Tribewanted: Vorovoro

On Sunday 17th August, there was a hive of activity in the kitchen; even more so than normal. The Fijian tribe have a day off on Sunday and we cook for ourselves. After a delicious breakfast of weetabix & ‘eggy-bread’ cooked by tribe members; Dan the Chief & Lisa set to making Poasa a birthday cake. Poasa lives permanently on Vorovoro and works on most of the current projects and is fantastic at bamboo weaving. The bamboo is grown on the mainland & then brought across by boat. Poasa splits this, bangs it flat & miraculously weaves it, to form strong wall panels for various dwellings and this skill tribe members can become involved with. He is a very friendly and dedicated man and is a great asset to the team.

Jim (the next Project Director) was lucky enough to recall Poasa’s special day after interviewing him recently. Fijians don’t really celebrate birthdays as they don’t think of it in the same way as us and would prefer to celebrate as a community. Amy had already bought a blue floral shirt on behalf of all the tribe members & this was wrapped island style in a banana leaf. Whilst this was going on, I commandeered Amy & Sue to help make some chocolate polish cake, followed by butterscotch tart. The sponge cake smelt delicious as it was baked in the brick oven. When any smells exude from the kitchen, it always invites a few tribe members in the hope that there will be a bowl or spoon to lick. The main culprit of this was Robbie, 7 years of age who hovered with his tongue drooling, until eventually he was rewarded with some gooey chocolate to lick! Dan & Lisa decorated the cake with icing & Lisa wrote Poasa’s name with crushed lemon zest. White chocolate was dribbled over the polish cake & the butterscotch topping was poured over the base. Even more licking & flicking ensued!

After the evening meal Poasa was invited to the village. Frances, his wife was invited too, yet she declined as she said the following morning that she was embarrassed that she had forgotten her husband’s birthday. Even Poasa himself had forgotten! Dan led the parade with Poasa’s birthday present, followed by Lisa and Amy with the cake glowing with 3 candles. I followed with an oval plate with squares of the tasty treats. Tale played his guitar, alongside Jone and Sosi & we joined in by singing. First we sang the traditional ‘Happy Birthday’ followed by the Fijian words of ‘Happy Long Life to you.’ Poasa was almost in tears, as he was so amazed that it was the end of the day & really chuffed that the Tribe had remembered his special day!