Prepare to move into her new home (hut that is)

Niki in Tongariki. That’s what I like to tell people because its fun to say and it rhymes.

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

Go Visit Nguna

Well I needed a break from training and when the opportunity came up to go and visit the surrounding Aid Posts/Dispensaries/Health Clinic. I thought I'd be clever and choose to visit the Dispensary on Nguna a small island just off of Efate (you can see it from P-town) - so I got to get out of town and complete an assignment :) A few of us went together on the 45 minute boat ride and 45 minute walk up to the village to visit Leiwaku - the nurse that works at the Dispensary. I think it renewed all our spirits to see another village and to practice our Bislama skills - it got us all excited for our future sites (and it seems as Leiwaku let it slip that one of the health volunteers will be calling Nguna there home very soon).

So, as a little background on the interworking of the health care system in Vanuatu let me try to briefly describe how it works (keep in mind I still am learning too)… Each village (in a perfect world) will have a health committee that designates one person in the community to be trained (10 wk program) as a Village Health Worker (VHW) and then run the Aid Post in the community. Now the VHW can do basic first aid and can give medication for common ailments - however it isn't stocked with drugs and if there is a serious problem the patient must be referred. There are problems that arise in this situation as some villages don't have a properly functioning health committee and therefore don't have a aid post or they may have a VHW but they cant continue to work and support their family (they may not have enough money or can't get to the garden to get food - that's also why the health committee is so important as a village they need to support the VHW). The next step on the health care chain is the Dispensary, which is supposed to have a nurse and possible a nurse aide as well (however in many cases it’s just one of the two) and the facility can do first aid, treat ailments, deliver babies and is stocked with medications. The next step on the referral system – since at the dispensary they can not necessarily diagnose everything and a patient may need to go to the hospital or if the problem is too big they will go to the nearest hospital. But we are on islands here and due to weather and distance trying to get to a hospital can be a difficult task.

On the boat ride to Nguna - next to me are my Aunt (smol mama) and my cousin

All of us on the Nguna's shore

Become a Domestic Goddess

Just a few weeks here in Vanuatu and already I'm learning how to cook by fire - I've been learning how to make traditional island food like laplap (which is a pudding consistensy that is baked) and simboro (which is a starch like manioc or yams that are wrapped in island cabbage). I have also made a banana cake and pancakes so I will be able enjoy some comfort foods from home and I have even made my own banana jam.

I also have learned how to weave using pandana leaves - I can make bracelets, rings and mats (they are still very small more like a place mat - it just hurts my back too much to be hunched over - I dont know how the Ni-Van mama's do it).

I'll definately fetch a nice bride price with all my new skills I'm learning :) haha

Living in a Zoo

My room is the insect and reptile exhibit with a few geckos, lizards, spiders, spasdic moths and blood sucking mosquitoes. A rotating special treat in that exhibit are the occasional rat or if it rains hard the man-eating centipedes (or what the locals call 100 footer - in the book Getting Stoned with Savages by Troost there is a hilarious anecdote on the subject that I highly recommend anyone to read for a fun easy read on Vanuatu) come out to put on a show. For the most part I get along with these creatures as we signed a verbal agreement – don’t hide in my bed and stay out of sight and I wont kill you – so far so good but every once in awhile I hear them or catch a glimpse but no harm done. On the grounds we’ve got 10s of dogs that like to sing in a chorus of barks every night – to my dismay. There are lines of chickens scattered around slowly scratching away every bit of ground searching for food. Suzy, the cat, can be found either hunting (hopefully for rats but she also occasionally chases her shadow) or she’s taking a nap in my lap. We also have dinosaurs – just kidding but truly this place does look like it was the set for Jurassic Part and at night the cows make this horrible noise that sounds like a roar of a dinosaur. Also at night you can hear the fruit bats in the mango trees. In the aquarium there are starfish, sharks, fish (and flying fish), snakes, crabs, dolphins, and more – I still need to go through the exhibit more times and I’ll let you know what else I find. It’s quite a place here in Vanuatu!

Suzy the crazy (and lazy as you can see) cat

My friend in the room - I call him Geiko and he likes to make a shrieking noise sometimes that's not always appreciated in the middle of the night

In P-Town (Paunangisu)

It has been a week and after spending our first days at a resort (it’s not like Sandals – I use the term “resort” loosely). We learned about policies, bush first aid and a crash course on the basics of the language – Bislama.

We are now in our training village and because we are such a big group they had to split us into 3 different villages – Samaa, Emua and Paunangisu (each are a 30 min walk apart). P-town is like a rural suburbia since we are still so close to Port Vila (less than an hour drive – but as a trainee we weren’t allowed to leave the village), we have piped water, water seal toilets (similar to the toilet you know and love but this one you just use a bucket of about a liter of water to “flush”) and they have a lot of “waetman kakae” (so bread, kato – doughnuts, coffee, tin meat/fish and rice). I do like aelan kakae as well which can be surprising to some who know my eating habits but they have a lot of coconut, papaya, banana, mango, yams, manioc, taro - so a diet of fruits and starches - good thing I'll be wearing a mother hubbard as I might gain weight out here :)

P-town is also like any other big city with its own share of land disputes and power struggles as there are two chiefs that are claiming rightful authority over the village. It has split the village into two – not two sides of the road north and south but its divided house by house so its kinda hard to know who’s on what side – I just avoid the question or smile and nod when the topic comes up. There was a riot in the early 90s and houses were burnt and things said but now its just an annoyance – even for us volunteers as we have to split into two groups for community projects and such but hopefully us being there might help show them they can work together.

This is the house I slept in - there is also a seperate house for where my mom slept and the "dining room" and then there is a custom kitchen (meaning its made of leaves)

View from the beach at Ptown - you can see Nguna and Pele in the distance. The bay is really calm no waves just great views :)

Is FOP (Fresh Off the Plane)

After about 15 hours of traveling we finally landed in Port Vila (the capital of Vanuatu – on the island of Efate). I stepped off the plane and as I was going through the passport checkpoint marked for residents it still didn’t feel real – am I home? When we got outside we were greeted with 20 or so staff and other volunteers. They gave us all coconuts to drink and a lava lava (surong) to wear. As I shook everyone’s hand I felt a little overwhelmed with a lot of emotions: I was excited and nervous and thinking “Did I bring too much?” “What does the rest of this island look like?” “Ok, these other volunteers look normal and cool so if they can survive so can I” “What an adventure I’m starting today”

The welcome line at the airport

Got a surong and coconut - life is good :)

arrive to Port Vila, Vanuatu

I haven't arrived - actually still at the airport but I wanted to let you all know that for training (the next 2 months) I may not have internet access. So no news is good news. I'll try to sneak away but after training prepare for some entertaining stories :)