Tribewanted: Vorovoro

If anyone has stayed on Vorovoro for an extending period of time, they´ll tell you of that crushing sensation that grabs them just as their ´Isa Lei´ starts to get fired up, of the sense of time looked forward to, over in a flash and suddenly packed bags staring the reality of leaving at you right in the face. The main thought is that this time of life is over and maybe never to return. Then the guitars and voices begin (sometimes more harmoniously than others) and the good byes begin. Moce.

Coming back this year has been an experience to rival even how special living there for so long was last year. I never thought i´d be back so soon. Leaving last year and heading off to academic unknown of Med school was, if I had to be honest, terrifying. Giving up all that is good about people and nature for an academic life of books, small small detail and freshers week just felt weird. But you carry on, get stuck in and start building again. You force yourself to be grateful for the time spent, memories and growth that such an experience can have given you. You make yourself determined to take all that is good about Fiji back with you and incorporate into your own life. You can either spend your time wallowing in what is lost, or push yourself to bring it to your new life – I think it would be fair to say that the former is the easier option.

However as the year went on it became more and more apparent that I had left something (or someone, a certain Tribe Manager) very important back on the island. Not everything or everyone in life you can just move on from. Needless to say coming back to see if the spark was still there was about as good a decision as I think i´ve ever made.

It´s funny, when working on the island, you very rarely get to enjoy the place the way those visiting do. You are there primarily for the experience of those coming, your head is consistently full of a million and one things that mean you are never really able to lose yourself in the moment of the place. Coming back as a Tribe Member you start to genuinely see what all the fuss is about. Suddenly a sunset is all yours, you can grog yourself into oblivion, naked Sundays are awash with uninterrupted colour and beauty. There are no obligations, apart for the odd karmic duty, no pressing phonecalls or meetings to have, apart from with Marau and the lamb chop society. You can just be you, and feel no pressure to be any other way. Even the Hammock Society become appealing, although don´t tell Jim I said that…….. You can lose yourself completely in the stunning beauty both of the nature around you and the impact that the Fijian sense of hospitality gives to the place.

What I love about the island so much is that it provides a platform for people to just be themselves and be accepted for it. The only rule seems to be that all you are obliged to do is be considerate, respectful and nice and the rest will come. You watch people arrive completely overwhelmed by it all and walk off 2 weeks later 3 foot taller. Not many places allow us to celebrate who we actually are and the beauty of the world around us, but I feel Vorovoro is one of them.

What really struck me was how well the island team manage to keep their work hidden from those visiting. So much goes on behind the scenes on Vorovoro to make the place work, so much time, effort and passion from those who work there. Being there as a Tribe Member you are oblivious to it all, and that is of great credit to Jim, Amy, Jenny Wavu, the Chiefs (naka Lisa and Salote!) and Team Fiji. You guys are doing an incredible, if almost completely unseen and potentially unrecognised, job – Vinaka Vaka Levu Sara.

I feel very privileged to have been part of such a place and immensely proud of those who have taken it on. Long may it continue! Sosoratu……..