OceansWatch wants to make a positive difference to the life of the people in coastal communities. Aid projects can be a double-edged sword so our aim is to work for the people only at their request. We intend to build relationships with the locals and see where they feel their needs lie. We will also look at the overall consequences of any aid.
Our humanitarian Vision
To empower and educate villagers in coastal communities of developing countries towards happier, more sustainable, livelihoods.
Our humanitarian Mission
To work with sailors, divers and academics to support the villagers in ways that they request that support our vision.
Our current projects
As soon as OceansWatch started looking at marine conservation issues in developing countries, we realised that they were inexorably linked with humanitarian issues. As the marine environment is their main source of protein, everyone who lives by the coast in a developing country relies to some extent on having a productive reef ecosystem.
Coastal reef ecosystems are under pressure from many sides including pollution, tourism, commercial fishing and overpopulation. Insufficient production from the reef ecosystem causes many socio-economic issues. For a comprehensive summary of the problems experienced by coral reefs read: Coral Reefs - Can they Survive.
As relationships are developed with the coastal communities that are accessible by yachts, the needs of these communities and the protocols required for dealing with them are being established and will be recorded on the humanitarian map available to OceansWatch members. If you are a member and visiting a coastal community that is not already on the map please complete our village survey.
Kar Kar Water project
The Kar Kar island women have the job of fetching water from a water source which is a long and tricky hill trek. A previous aid organisation had put in a water pipe but this is no longer working. The villagers have requested our help in installing a new water pipe more...
Reading Glasses distribution
In 2008 Magic Roundabout distributed over one hundred pairs of reading glasses to needy people in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. This enabled women to once again read the bible or remove nits from their children's hair. To know how to be involved in collecting and distributing glasses.
