In 2004, Greg Bartlett won golf day prize which was a trip to Port Vila Vanuatu. Through some random and God orchestrated occurrences Greg was introduced to various residents of the Seaside Village which happened to be right near the hotel he was staying at. The Seaside Village is a large slum village spread over a couple of acres of land and houses up to two thousand people. A lot of the houses aren’t much more than a few sheets of iron and some have just mud floors. The ammenities at that stage were also very poor and desperately in need of upgrading.

Upon seeing the living conditions at the village, Greg decided to try and do something about their plight and find a way that could improve the locals situation.  He gathered a team of tradesmen and willing helpers together and returned to the village some months later. On that trip the team repaired and rebuilt the toilet and shower block and put in a new septic system. Which was a massive improvement to the hygiene in the village.

Over the next couple of years teams began to return regularly to further improve conditions of the village. However, during this time it became very obvious that there was a lack of Education. Adults were not educated so could not gain employment, and the kids were not attending school as parents could not afford the school fees. It seemed a hopeless situation a possibly something that could remain a generational cycle.

From there, the team at Evidence decided to investigate the possibility of building a school and provide an opportunity for the kids to be educated. We thought that if we could make a start by building a classroom, educating their youngest kids, then build another classroom each year as they progressed through their yearly grade levels. the thought was that perhaps over a 15 year period we could begin to break the hopelessness and poverty cycle.

Greg Bartlett along with Paul Clout and a committee of members, have founded the organisation Evidence, working ‘to bring equality and justice to men and women‘. Evidence was officially established in 2007, and through an amazing and dedicated team of volunteers, the work has continued in Vanuatu.