Tribewanted: Vorovoro

As this project continues, so does the collective deepening of cultural understanding between the Vulagi and the Taukei as we work together to make Vorovoro a reality. For me this is an endlessly fascinating experience as while we are working with a culture which, on the surface, shares our language, but has such a different view and understanding on the world and how to live in it.

What has really struck recently is the idea of ‘now’ in relation to the world I come from and world I am now living in. Back in the UK the concept of now brings very different connotations than it does here.

One of the first things that always amazes me when I get home is how quick everything attempts to happen. Internet is rocket fast, food arrives within 5 minutes, everything is deadline orientated, people insist on efficiency, everything is streamlined to be done as fast as possible. People are seen as a resource to help facilitate quick results. The knock on effect of this is that people expect things to happen straight away. Everyone runs about in a crazed frenzy demanding efficiency and bemoaning when they have to wait. We want everything now, because society is always telling us it’s possible. And when ‘now’ isn’t possible that is when the trouble and stress begins. We are meant to want and desire more, and constantly told this is an acceptable way of looking at the world.

So then when coming over to Fiji we will naturally bring that ‘now’ ethic with us. We are taught and influenced where we’re from that that is how a successful society lives. Bring that ethic here, however, and you’re in for a shock. Over here the idea of ‘now’ is quite literally a million miles away.

Fijians, as with so many ‘developing nations’ live totally in the present. There isn’t the idea of getting everything done straightaway, or having immediate success or conclusion in any venture. Instead there is the sense of doing what has to be done in the present moment and worrying about the future tomorrow. Nothing happens quickly here because the idea of efficiency is not relevant. Infrastructure is limited, movements depend on tides, boats, quality of roads, whether the bus or boat will run today. People here accept the limitations of the environment that they work in and make the best of them. Life is accepted for what it is, not what it could be.

This acceptance gives rise to what I believe is an unbelievable freedom. Rather than being bound by times, deadlines, efficiency the people here do what they can, when they can and enjoy the rest. They don’t worry about the future as they feel the environment they are in gives them no control over it, so what would be the point?

As a result there is an incredible sense of being totally immersed in the present. The most striking feature is how much they enjoy each others’ company. No one is ever taken for granted here, members of the community constantly celebrate each others’ existence through work, play, song and laughter (to name a few). Everyone is welcome and everyone’s happiness is important (hence why a Fijian will never refuse a request for help from anyone!). There is this incredible attitude that encompasses life here: work (extremely hard) when it’s necessary, play and enjoy each others company to the full when not. Simple as that. It’s the simplicity of what’s important that makes being culturally immersed here so inspiring.

Of course, every culture is always relevant to the country that it is in. The UK (I use this as an example as that’s because where I’m from) is set up from a point of view where this attitude of living totally immersed in the present couldn’t work, things would fall apart. Fiji, by not being dictated by deadlines and dedication to efficiency, will always take a along time to develop economically. I believe that there’s a lot of positives to be taken from how we are where I’m from (I wouldn’t have the privilege of working where I am now if I wasn’t from the UK for example).

Both worlds can learn from each other. While our world can teach the benefits of what being well organised can do, this world shows us a very vivid reminder of how important people are and how we should enjoy what we have as opposed to bemoan what we don’t.