Paul Gardissat

We had stumbled upon the home of Paul Gardissat, a well known Port Vila resident. Paul told us he was Algerian French and had lived in Vanuatu since the '60's when Vanuatu was still known as the New Hebrides. I recognized his name as I had seen a book around town called Nabanga with his name on it. He had been recording Vanuatu's oral legends and translating them for us all to enjoy. He has also been digitally preserving early String Band music that he originally recorded. He was a very interesting man and we had a good chat about Vanuatu and how the culture was getting lost. Thank goodness for people like Paul Gardissat who are working hard to record the culture of Vanuatu before it catches up with the modern world.