Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Another fantastic week on Vorvoro, the sun has been shining, except for the absolute downpour that was Wednesday; good to get the waterfall shower going again! Last weekend, we had some brilliant guests from Labasa; Sunday school staff on a spiritual enlightenment trip – and wow they could drink grog!! We had a brilliant time sitting up with them, listening to the songs and stories and drinking kava until half past 4 in the morning on Sunday – definitely a good way to start the week!

Last week at Sevusevu, Tui Mali requested a song – as none of the tribe members had any songs to sing, he told me to learn one song to sing for him on the next Sevusevu. So around came Monday morning, when me and Liavi looked at each other, and both remembered our promise to Tui Mali! We spent all day in the gardens singing, and by the end of the day, had managed to learn ‘Isa Lewa’ – a song which Liavi had written about Vorovoro, and the tribe who come to visit from all over the world. It was pretty nerve wracking singing a song in Fijian which I had learnt one day before, in front of the chief of Mali, as well as a large group of raucous rugby players! But fun in the end and we had a good day drinking and singing.

We also spent the week busily planning the re-invigoration of the Hammock society, and it has been decided that the philosophy of the Hammock society “Chill out, don’t work out” has to be preserved! I bought some paints in town and the tribe all got started on the new signs – “The Hammock society, Chill out, Don’t work out” We have found some rather artistic tribe members – Ian, who made an ‘in use’ sign for the waterfall shower, defiantly has some hidden artistic talents! The rest of this week will be spent fixing up the Hammocks, putting up the new signs, and ending in a celebratory bonfire!

The plans for Tanoa Park have also come a long way this week. It has been in discussion for the past few weeks to try and get the Mali Sharks rugby team to come and clear the tall grass which has taken over the pitch, so they came on Tuesday and, 20 big rugby players did in 2 hours what would have taken the tribe months! A really good job and now we can get the ground and the tribe ready for the tournament next week!

This coming week is definitely going to be a week of finishing all of the projects that we set out to complete at the beginning of the month, so a good week for the tribe, and also a week for me to make the most of everything on the island. The 29th June will be my last full day on the island, so this week is going to be full of celebrations, and goodbyes. I will have been on Vorovoro, my new home, for 2 months when I leave, and I have enjoyed every week, every day, every minute and every second. I will be leaving behind so many new friends, but Vorovoro will always be my home now, always be in my heart, and I will be telling the Talinoa ni Vorovoro everywhere I go!

Vinaka, and Moce,

Marama Jade!

xxx