Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Coming in live from Vorovoro, calling all the tribe from around the world, I have a true heavyweight with me today in the hammock. Ladies and Gentlemen, weighing in at 50,000 bananas and walking over 6ft tall… I bring to you the tallest, maybe strongest member of Team Fiji… enter the Village Manager – Marau.

Bula sia everyone.

Your name, if said in a certain way, sounds like a cat noise: maaaaaa-rau.

Hahahahaha… it means ‘happy’.

And you certainly are. As I look around the village, so much has been achieved in three years and you’ve had a hand in most of it.

I started from the beginning, from the first of September, tried to clean up the place, we start to make the big bure. It was a hard job, we work with the old man and they just stand me here, stand me there.

Why didn’t you tell them to go do it themselves?

In Fijian culture/tradition… you respect the elders. They older than me, know more than me, must respect that.

So it has nothing to do with Pupu Epeli holding a chainsaw and telling you to move around, it is a case of respect?

Yes.

The big bure is a magnificent example of manpower and teamwork. What else have you been involved in?

After the big bure I jump on to many projects like building the wharf for the boats.

Where is that?

I got destroyed in the hurricane.

But the big bure survived?

Yes. Very hard to build in the water. You know, the land stays still but the water moves and in big weather it can do a lot of damage.

And here we are surrounded by sea, do you fear the sea?

No.

Do you fear anything swimming in the sea?

I don’t think so, the sea is part of my life, I fish. When I first start… sometimes when you dive down you see the fish go in the hole, you come up, get some breathe, go down again, look in the hole but the fish is not there… very difficult. Nowadays we have fin, we have snorkel, we have mask, we have gun. We can stay on the top, look down and see the fish go into the hole… much better.

How long can you hold your breathe?

Maybe five minutes.

And what’s the biggest fish you’ve caught?

The biggest fish I’ve caught when I was fishing was like… 118lb. It’s a kind of grouper fish, brownish, really big.

How many people would that feed?

It feed nearly 300 people.

Wow! Are there lots of fish that size out there?

It depends on the season… groupers come in June, July, August… sweet lips comes in November, December, January, February… it depends on the month.

So like our fruits and vegetables are seasonal, so are the fish?

Yeah, that’s right.

Are sharks seasonal?

No, shark always there hahahahaha…

Any scars?

Only one!

Hit me with the story… seconds out, round one… Marau vs the Shark

I was diving and shooting fish, tried to take the fish back from the hole but this shark wanted the fish so I gave it one small punch on the side of the shark – its my fish.

Bad move Marau…

I didn’t know another shark was watching me, I tried to get the fish and the shark attacked the fish. Before it reached the fish it reached my hand! I throw the fish back.

I see you have all your fingers and it hasn’t affected your carpentry skills… you’re a lucky man.

I think so.

You know, I hear there are octopus in the sea but I’ve never seen one, where are they?

The octopus is hard to see. In the olden days, when I was young, the old man teach me how to see the octopus… like… the octopus when it goes to build a house, it has many legs… it grabs everything… all the dead coral and makes a house and he goes inside, stays inside… with a hole at the top so it can look out. So you look for the house.

Ahhhhh, nice tip. Are there any protected areas or can you fish wherever you like?

In Mucuata Province, there’s a combined fishing area… Mali, Sasa, Nadori, Draketi… there’s a place you not allowed to go fish, snorkel… its illegal… it’s an experiment by WWF to make a research area for fish that breed there, give birth.

At night, the lights of fishing boats can be seen, are they illegal fisherman?

If you got a license you can fish, no license, no fish. We don’t know if they got a license or not.

Let’s presume they have a license, how do we know if they fishing in the ‘legal’ areas and not pulling out all the pregnant mums?

There is a police force watching the area, the water police.

They’re gonna need some fast engines to catch the poachers. I hear some some of the poachers have 500 horse power engines and come up from Savusavu to fish and sell to the hotels.

What I’m thinking, we can stop them, we can go…

If the police provide the extra fuel and some kick ass engines, we’ve only got a measly 40 horse power, we can do that. Or even better, the army could provide some artillery? Yes, let’s apply for some, we can covert the treehouse to be the battle station.

I don’t know hahahahahaha…

Do you come from an army background?... the way you hold yourself, your posture… it’s like a sergeant major.

My father was in the army, very strict man. Not me, I’m a family man.

But you’ve raised your own army?

What do you mean?...

You’re a man of many children…

Hahahahahaha… I have seven children. You know, God created man to bear fruit like the bible says.

You sound like a holy man, is religion a big part of your life?

Yes, I’m a Christian. I was a church steward for ten years and a church pastor for four years. When I suffer from trouble, when I suffer from sickness, some problem… God help me. I’m on the Mali school committee… and I’m head of the Mali choir, I’m a very busy man so I need God’s help all the time.

I bet you sing the bass?

Why?...

Because a man with so many children must have big balls and big balls mean a big, deep voice…

Hahahahahahahaha… I think so! In the choir it is divided into four groups, one is soprano, one is alto, one is tenor and fourth one is base… just like a guitar, play high, play low sound. I sing the bass or tenor.

