Tribewanted: Vorovoro

I didn’t think that I would have enough news for another blog since Wednesday but it has been a busy week on Vorovoro so here’s another update.
The theme of this week has to be “Community Building”. Peter’s funeral made us feel a part of the local Fijian community but this week has been about us reaching out and showing that we feel a part of that community. Part of the Fijian philosophy is being able to accept help from your neighbours because you know you will have the opportunity to help them and that is one of the things we did this week. We were also surprised by a spontaneous party in our honour as thanks for past help.
On Wednesday we had the grand opening of the new composting toilet which is located at the halfway point between the Tribe and Fijian sides of the village. It has been built with the deliberate purpose of teaching the Fijians the principals behind it and Duncan has done a wonderful job of enthusing and educating everyone involved in the project. Unfortunately the painstakingly rehearsed Meke session after the formal ceremony was a bit of a disaster, at least from the male perspective. I’m sure Tevita was shaking his head in amazement after all his hard work but all the mistakes made for a lot of laughs. The evening wound down into a wonderful Telanoa (storytelling session) with smaller groups chatting and sharing their stories.
Before Tui Mali left to go home he suggested we might visit Vesi village to show support for their new water tank project. We bought some provisions and Morau caught a whopper of a fish to take with us as a means of feeding the workers who had donated their time to the project. On arrival, as we waited for the grog to be pounded, we decided to help move some of the materials up to the tank site. It seemed like an easy enough task but getting Palangi’s to carry curved pieces of corrugated tin through dense forest and up a hill could have been a health and safety nightmare. Karma was on our side however and everyone made it back to the grog bowl safely. After a few rounds of the Bilo (coconut half) which was the largest I’ve seen so far we got the bright idea of carrying some bags of gravel up too. The guys were starting to get into it now so before returning to the Kava bowl we made a second run. It seems like very little written down but in the heat and humidity (and the influence of grog) it was a good effort from the tribe and a lot more than had been expected. The people of Vesi were hugely grateful and we are already planning another work detail. When we returned to Vorovoro, Tui Mali took me aside and complimented the generosity of the tribies who made the trip. I’m finding that giving a little more than is expected is yielding unexpected returns in the quality of the Vorovoro experience.
Which brings me neatly to our trip to the school today. I know everyone who has made a visit to the school thinks that the wonderful experience of spending the morning with the children more than compensates for any investment we have made in the school, however, after we had fulfilled a promise to do a Meke for them (which we nailed!!!) we were unexpectedly invited to stay for lunch and an impromtue party was thrown in our honour. It was unfortunate that we did not have more advance notice so that everyone could have come and we could have stayed longer but the sentiment was touching. The grog was strong, the food was delicious and the music wonderful. Despite the heat we did not want to go home but had no way of letting the island know we were safe and not lost at sea, so we apologised and said Moce.
After all the excitement of the week everyone is tired, though Giles still managed to get his daily fitness group through their paces. It feels like it might be a quiet weekend but you never know on Vorovoro! Vinaka, Chiron.