving to children that begging is good, but hey)

At least that way you:
Support the local entrepenurs
Give kids the same/similar as the other kids so they wont get picked on/bullied
You put money into the islands economy
You will be more cost effective because many of the products there will be cheaper as they will be from Asia etc (or maybe locally produced)
mark

When we were in the remote islands of Vanuatu cash had no value because there was no where to spend it. They wanted school supplies, fish hooks, pots and pans, anything really.

[Sand crab]

One of the sailing blogs mentioned that the islanders really enjoyed watching the movies that were on board. It was like Christmas for them. Most of these islands have at least one generator (or solar) and a TV. So get rid of all those VHS tapes and DVDs are only about a buck at the pawn shop.

[captseamus]

Several years ago I booked a divetrip to Utila, Honduras... knowing the island was behind the times I asked the diveshop on the island what the kids would like to have... After a couple of days I received a reply... A WORLD GLOBE.

After personally carrying it on the airflight and placing it in an overhead bin which bearly let it fit the "world" and I arrived on the Island of Utila. A week after I left I received a nice email from the diveshop that it was decided that the library would have it so all the students and adults could see and inspect new countries...

Later trips I brought "flash cards" and color pencils; rulers and compasses; anything we take for granted but oh so hard to come by in a third world country or island..

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by SonjaD

Hi All,
We'll be leaving the Philippines next week for a leisurely 4 month meander along a course that will take in some very remote island communities in the vicinity of Palau, Micronesia, the Marshalls, Solomons and Vanuatu. I've left it way too late to think about this and would welcome any suggestions for useful gift items to take to the remotest villages. I have to catch a plane to get back to the boat first so it can only be what I can fit in one big bag. I want to avoid plastics of any kind.
Thanks, Sonja.

When my daughter went to Russia as part of a youth choral trip, they had the same dilemma. They found out that Russians love to collect all sorts of ... pins. You can find them in souvenir shops. They take up very little space and the people she gave them to were overjoyed to receive them.

She also had strangers on the street asking to buy her jeans ...

[Thackaringa]

Everybody always forgets the mothers. The gifts always seem to be for Dad or the Kids and the poor mother who does all of the work, and remember she is the one who will probably feed you, well she always gets nothing. When I sailed across the Pacific I took lipstick and nail polish for Mum. You should have seen their big smiles. Every woman the world over loves to look nice once in a while. Those cheap Chinese cooking knives are good gifts, a clever, a grater and other useful kitchen utensils that would make the Mothers' lives a lot easier. The response I got was the biggest smiles and appreciation ever. Dads love hand tools, sharpening stones and glossy magazines.