Have you entered any competitions recently?

I went to the Macuata conference for the choir competition. We come second and third and Tribewanted help us by giving the Mali choir a small job to help pay money for the church.

And what job was that?

To maintenance the family bure, cut some reeds and thatch the roof… make it good condition.

How come we’re living under thatched roofs and you, a Fijian, choose to live under a tin roof?

That’s a good question. When the people of Fiji lived in the bure before, then the England people come and brought things that were better… they bring development, bring school, bring church, changing the way we live. They tell us not to live in the bure, its bad for health and we start to build concrete house and tin roof house. That’s why in Vorovoro we are going back, trying to bring Fiji back to Fiji.

I notice your house in Nakawaga is quite small for such a big family…

I am trying to extend my house, when we have ceremony all our relatives come and stay, its hard to find a place to sleep on the floor.

In England you need to write to the local council before you start extending your home, is it the same here in your village?

No. If you got the money you can extend your house. Before I built my house, I come from far island and marry to Nakawaga… I take a bungle of kava to the chief of Nakawaga and ask him to build my house and he say OK.

Nice and easy. You say you come from a far away island… what’s it called?

I come from northern of Lau group… like, my island is second last island of Fiji island. If you travel by boat it takes one week!

Do you get treated any different by your Mali-born-neighbors?

No, we are like brother-in-laws, that is the Fijian tradition if you marry one village to another village.

Is it true that the people of Lau are the most skilled craftsmen in all of Fiji?

Yeaaah.

So how do you explain breaking a screwdriver into three pieces? Did you think it was a hammer?

Hahahahaha… I’m a really powerful man.

You’re gonna need all that power to build four bures in one week for the Hampton Court Flower Show 2009! How do you feel about this latest project on the other side of the world?

I can’t say because its like a dream all my life. When we start schooling, we hear about England, the Queen… we don’t even now where England is! It’s really amazing for me.

Have you ever been in a plane before?

Not a big one, only the small one.

Do you like movies?

Yes, very much.

You will have your own TV screen on the chair in front of you with your own remote control with over 50 movies to choose from?

Oh my God!

And when you go to the toilet be careful not to flush it when you’re sitting down because it might suck you down and out of the plane!

Eh… true?...

Naaaaaah, not really, I’m winding you up.

Hahahahaha… oh my God.

I think one of the biggest challenges ahead of you is the health and safety laws in the UK, especially on building sites…

I think this will be the most tough work for me to do. In Fiji, when building we just jump and here and jump up there… machete here, chop there.

I’m not sure if you’ll be allowed machetes, knives are sort of illegal in England. Five years in prison.

Ooooooooooooh, I think we better not take any machetes hahahahaha…

The tribe can’t wait for you to arrive and you’ll be meeting many of them in Hyde Park, how do you feel about that?

I feel really proud for that. We stay in Vorovoro and the tribe present sevusevu to us, now I think we in England so we present it to them, they are the landowners.

And as President of Vorovoro’s latest society – the Lambchop Society – will you be taking that to England with you?

That’s the main aim I would like to do! I think so hahahahahaha…

And for those who don’t know, what is the Lambchop Society?

The Lambchop Society… you’re joining a community, sharing joke with your brother… your sister… you come from around the world and drink some kava together.

How do you join the Lambchop Society?

If you want to join only one thing, there is a bus but you can’t pay any money for that bus. You have to take what is filled in the bus… if you ride the hospital bus you’re a member of the Lambchop Society.

Has anyone famous ridden on the hospital bus?

You know, it is hard for us to serve the big chief the hospital bus because the big chief always have their own bilo. And when Tui Viti come to Vorovoro, the biggest chief in Fiji, asked for the hospital bus, the one he’s seen on the website… very proud for that.

Can you be a member of both the Hammock Society and the Lambchop Society?

The Hammock Society is part of life for the human being. When you drink to much kava you get lambchopped. When you’re lamchopped, the one place you need is the Hammock Society. We’re working together, you join the Lambchop Society then you need the Hammock Society… lie down, look up at the beautiful stars, the moon in the night… fall asleep in the Hammock Society.

That leads on nicely to one particular story… the Hammock Society crèche…

Hahahahahahaha… yeah, on that night I was drinking kava and I was really lambchopped! I come and rest in the hammock and then my family come and we go. Same time I get out of the hammock my son hops in the hammock. We get on the boat, is everybody here? Yeah, OK, we go. And when we reach home and ask “somebody missing?”. Yeah, somebody missing… left on the hammock… oh my God! Hahahahahaha… when you lambchopped you have to think first before you leave somewhere, otherwise you might forget your children or something else.

It’s been a pleasure chatting to you, two Presidents together… but all this talking has made me thirsty. Any last words?

Only one message I think I have to send to all listeners, all readers from around the world… I’m working in a small place, a carpenter needs tools and something to build the project. Without the tools you can’t build a house. Without people, you can’t use the tools. So come with some tools!

Nice words, let’s go ride on that bus. Until next time readers: chill out, don’t workout! Go Hammocks! Talo na yaqona!