New Zealand Part 1...Auckland area

Auckland, New Zealand is a beautiful city...Queens Street reminds me of Michigan Ave and the outskirts much like Portland, OR. And I feel like I'm in Cali with all the asians here...mainly Chinese. However, my mom and I can't talk secretly. :)

We've been walking around enjoying the shops, markets, boutiques and cafes. My mom is not liking it as much...she is more into historical architecture and things like that...New Zealand is more known for the scenery and adventure sports (which I am heading to next week). It's just great to hang out with mom...9 months is the longest I've gone not seeing her and Dad.

And, you've probably been hearing on the news about the swine flu...well, guess what? My mom was on the flight with those college kids! Luckily she is feeling fine.

It's fall here and I am appreciating the cool weather since I skipped out on winter in Vanuatu. My mom leaves on Saturday and I venture to Wellington for the night and then to Christchurch. Then a road trip toward Queenstown to bungy jump. (gonna save the skydiving to do with Amber and Kristen to celebrate our belated 30th birthdays)

Yesterday Mom and I went on a day trip to Rotorua where we visited a Maori (native New Zealanders) thermal village and saw a custom dance. The drive was beautiful.

Mom leaves today :( And I am heading to the south island...flying to Wellington today, Christchurch tomorrow and then road trippin to Queenstown.

Thanks for reading. Miss y'all!

Do you know where your trash goes?

A part of the western lifestyle that I seldom gave a thought about was waste disposal. We simply throw the multitude of bags from shopping, plastic and paper packaging, napkins, bottles, cartons, leftover food and just toss into the garbage. Easy. Out of our hands...disappearing into the abyss of trash land...wherever that might be. Likely a landfill. Okay, so some of us recycle, reuse, etc but it was not until I came to Vanuatu that I worry and think so much about the plastic bags and packaging I use.

I have one trashbag for paper products and one for plastics. All paper trash is burned. Plastic is buried (better than burning b/c breathing the fumes are way worse than it eventually* biodegrading) *many, many years, but it's also been debated with other volunteers that Vanuatu being such a small place that the burning would not affect us as it would if people in NY or even Port Vila, the capital burned their plastics...both methods are un

So, I have yet to bury my 3 bags of plastic trash I've cumulated in the past 6 months...and I've cut down on the amount of foods I eat that use packaging but man, I need some cookies or crackers sometimes! As for cans or bottles, there are no recycling facilities here but there has been a push to build cement wells to place all cans and batteries in. While tin tuna and fish are frequently eaten, the amount it still no where close to the amount of waste that the "western" world uses. Nonetheless, it's difficult to not recycle. Brianna (volunteer nearby) and I plan to work on getting a recycling program in Paama....we'll see.

Just think...you really only need one paper towel to dry your hands not 5 (we carry around a hand/dish towel or bandana here). Also, save a plastic tree with resusable shopping bags. None of this is new info but every bit helps, right?

A BASKET FOR CHANGE

One of my secondary projects is a basket (bag) making workshop in which Mamas, aunties and youth girls are taught how to sew bags and then to help them understand quality, costs and pricing. 70 bags have been made for sale and some have been sold to Peace Corps Volunteers and a free trade shop in Port Vila. The goal is expand globally and to create and maintain a path for these bags and other local crafts to be sold in the U.S. through a website. Brianna Russel, the other PCV on Paama and I have been working together to start a business plan and here’s a synopsis…

A Basket for Change, founded and run by two current Peace Corps volunteers (Amy Chan and Brianna Russel) began in the South Pacific on Vanuatu Islands. Through workshops, a group of women have been organized to sew baskets (bags) out of cotton and polyester material known for its island style prints. These women are natives to Vanuatu, located on Paama, a small island, 32 square kilometers with about 2,000 inhabitants. Thus far, the bags have been sold to other Peace Corps volunteers and to tourists in the country’s capital, Port Vila.

Our mission is to create a sustainable and profitable income generating business route for these women and many like them around the globe to utilize as a way of increasing their livelihood. Ni-Vanuatu are subsistence farmers, living off the foods they grow in their gardens and whatever meat they can find or afford such as local chickens, fish from the Pacific and canned tuna imported from China. They lead simple lives in contrast to the “western world” and our mission is not to change that or to impose our views and values but rather to give them a skill, a path to follow to help them raise money to pay all of their children’s school fees, medical costs and healthy diet intake.

