Tribewanted: Vorovoro

“Tui Mali? Can you Hula?”

Face scrunched, i closed my eyes and held my head in my hands worried about how the next few seconds of life on Vorovoro would pan out.

Id previously sat in many Sevusevu ceremonies, happy that protocol had been followed, everyone was happy, with only a ‘seemingly innocent comment or question’ thrown around the tanoa toward Tui Mali to potentially unravel weeks of hard work and cultural realtionship building between the online tribe and the Mali Yavusa. I heard that the last few weeks, Tui Mali was ‘on form’ and a ‘very happy man’. was that about to change?

But today was different. Firstly, The question came from little Angelica (Angel). Angel by name and nature, Young and sweet and who had 10 minutes previously presented her own Sevusevu to Tui Mali. Second, i was no longer working on Vorovoro, only there today as a guest, so it wasnt up to me to ‘rebuild’ the pieces from these seemingly innocent questions that can cause longer term issues -today, for once i didnt have to care about the outcome – so i sat back and watched.

Tui Mali had a look of happy confusion on his face. A small girl stood in front of him with 2 hula hoops. one clearly larger than the other.
had he heard her right? did he know what she meant?

Sevusevu had just finished. We were in the new vale (mid construction) – beautifully decorated, plenty mats, plenty flowers, tapa hanging behind Tui Mali – sevusevu’s had become more formal. it was nicely done.

normally at times like this, tui mali would laugh, and loosely, and sometimes with some awkwardness, imply that the preceeding request should perhaps be dealt with later. the tanoa was full afterall, and formalities had only just finished. if not then perhaps Menusi or Tevita would intervene on the Tui Malis behalf and imply the same. neither were there. Tui Mali scanned around the mat, seemingly for help. I was about to fill Tevitas metaphoric island shoes and quickly rescue my Chief from the request to ‘Hula’....

before i could, Tui Mali had moved his bilo to oneside, shuffled his legs and taken the larger of the hoops from Angel. holding it in front of him as if peering through a large round window, he sat waiting patiently. images of tui mali jumping through the hoop like a dog or dolphin flashed through my head. this time the filter between my head and mouth thankfully blocked out similar vocal comments.

‘ok, you show me how..’

angel showed tui mali how to hula, and the tribe cheered and clapped. Tui laughed and giggled and smiled. he was still a very happy man, and still on form! he rose from his cheifly position, took a wide stance on his mat and held the hoop around his ‘rotund’ frame!. A look of hesistancy, mental preparation, and nervousness crossed his face. can he remember to do what hed just seen? which way should he throw? which way does ‘he’ go? should he throw in a bit of ‘pelvic hip action?’. he was giggling.

he readied his arms, and with some fijian force swung the hula around him. 3 or 4 revolutions around his standing frame as it spiralled to the floor…...he bent down, retreived the hoop and repositioned himself to the laughter and claps from the tribe.
“ok, riiiight” he said, and did it again with more force, getting one more revolution than last time….but still failed to show us his ‘hip action!’

he didnt have to. he had just hula’d. maybe for the first time, and to the joys of angel and the tribe. he placed the hoop next to his mat, sat down, smiling and laughing, happy in his success and called the next round….....

it was great to see that moments like this can exist on vorovoro. the pressures and worry from the first year, seemingly diluted away as more and more succesful months tick by. i wander what would have happened had Raina asked Tui Mali the same question back on September 1st 2006.

yes theres still a long, long way to go in terms of being completely fulfilled, and with only 16 months left., but Vorovoro and the project has progressed. the island is busy. the island is looking good. Projects are few, but hey, fiji time – and if it allows for more moments like this, then it cant be that bad….

There is a certain feeling of ‘relaxed comfort’ on Vorovoro right now. everyones happy in everyone elses company. tribe – yavusa – the buildings – the land. and its because of this that days like today can happen.

..and like most post-sevusevu ceremonies, Tui Mali would turn to me, to initiate the next few minutes of activity, maybe a song, a story, a joke, or just to confirm that its time for another bilo. frequently i had to be on guard, to save myself, and sometimes the tribe. an old trick, just used to be to divert the request to an unsuspecting tribe member or colleague. I knew it was coming. Today was no different.

Tui Mali turned…”So kimbo – can you hula?”...

after highlighting my (relatively new) allergy to semisynthetic polymerization products, i remained seated, and quickly called Talo…..

Tui Mali is a very happy man – and it shows! though the following week he was about to get a lot happier…..