Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Why would I like to be Chief?

When I first arrived on Vorovoro, I didn’t know what to expect. Thought that maybe 3 weeks were too much… I ended up staying 6 weeks and still felt it was too short!

As I found my way around the island, I developed friendships with Tribe members, Chiefs and Team Fiji, and learned more and more about the project itself. I got really interested in participating on a different level. Being Chief comes with responsibilities and challenges that I’m happy to take on. Not many people get to put ‘Tribal Chief’ on their resume!

It would be a great experience for me being in a leading role (other than teaching a classroom full of 10 years old kids, what I do back home in Amsterdam) and a perfect way of getting more involved with this life chancing project.

What, other than my skills, makes me the right person for the job?

In my previous 6 weeks on Vorovoro, I’ve had the privilege to be part of Fiji-, Maracuta-, and Ligu Levu Day, celebrated Thanksgiving, Diwali, birthdays from Tribies to Chiefs and from Team Fiji members to even Tui Mali, witnessed shower and boat blessings, helped building a house, fixing roofs, raising a wind turbine, visited the school a couple of times and sat on the grog mat for many, many hours…

Let’s just say that by now, I got a pretty good idea of what goes on in the Mali District!

What would I achieve as chief?

Because February is the most quiet month in Fijian tourism, I expect the Tribe to be quite small. A great opportunity to get to know each other well and learn a lot from Team Fiji in a more personal way!

Being a teacher, I’ve seen the power of learning from each other and passing on that knowledge, so as Chief, I would encourage the Tribies to blog more about everything they’ve learned on Vorovoro to share with the world. I’d love to be the islands personal photographer and make visual record of all activities that go on this month.

I also would like to make the island even more educational than it already is (no worries, there will be no homework and detention!) by making boards displaying the data we’ve gathered so far (think about the coral reef, recycling, solar power, etc.)

As chief, I will be given a small pot of money with which to leave my legacy. How will I spend it?

Waterfalls and Creative Flows!

I have witnessed the start of the ambitious waterfall dam project and experienced the importance of a good water storage solution for the dry season. My legacy would go to this project first.

Secondly, I’d like to get (more!) creative, bring new art supplies and get some Tribies excited for helping out with some big artsy projects that has been started (or talked about) over the last couple of months:

• Amy’s shower mosaic project (shells… lot’s of shells…)
• Sophie’s Vorovoro family tree (or should I say: family mangrove?!)
• Jim’s Tribewanted timeline story
• The Tribe Members World Map (the world will come to Vorovoro!)

Tell us something interesting about yourself…

I had an early childhood tropical island experience: when I was a kid, me and my family lived on St. Martin (Dutch Antilles) for half a year. It was there when I first learned the 3 basic island survival rules: 1. Never sleep under a coconut tree – 2. Always sing when you work – 3. Whenever you come across ice-cream, eat it like it’s your last… it may very well be.

In one sentence, why should I be chief?

Because I MEKE the rain season fun?!?