Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Thoughts on waste.

Sunday I spent some time cleaning up the island. I wasn’t cleaning rubbish generated on Vorovoro but waste that has been washed up from the landfill site at Labasa. It consisted mainly of plastic bottles and tubs and shoes. Anyone who has been here will know that the landfill site is positioned by the river and overflows into it when it rains. Much of it ends up on Vorovoro. The south side gets the most but today I filled a huge bag on the north. Imagine how much must pass by and end up floating endlessly in the Pacific. I’ve heard there are floating islands compiled of pure rubbish. I’ve heard they are massive, the size of Texas, Ben tells me. And I’ve seen images of how plastic bags and bottles are killing marine life. Not a pretty site and not a nice thought but one I think we should ponder when we do our shopping.

I’ve lived most of my adult life in London and although I’ve been into recycling for many years being in a place where all the waste is removed from view means that you just assume it’s being dealt with carefully. We don’t actually know what happens to our waste. Out of sight, out of mind. Well on Vorovoro you get to see what happens to Labasa’s waste and it’s shocking how much gets wash up here. I hope the memory of it stays with me when I buy things back home.

Ben’s eco-forums have focused on what sustainability is. Sustainability is a cyclical thing. It has to be. When stuff is made for only one use and is then discarded it is far from sustainable. How much longer can we continue creating things in this way?

Clearing up Vorovoro on Sunday gave me much food for thought. How can we as consumers have a say in the process? How can we bring about a truly sustainable society? These are questions we are all going to have to ask if we want to continue to live on planet Earth.

My last week as chief.

My last week as chief has been a good one. It’s all good, as they say. But this week we celebrated Diwali, the Indian new year with AJ, tribewanted’s taxi man. That was Tuesday and so it was quite full-on what with the Sevu Sevu and we found out in the morning that it was Tui Mali’s birthday. It was a shame that the two coincided as it would have been really nice to have hung out with the Tui for his birthday. But we had already been invited to AJ’s and I for one was looking forward to it. I had only celebrated one Diwali before and that was with a procession from Alperton to Wembley in London a few years ago.

We started the day with a clean up of the village as Diwali is the day when you clean your place so Maha Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, will bless you for the coming year. She will only bless you if your place is up to scratch so I made sure all the rubbish that accumulates around the village was cleaned up and the place looked neat and tidy. I also made sure the chief’s bure was clean as I want Maha Lakshmi’s personal blessing as well.

So the days sevu sevu and my tatau, as I’ll be leaving the following Monday, was a short one and we all left for Labasa and AJ’s place. He picked us up and took us to his home in Delialabasa. So many of the homes we passed were lit up amazingly. Candles and fairy lights everywhere. Diwali is the festival of light as it was also when Rama, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, returned home and, as he did so on the darkest night, after 13 years away, all of his village lit candles to welcome him home.

I had not met AJ before but found him a really charming young man. He put on a feast for us and told me about some of the Hindu ways. It was a real pleasure to meet him and his young family. His daughter Lakshmi was a beautiful little angel.

When we got back I was hoping that Tui Mali was still up and celebrating his birthday but alas he had retired some time before. I shared a couple of bilos with hardcore and went to bed. The next day we had a mass exodus of tribe members. So the island has felt quite quiet the last few days although the guys from Legilevu are with us to work on the roof of the grand bure and a few guys from Nakawaga are also here to help with Tevita’s bure.

So I am no longer the chief of Vorovoro. I am so happy that I was given the opportunity to experience it though. Vinaka vakalevu for giving me this chance to see life as a chief of a Fijian tribe. I will treasure it. I came here wanting to know why I was born in Labasa and yet lived all my life on the other side of the planet. I can’t say that I’ve answered that question yet but I feel more Fijian now. And Fiji and it’s people hold a much bigger place in my heart now.

Moce Sia,

Tui Ping-Pong