Tribewanted: Vorovoro

Bula sia,

Monday here on the island is usually quite a quiet day, but this week was the exception. Just as we were preparing for a culture class with Leavi, Tui Mali turned up out of the blue and in his company were 3 or 4 government officials, here to assess the water situation. So I had to give them a tour of the project, showing them all the water tanks and all the water saving measures we have in place. After this me and Wavu took them up to near peak 1 to see the dam and the catchment area. The officials were very understanding of the need for an extra tank as a short term measure before a long term solution is found. It was a very positive meeting and hopefully we should hear from them soon regarding funding for an extra tank.

After a quick grog session and some cake, the officials left as quickly and as silently as they came. Me and Wavu took a brief sigh of relief before a boat load of guys from the local village of Vesi turned up to re-thatch the family bure roof. So what I thought would be a nice quite morning turned out to be one of the busiest I have seen on Vorovoro since arriving here. This carried on to the afternoon as we had 6 new arrivals coming in. So once again I had to show them around the place and make sure they got settled. So after some good progress was made on the roof we sat down in the evening and all drank grog together.

Tuesday proceeded as normal, just tidying the village and getting ready for sevusevu with Tui Mali, but come 1:30 Wavu rushed into my bure saying we had to get everything ready and be waiting as we had a special guest coming today, and it was none other than Tuiviti, the Chief of Fiji. This was massive news and important to everyone involved in the project. So Leavi waded into the water and performed the formal greeting, meeting Tuiviti as the boat arrived. I then met both him and Tui Mali on dry land in the traditional way, this involves a two handed hand shake, then getting down on one knee and clapping 3 times. It was a particular good sevusevu as Tuiviti gave a nice speech about Vorovoro and then we introduced him to the ‘hospital bus’, after he finished the bilo he said, and I quote; “That was a nice ride”. Tui Mali entered into the spirits and had one as well, officially making them members of the Lambchop society.

On Wednesday I helped the guys out on the pig pen, helping to fix some of the support posts, and levelling the ground off. This gave Pupu another chance to show off his chainsaw skills, wielding it like a true samurai. We went fishing in the evening again this week, we left slightly early and watched an amazing sunset before dropping our lines in the water. It was another successful week with a total of 9, I managed to catch 2. This time Wavu didn’t even bother coming, I think he has finally realised the fact that he will never catch a fish in his life and has hung up his line for good.

On Thursday we had a sustainability day, so this entailed sorting out all the recycling, weighing it and making sure it was in all the correct bags. We then went foraging with Leavi, where he told us about all the plants he has planted and the medicinal properties of some trees. This is also where he picked the first harvest this year of cabbage and cucumber, which we later presented to Poasa. He took us out to the other side of the island where we collected lots of rubbish that had washed up on the beach. Once we were back, we sorted it all, recycling what we could.

Sadly the tank which we thought we had fixed for the school at Lingu Levu was still leaking, so on Dream Foundation Friday we headed over to the village earlier than usual, so we could try and fix the tank before meeting up with the children as they were now back from their holidays. Unfortunately the tank had a small covering of water at the bottom, which stopped us from being able to cement the floor, which was the original plan. However we helped out as much as we could, managing to get rid of the water, allowing it to dry for work to continue the next week.

As we were there for most of the day the kitchen staff packed us up with sandwiches and doughnuts for lunch, which we ate in one of the staff houses before heading into the classrooms to spend some time with the kids. A couple of the tribe brought with them some great presents including some balloons which when blown up and released shot into the air, as you can imagine these were a big hit with the kids. At 1:30 we all made our way to the end classroom where the kids sang us some beautiful songs, I especially like the rousing rendition of Happy Birthday they sang for Rob. They also performed some fantastic mekes, me and Wavu even joined in for this one particular meke. After this we headed outside and played all sorts of sport for the next hour, I took part in a seriously heated game of netball, I’m not sure whether my team won or lost but all I know is that the children are all very good. After the bell went we all made our way back to the boat, sweaty and physically drained. We came back in time to say goodbye to team Fiji for the weekend, with the usual grog send off.

Saturday was relatively uneventful; apart from I got my hair cut in Labasa for a bargain price of $2. We did however welcome a new arrival into the group as well as welcoming Amy back from her short break away. We ended up watching a film that evening on one of the tribe’s laptop, as it was raining outside.

The weather on Sunday was quite overcast, and with Amy back we decided it was time to clear the path linking the 4 peaks. So me, Wavu and Amy sharpened the machetes and set off, hacking our way through the undergrowth. It was all going well until I stupidly miss-hit a branch causing the machete to ricochet off the tree and swing round the back, catching my left hand in the process. The cut wasn’t very deep luckily but there was a lot of blood so we decided to play it safe and head back.

So once again another eventful week on the island, no such thing here as a quiet day, something always happening, which is what I love about this place. Meeting new people and together sharing new experiences. The pig pen has really progressed this week, the fencing and barb wire is in place and we now have the tin roof which should be going up next week, hopefully getting some pigs in just before I leave, which would be great. The guys from Vesi have almost completed the family bure’s roof; they are coming back on Tuesday to do the finishing touches.

So with just over one week left on the island I am trying to make the most of my time left, I have enjoyed every minute so far and I hope the next week brings just as much fun and enjoyment as the past couple.

Mike