The Goals of A Basket for Change

Short term goals include working closely with the women of Paama as well as expanding to other Vanuatu islands and to work with a partner organization, ACTIV (ACTIV=) that sells free trade goods in Port Vila. Within the next year, the hope is to establish a website to promote and sell these custom crafts in which 50% of the profit will go to the artists and 50% to shipping and administrative costs. (An average bag is estimated to cost $15).

Our long term goal is to share crafts from across the globe to humanitarians that are conscious consumers who care about the people of Vanuatu, of Africa, of China. These people are many steps behind the standard of living of the western world, living without sufficient drinking water and protein, struggling to stay healthy and to become educated. Our target market is Americans espoused in the promotion of peace. We hope to include global countries by 2013.

We have a plan and the enthusiasm of the people of Paama, now we just need your help to make it successful and sustainable for the betterment of our global family.

More info to come...

Ode to the washer and dryer

Oh the joy of washing clothes by hand…fill a bucket with dirty clothes, water and a scoop of detergent (swat away the mosquitoes).
Plunge, plunge, plunge (Ni-Vanuatu scrub with a brush on a wooden board…but I think imitating a washer will do).
Plunge, plunge, plunge and swirl, swirl, swirl (swat away the mosquitoes).
Scrub with hands then plunge, plunge, plunge and swirl, swirl, swirl (swat away the mosquitoes).
Now, the rinse cycle…pour murky water out and refill, repeat until water is not so murky. (Some suds may be present but hey, maybe it will keep the mosquitoes away).
Next, the spin cycle or wringing out the water…squeeze, wring, squeeze, wring (swat away the mosquitoes).
Let’s hope it is sunny and hang clothes on line to dry. They’re dripping…so wring some more (swat away the mosquitoes).
Go inside, make a cup of tea and relax. But wait! The pitter patter sound of rain drops. Run outside and pull clothes off the line (moving too fast for mosquitoes). Bring wet clothes inside to hang (yes, I have a clothes line inside). Now, back to the tea.
Appreciate your washer and dryer, my friends.

Drama in Paama

As I’ve mentioned, my primary job here is to assist the Rural Training Center which teaches skills such as business, carpentry, home care (sewing, cooking, health) and agriculture. When I arrived in December, I learned that the school had not been in session for a year and a half because of mismanagement by the current manager. A strained relationship with the former manager was also a cause for its demise. So, my first goal was to get the school in session this quarter, however with “island time”, it’s often difficult to get things moving.

A general meeting took place which brought together the community to discuss the RTC and my hope to gain consensus on whether to keep the current manager or to promote the assistant manager, Sandy. There were harsh words spoken between the current manager and some elders but in the end, a new committee (with two women reps) and promotion of the assistant manager, Sandy was decided. The new committee and manager then began their work to plan fundraisers, awareness visits around the island, budgeting and clean up/maintenance. Classes began mid-March with now 11 students attending.

I was thrilled with the progress but too soon had I spoken that after the former manager was invited to a thank you dinner in order to make amends, he refused to come. The next day he hands me a letter addressed to myself and the committee. He demanded to be paid “gratuities” and threatened to take away the land that the RTC and my house are located. However, his demands were unjustifiable because he had already “paid” himself well from the first years the school was in session and the ground did not belong to his family. He was simply angry that he no longer held his position. I was stressed after reading this letter and shared it with my host papa (he’s on the committee). He was irate and told me that this went beyond the RTC and he would handle it along with other elders in the community. I worried what others in the community felt but I was reassured by everyone that I had done my job and not to be troubled by the situation. At this point, I stepped back and luckily was heading to Port Vila for Early Service Conference when they planned a general meeting to discuss the issue with him.

I returned from Port Vila, feeling that I did owe the former manager an apology that things went as they did since he did work with the Peace Corps to prepare for my service. Today, all is running smoothly and I have been teaching some English at the RTC. We’ve had one fundraiser, raising about 7,300 vatu (~$73) and the second scheduled in May. Some grants are in the pipeline (haven’t used that word in a while!) to bring electricity to the school to run a computer for a course as well as for carpentry tools.

