Well 'Hi Guys' and sorry that we haven't been able to update the blog for a while... that would be to do with being on a desert island! Actually we do have internet access, but it is solar-powered and very slowwww. We wait to catch up with e-mails etc when we're on the mainland Labassa (pronounced
Lambassa). Boats go to the mainland 3 times a week and we've come in once a week.
Some of you may remember the t.v. series charting the start of the project entitled 'Paradise or Bust' on BBC2 in Jan 2008? (See Youtube for clips)
However, everyone probably sees the whole thing differently, so I'll tell you a bit about my experiences and how it's been for me.
I have absolutely LOVED being on Vorovoro... the longer we have spent here, the more I have understood what it is they are trying to achieve. I
think (at this present time, it may change), that Ben, and the other guy Mark, who dropped out early on, were trying to start some kind of fair-trade style tourism, which allowed people to visit Fiji and have a cultural experience rather than just stay at a five-star hotel and visit the beach a lot (also fun!) ... Somewhere along the way they decided (consciously or not) to incorporate 'eco' into the whole project which immediately changed the emphasis and made it more marketable to a certain 'type' of traveller. Much of the time I've spent here has been a time of questioning everything that goes on... why it's a certain way and how it can be improved. For example, all of our waste is sorted through and separated into what can be re-used, recycled etc. H and I volunteered to help with this most rank and hideous of tasks (out of which I swiftly ducked, returning instead to my painting for the kitchen). What I did realise though, was that even though we knew that we were to try and bring as little packaging and as few un-recyclables as possible, there was still loads of waste which could have been avoided. I have suggested that the tribe members (ie people like us who pay to stay there) get to see all of the waste when it's all spread on the floor, being sorted through. I think that would have a huge impact.Even our poo and wee is composted from the (actually exceptionally clean) toilets!
When we're not being all worthy and saint-esque, we have been having a lot of fun, in the form of snorkeling, swimming, reading in hammocks, singing around the camp-fire and hanging out with a fun witty and varied group of people. The cultural and tribal aspects are the parts which I thought would feel like add-ons or feel contrived. Actually, it's not like that at all. The longer I've been here, the more I have realised that the ceremonies that take place like 'sevu-sevu' (when you introduce yourself to the chief Tui Mali (chief of Mali) and present him with a gift of Kava root) is actually part of traditional Fijian culture. The dances we have learnt (called 'meke') have been great fun and I loved performing them at celebrations like the one we had to mark the 2 and a half year anniversary of tribewanted. Also what I have realised is that the people who work here have given up jobs in Labassa (teachers, surveyors, the works) to work on Vorovoro. Mostly they're men; they work there for the week and go home to their villages or towns on the weekend. It's a mixed bag, some had a rural upbringing and followed many of the traditions which we are taught to observe, the others are learning more about their traditions and roots through working with the tribe members (visitors).
The whole site is spread across from one end of the beach to the other (on one side of the island). On the eastern end is the 'true' village on Vorovoro where 2 families live. They've been there for 12 years. About 5 minutes' walk west of there is the tribe's village, which was constructed by the first tribe members who came here in September 2006, the Tribe team and Team Fiji. It consists of the Grand Bure (a thatched community hall) 2 vales (shared bedrooms), the compost toilet, showers, kitchen, dining area, hammock area and fire-pit, eco-tricity hut (which harnesses all of the energy to run lights, batteries etc), volley-ball and football pitches and the extensive garden areas. They are trying to move towards growing almost everything the tribe eat on the island itself, which would cut down having to buy stuff from town. We've eaten really fresh delicious stuff from these gardens, but obviously they are still young and have only been cultivated for 2 and a half years. Sometimes I'm in awe at just how much they have managed to do in such a small amount of time!
Basically, most of island life is an al-fresco affair, and anyone who knows me, knows that I'm never far from my eye-liner and a mirror. This whole experience has taught me to chillthehelloutandenjoylife more! I haven't completely morphed into someone else (don't worry Sarah), but maybe I can see things a bit differently now :)
I will be very very sad to leave this island paradise and the new family I have met here.
We had a day out to Melaka in Malaysia, 2 and a half hours from Kuala Lumpur today with Chris Teague and had a delicious dinner at his house this evening!
