Today I found out that my new home for the next 2 years will be in a village called Erate on Tongariki. Now it’s a very very small island (2km by 4km) – so small it may not even be on your map but its just below Epi and Tongoa. There are 4 other villages on this island (Lawaima, Mu-ur, Tavia, and Lakilia) and only 350 people total on the whole island. In order to get there you can either take a ship from Port Vila (which could take 18-24 hours) or fly to Tongoa and then a quick (~1.5 hr depending on the ocean) to Tongariki. Once you get to the shore I hear it’s a steep but short climb to the village. We will see how I react after I go for the first time if this island is easy to get to or not. There are no banks or post offices on the island so I’ll have to go to Tongoa every other month or so because really how much money do you need on an island? But I’ll likely head over there anyways just to go and socialize with another volunteer as on Tongariki it’s “mi wan nomo” – I’m it for the island the closest volunteers are on Tongoa. But its all good – just think I’ll helping an entire island.
If you want to read about the previous volunteer, Sarah Sherry, that I’ll be replacing you can check out an article she wrote – she’s a much better writer then I am and she gives a good description of the island and the work I’ll be doing.
http://www.peacecorps.vu/experiences/FromAlaskaToSouthPacific.html
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