Despite the issues, the committee and community have been grateful and receptive to my ideas and planning. They call me their “advisor” and their support and participation has been remarkable.

Besides the RTC, I have been teaching English and Math at the primary school where there are 30 students and ONE teacher, Miss Margaret. Levels 2 (levels 1 and 2 combined), 4 (3 and 4 combined) and 6 (5 and 6 combined) are taught. Margaret must juggle two rooms of students by teaching a lesson and then assigning work and then doing this again for the next two levels. How she maintains her sanity, I do not know but she is a patient soul.

My goal is to get the school new desks and chairs as well as a small playground.

A breakdown and a brideprice

Dec 16…breakdown #2

Tough day…feeling sad and homesick. I can’t understand what others are saying, it’s hot, I’m ferociously itching mosquito bites and I find cow skin on the path from my house with flies swarming. Break down #2…I hit a point and just broke down when I got to my host families house. My host papa felt bad I was crying…he was sweet about it. I walked with my host mama and sister up to a hill so I could use his cell phone. Eventually I reached my mom and Carly. My mom was comforting and Carly told me there’s nothing great going on at home with the economy in the tanker…no reason to come back now. I felt better hearing familiar voices and knowing that I can get through this.

Dec 18…brideprice

Today was a busy day…walked a lot back and forth from Tahi to Tevali, a village just inland from Tahi. We delivered yam, laplap leaves, mats...
Women dressed the bride in island dresses and doused her with baby powder and perfume spray (good luck). Then she wailed because her mother had passed and she was mourning her then she passed out. No joke. It was pretty intense. She came to and then her groom later is wasted drunk. More cows were killed, food is passed out and the bride price is paid with mats, calico, yams, pig, chicken, beef, coconuts and money. Again, all the “sisters” of the groom are given food and I am even included…and instead of beef they give me a chicken! I am now a proud owner of a chicken. Not sure how I’ll be able to eat it though. Eggs…hopefully she will lay eggs for me.

Tomorrow is the wedding for Ana and Willie who I have spent some time with and there is an actual ceremony at the church then food and dancing. Most if not all of these bride prices and weddings are done well after the couple had been together and even have kids. Ana and Willie just had their 3rd son. This has more to do with how expensive these events are so cart before the horse.

Paama Mornings and down time in December

December 13…mornings in Paama

I love mornings in Tahi. After being awaken by the crowing roosters and rustling of chickens. I snooze for a little while…it’s 5am and I usually get up by 630. Peeling away my mosquito net, before I set foot on the ground, I first examine if there is any mouse damage or lurking eight legged friends around. I have pj pants and Christmas socks on (thanks Heather Triplett McNamara) to avoid any mosquitoes though it’s probably more paranoia than anything. Better safe than itching. I take my kettle outside to my spiquet to fill it with water then back inside to light my stove…with a match. My host mama and most other mamas in the village use fires but I am just not patient enough so I turn the gas on and light a match. As the kettle whistles I prepare my French press coffee mug (thanks cousins Robert and Monica) with some powdered milk. Coupled with these delightful breakfast cookies called Scotch fingers, I sit at my window with a view of a small corner of the Pacific Ocean and overlook the path where men with paddles are heading to their canoes to go fish for the day or mamas and kids (pikininis) strolling to the beach to collect sand or to lay bandanas leaves to dry which are used to weave mats. It’s peaceful and not yet excruciatingly hot yet. Not often do I feel the same about mornings but here, I am soaking them in.

December 14…down time

I have now sewed up a dress, bag, pillowcase and made a small recipe book for my Tawi Ana whose wedding is next week. The sewing is relaxing and therapeutic. Odd not to have a set schedule but it is summer vacation here. I am trying to appreciate the down time now but what I would do to just make some calls. I should be getting a cell phone soon, however, the reception is terrible here so not sure what good it will really do except frustrate me. The land line is down after the bombing thunderstorm. While I enjoy the time with my host family and people in the village, they are so welcoming and inclusive of me but we are still different people and they mainly speak Paamese which I am slowly learning.

