Weather Coast’s peace agents

Anthony Matesere is a chief from Vebea Village on Guadalcanal’s Weather Coast. The Weather Coast region was the site of fierce fighting and atrocities from 1999-2003, during a period of conflict known as the Ethnic Tension.

His village, like many on the Weather Coast was situated in one of the hardest to access areas in the country, with limited infrastructure and poor access to shipping routes. To get to the nearest church Anthony has to walk for more than two hours to Belanimanu Village to attend the Sunday service at the Catholic Church.

Since 2015 Anthony has been a member of World Vision’s Channels of Hope Action Teams known as CHAT.

Set up in 14 communities, members of the action team have been specially selected to advocate against gender-based violence in their communities. CHAT members include chiefs, community elders, women, youth and church leaders.

For Anthony, being a CHAT member has been both a challenge and a rich learning experience.

His own personal life has improved, now that he has learned to treat other people as equals, how to treat the wife and children based on the teachings in the bible.

After every training, Anthony would share what he learned with others in his community.

“The trainings World Vision provided have helped our people to make good judgment when dealing with issues of gender-based violence in the village.”

The Channels of Hope project in the Weather Coast is supported by the Australian Government’s, Australia NGO Cooperation Program.