Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Bula Sia!

A beautiful day in Mali. Beautiful weather, beautiful singing, beautiful people. Started out by raking and clearing the school grounds, while the boys offered extra hands to help fix the village’s leaking water tank. The teacher explained to us that, until the water is running again, the children who board can’t stay at the school, and all the other children are having to bring in 2 bottles of water each, everyday- 1 to drink and 1 for brushing their teeth; which, if you haven’t seen, is alone worth coming to Vorovoro for. They stood in 2 rows after lunch, brushing away to the count of a little boy on a drum. After “TEN!” comes a final rattle on the drum and then
“RINSE!”. Spit, minty froth and water fly through the air – it’s like saliva fireworks.

Everyone scrambled back into their classrooms, which was our cue to attempt the tribe lessons. We split into 4 groups, one for each class. Kola, Chris and I had class 3 for Arts and Crafts. We planned to make a group collage about the effects of pollution in the sea. As soon as the packs of new pencils and stickers came out, the classroom melted into chaos. The children were running, squealing and jumping around the tables.. Any hope of an eco-based collage flew out the window. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t QUITE as chaotic in the other classrooms. The boys with the younger class ended up doing some extremely loud and enthusiastic singing of ‘Old mcDonald’, followed by the children’s choice of “Rolly Poley”.

When the bell rang, the tribe members, the teacher and all the children gathered in the end classroom, and we were
welcomed to the school by the stunning voices of the kids – every one of them seemed perfectly in tune. Team Fiji’s Marau has children at the school, and one of his sons seems to have quite a reputation; the children broke into hysterics when he perfectly executed the meke to what turned out to be a woman’s song. All the tribe members
introduced themselves, where they’d been, how they were finding Fiji etc. Then a “Happy Birthday- Happy Long life” song went to Rob-23, before the last songs and dances, and finally playtime. One of the gifts the tribe presented was the snake balloons, which you let go and they fly around in the air. They were obviously a huge hit with the kids, and the rubber squeaks and squeals could be heard for the rest of the school-day, amongst intense rugby games for the boys, netball for the girls, and quieter conversations between tribe members and the older children. A big MOCE and then back to Vorovoro for more delicious meals.

:)

VINAKA!
Anna