Hello, I'm Ricco

I’m a 5th generation South Sea Islander from Vanuatu, brought to Australia by black birding (slave trade), through indentured labour, from a small island called Tanna. My forefathers were from Yuru country in Queensland (also known as Juru), Tanna Island in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Yasso Point in Bowen was named after our family who settled there.

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I began my career as a builder and concreter before serving 20 years as a corrections officer. Listening to peoples stories stirred my heart to want to help empower people to believe in a brighter future. I started travelling to Vanuatu in 2008, which fired within me a desire to rebuild communities. This was when I discovered my calling to community support and development. In response to people’s needs, I spent 12 years as President of a not-for-profit, helping build communities in the South Sea Islands, and now serve as the International Advisor for this organisation, Bridging Health Vanuatu.

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It was in my role as Associate Pastor at Rock Covenant Love Ministries, where I noticed that seasonal workers coming to church were struggling to get to work. I started getting about a hundred second hand bikes to help solve this problem, before establishing Yasso Transport to provide transport options for them.

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Since starting, I realised how much I love driving buses and being in the community, and my focus

has changed from helping seasonal workers to developing my business to build stronger communities.