Tribewanted: Vorovoro

My arrival on Vorovoro was quite exciting the anticipation of what I would see and the new world to me never having been in the southern hemisphere. Meeting Chief Alice as we arrived and touring the island under her direction gave me a sense of the path Vorovoro was taking to lead the inhabitants into an eco-friendly world. This is the rainy season here and I am surprised at the rain, sometimes soft and light on your face like a soft mist and other times soaking you to the bone with the scurry of feet to find shelter in the big bure. I slept my first night in the big bure with others just arriving. After Chief Alice left I had the Chief Bure which is like a mini house of my own.

My chief handover ceremony was great. I was overwhelmed at the patience of Tui Mali. I tried to explain the items that I had brought for the children, books, educational games, and flash cards. The Foreign Affairs Office from my work at the Bureau of Reclamation also provided book bags, pens, calculators, posters and books. They had been sent months ahead and were sitting in Nadi and had not made it to Labasa through a miscommunication between the offices. They are here now and delivery to the school will be Friday. I presented Tui Mali with a commemorative coin from Hoover Dam other items. School opens January 21, so I hope to be there when they are in session. I also have books from the many tribe members that were here in December and the first part of January. All this generosity may take up the whole boat.

New years celebrations were well underway with a party in the evening and the next day being invited to a combination of three villages celebrating the New Year. We entered the village with the men first in sulus calling out “oo ya” announcing to the village that we had arrived and were coming, the women followed in their sulus with a call of “mana vandoo “ (excuse all my misspellings of the Fiji words). There was kava ceremony, “meke” by two groups, dinner, and an exchange of a whales tooth between the elders of the tribes. I couldn’t comprehend all of it or the procedures, but it was very exciting. We had practiced a “meke” in the boat if we were to perform, but the rains came and we had to leave before dark in our boats so we did not perform. As we watched the other performances the tradition is that you try to distract the performers some by powdering them on the head and face with talcum powder, others by putting candy in their mouths, wrapping them in sulus or long pieces of cloth. The people were gracious and included us in all their activities.

Another tradition of the New Year is the throwing into the sea. Constant squeals of children and adults alike as men grab someone is grabbed from behind and thrown into the sea. You can go willingly or not, it’s up to you. There is a constant changing into dry clothes or at least the driest clothes. There is also the bucket of water gingerly dumped on a head of an unsuspecting victim or the bucket chase until all are wet, staff, tribe members, and children all laughing and enjoying the prospect of a new year and the changes that will come.

I’m still finding my way with the new language and the greetings as you walk through the village. What is expected of me as far as manners and customs I’m not sure yet. I get a lot of prompting by what is called your wing man. Past Chief Chris was great at passing on his knowledge of these things as Alice had left and he stepped in to answer my questions. What a wonderful atmosphere. Thank you all for allowing me to be chief for January.

We had a wonderful sustainability tour the next day. A combination of the effects of water, waste, energy and food effects on the island is discussed. This was an explanation of the bio gas converter from the pig poo. Apparently we need more pig poo so the other villages are going to contribute to the cause of bio gas with their pig poo.

We have Mariah a marine biologist staying on the island and she took a number of people on a reef tour. Vorovoro is lucky enough to have one of the best coral reefs in the world. She explained some of the marine life and took pictures and later showed the pictures to everyone on the trip. We have a couple of great books in the library with pictures and information on fish in the area that are great to look at before and after a snorkel trip, great after working in the gardens.

The goodbye ceremony is very emotional to both the tribe members and the Fiji people. They have become family in the time they are on the island and it is like having your family leave on a journey and you don’t know if or when they will return. Everyone makes two lines in front of the big bure. The boat is packed and those leaving the island are sung the “isa lei” as they greet each member and say their goodbyes. Lots of hugging and tears takes place by all involved. You become very attached to the island even though you have only been here a short period. Once the goodbyes are said the members enter the boat and the boat is cast off and continual waves and shouts of “moce” are heard across the waves until those on the boat shout back and everyone can return to their work, although some still linger until the boat rounds the corner and disappears from view.

The picture is of the Potts Family boys saying goodbye to PuPu one of the very educated members of the tribe on Vorovoro. He is very helpful in creating mosquito repellant from natural plants and oils. He has shown great patience in helping teach tribe members in the art of coconut husking and cracking coconuts. I can attest to the fact that he can crack a coconut in two with his bare hand. I witnessed it as well as Lucy and Kate, other tribe members.