The simplicity of life is endearing…Kids don’t have many toys because of the cost and toys do not last here since they have no playrooms to store them. Toys are whatever they can find…a plastic bag that is blown up and popped, slingshots made from wood and elastic or even bush knives…it’s really a child’s dream…nature is their playground. They play in the dirt and mud, are around fires that cook the family’s food, run around without fear of being kidnapped and toddlers can be seen in their birthday suits running about. Kids climb trees to get coconuts, papaya (popo) and the other plentiful fruits that grow on Paama. It’s crazy to see kids…little kids playing, chopping and prodding things with knives. Mamas and papas just get annoyed that the kids might be destroying the knife. Really!

There’s not a lot of outside influence here. The only TV they may watch are DVDs so when I ask some people if they know who Britney Spears or what McDonalds is, they say no. I am thrilled. Some think the US is a big, scary place with guns and tall buildings…which I can’t say is not true.

There was another mared (wedding) event in which all the “sisters” (also includes cousin sisters) of the groom are given food. Two cows were killed and butchered, yams are dug up and rice is purchased. Large laplap leaves are layed out and cuts of beef, yam and rice are divyed out for every “sister” to take home. I bounced around helping to cut meat, hula hoop with the kids and storian with the men butchering the cows. While I stood there with Ana’s baby Matthew in my arms and watching everyone, I couldn’t help but feel alone though. I was missing home.

My first days in Paama

Trying to catch up on my blog entries...sorry if any are repeats.

Day 1 of 730

The day is finally here and my official service begins. Got a little sleep and said good byes in the AM. Got on another 8 seater plane and while a bit scary, the views are panoramic over the Pacific islands…flying above paradise. We are so lucky to have this post.

My counterpart, who is also my host grandpa, and grandma came to pick me up at the airport and we got on a small boat for a short 20 minute ride to Tahi. The water is clear and there are black sand beaches dotted with patches of coconut trees, deep green leafy bushes with cascading vines…every shade of green imaginable. Paama is quite hilly and my house sits on the side of a cliff basically. In the distance I can see a corner of the Pacific Ocean and at night I can hear the small waves crashing on the black sand beach.

My place is coming together nicely…except for the giant spiders, nothing else has been bothering me. Mosquitoes always but the rats may not know that there is a new resident in my house yet. The last volunteer here left a year and a half ago. My house is half modern (although modern here only means cement) and half custom…bamboo slat walls and coconut (or banana) leaf roof…sounds unstable but it’s pretty amazing how sturdy it is.

I had dinner with my host mama (papa was in Liro a nearby village) who has 3 daughters, age 3 (Lisa, who is such a sweetie with gorgeous, big eyes and dimpled smile), two are here for the holidays/summer vacation, ages 20 and 17 (LeiSal who is adopted and Mar, both are great to chat with) and 2 sons, ages 12 and 10 (Thomas and John). My tawi (Leiwia) has 2 sons (age 3 and 11).

Day 2 Nesting with a trip to Liro

It was another hot day but with intermittent rain. John (host brother, age 10) spent the day with me as I unpacked and set things up and we went with my host papa to Liro to pick up a tank of gas for my stove. We took a canoe which is definitely going to be one of my favorite activities. It’s a great work out and the water is so clear, you can so easily see the reef and colorful coral. Most of the shore are cliffs with rainforest like foliage and a scattering of large, black boulders where tiny crabs play. It is picturesque and quiet since there are few motor boats and no cars.

December 8 Day 3 in Paama

It was pleasant day organizing and helping out with mared (wedding) preparations…learned how to weave a mat…sort of. Had kava with my papa and got to storian with some of the elders of the village about politics, the US and life in general. It’s raining now which is great to sleep to except there is a little leak in my custom roof.

The worst storm I have ever heard…the rain and especially the lightening and thunder was right on top of Paama. I have never heard thunder this loud before…huge booms like fireworks going off on the ground just outside my house or what I would imagine bombs to sound like. I have to say I was a bit freaked out and had to cover my ears. Needless to say I did not sleep well.