Tribewanted: Vorovoro

so, i have been thinking about the project since the last little flare up on the forums. and i wanted to frame my thoughts in this blog. i have had all kinds of people ask me about tribewanted, about why i went to fiji so early on and why at all and how i feel about the things that could be better…

the only way i can answer is that, raised by two professors and scientists, i am fascinated by process, by experiments, by trying things that can teach us something. and that is what tribewanted does best. to me, it is a crash course in all kinds of things we may never have sought out in our schooling. it is a university which encourages collaborative learning, participation, trial and error, and sharing.

for ben, i feel that this has been a business school, his MBA, his lesson in the economics of globalization and marketing in the 21st century. it is a 3-year course of diplomatic tactics and hospitality management.

for tevita, it has been an opportunity to study more of the western ideas about sustainability, to rekindle interest in his own beloved traditions, and learn the ins and outs of tax boards and land trusts within fiji.

some of us have learned to bake bread or catch fish, to weave mats and make brooms, to do tai chi or hula hoop…the list is long and amusing. we have talked with people we’d never rub shoulders with “in the real world” as one does in a college dorm – late night conversations about philosophy or the cockroaches. we don’t always get the right answers, but it is almost more important to have the questions raised. of course, i’m not going to build a reed bed for recycling gray water in my urban apartment, but it got me thinking about what i could do when i returned to LA…

so, perhaps the most important question isn’t “how can we fix what’s not working?” (not that we shouldn’t try) but rather “what can we learn from what we’ve tried?” and “what am i learning that makes my involvement worth while?”...

tribewanted is imperfect, constantly shifting depending on who is engaged and involved, at the mercy of the weather, the tourist trade, and the care of this transient and impassioned community that make up the tribe. and, while there are imperfections, room for railing and improving, honing and maintaining, there is nothing else like it that i have yet encountered. so, while i sometimes want to scream with frustration, having spent more than 8 weeks on the island over 2 years of its growth, i know how extremely difficult it is to make sweeping and lasting changes within the parameters of the project.

our duty, as students and teachers, is to continue providing constructive discussion around our observations, our research, and our efforts…i hope that no one holds back in offering criticism, as that is often a perfect catalyst for change. but i hope that it is done in the right spirit, with measured understanding of this complex eco-system of a project, so that we can all make the most of our education.