Hi Everyone,
Well we are back in Malekula experiencing the rainy season. This is the time of the year that we were warned would be the most difficult in terms of tolerating the weather. It rains pretty much every day for a while and then goes back to hot sunshine. The temperatures outside are above 30 degrees everyday and by the afternoon it is hotter inside than out even with the fans running. OK so it is a little hot and humid but what a great excuse for a swim in the sea and we’ve been doing a lot of that. We are still getting a lot of enjoyment out of the coral and the colourful fish.
Last Friday, on a whim, we decided to paddle across to “Little Island” which is just off our beach. It was about a half hour paddle and we felt like intrepid seafares as our canoe ran up onto the beach (actually the kids off the Island do it everyday to get to school) We were welcomed on by a group of mamas and then taken for a tour of the island. They have no electricity, their water is drawn from a well and I doubt that the highest point of the island is more than 20 feet about sealevel. As has happened so often before in this country, we were embarrassed by their generosity. These people, who have very little gave us bananas, nuts and beautiful shells to take back with us. We are going to go back one day and try and repay their kindness.
The year is off to a slow start – the schools are closed for another 10 or so days and so we are able to use the time to get ready for the coming year. I have been approved as a Volunteer from my previous status as an “unassigned partner.” Already I am feeling more powerful and the Country Head for VSA has agreed that Maryann now needs to show me a “tad” more respect. Doesn’t seem to be happening although we have contracted Linda (young Linda) to do most of our washing. My project is based around the Operations Manual for Principals that I wrote late last year. John Stuart from Teamworks Pacific Ltd has generously sponsored the printing of the manuals in NZ and they should arrive in Vila next week. A great gesture by John and I’m sure it was influential in getting the Vanuatu Government to buy into the project.
We have gone through our first cyclone warning. VSA were very good at giving us updates about what was happening and in the end we missed the cyclone proper. What we got was bad enough – trees and branches down and our friends Howard & Jackie (NZ volunteers living at Lakatoro) did have some damage to a porch.
The pictures in this report (assuming they have downloaded)
- The Prime Minister of Vanuatu in Kastom dress about to “touch” the pig with a mallet as part of a symbolic pig killing ceremony at Lakatoro;
- A glimpse of the state of the roads over the cab of a truck as we made our way into Lakatoro for some shopping;
- Maryann about to head off to work during one of the rains.
Cheers
Vic and Maryann