For me here, I’ve been over the moon after completing a youth camp or workshop but then have been depressed and sad because I just wanted to see my family or hug my friend who just found out she’s pregnant. One day I’ll feel so much love and appreciation when I storian with my village people. And then some days the boredom, solitude, bugs and heat drive me mad.
Then there are the two extremes of lifestyles I’ve experienced…from this primitive and simple life on Paama without electricity and cooking over fire to the expat life in Port Vila. Dating Ivan (Mr. Nambawan) has been a fun and beautiful time from the Kiwanis black tie ball and races to amazing days on Kakula island. Meeting wonderful friends, Fabi and Andy, Morgane and Kristel, Olivia, Patience and many more I should mention…good times wining and dining. Think gourmet dinners, boat rides and champagne.
Dinner with my family, no T.V. just storian
The Mamas’ laughs
The amazing tropical jungle and the hiking
The carefree naked kids playing with bush knives and fire
Canoe rides with my Papa Isaiah
Cooking over fire
The smiling faces
The peace and quiet
Not wearing a watch
Star gazing while I brush my teeth every night
The cool breeze when it’s scorching hot
Going to the gardens and then eating what you’ve grown
In bed by 9p
Being awoken not by an alarm but by the roosters crowing and birds singing
Naps
Sunsets
My weekly hike to Liro to go to the bank, post office and to watch soccer
The Mamas’ market
Church and singing
Picnic lunch with the SDA church under the mango tree every Sabbath
Fresh, organic foods…pomplemousse, pineapple, mangoes, avocado, namambei nut
Making laplap with my mama Eva
Eating laplap and simboro, especially manioc
Yoga and runs on the beach in the morning
Time to read, write and sew
The crickets that lull me to sleep every night
Hearing the approaching wind and rain through the Paama hills
The rain falling on the natagora leaf roof of my hut
The sound of the waves crashing nearby
Seeing dolphins, dougongs and turtles swimming
Evenings in my hut by candlelight
Rock hopping the coast of Paama
Writing and receiving snail mail
Being so low maintenance, having little care for my appearance and not looking in a mirror for days
The hens pecking around with their chicks
My Paama family
Things I won’t miss much
Missing my family and friendsI love when there are visitors on Paama. It’s like seeing Paama for the first time again through newborn eyes. The little things that I take for granted having lived here for 2 years…the carefree nature of the kids who play with fire and knives, smiling faces and welcoming handshakes, the cute chicks and their mother hens pecking around (although they can annoy me sometimes), the lush green of the Paama hills, the cool breeze on the beach and those magnificent sunsets.
Connie, a German native who lives in Australia with her husband and sons, came to Paama to visit with people who are handicapped or disabled. Oftentimes, they hide these individuals from shame or lack of knowing what they can or should do. Connie revealed a statistic that 10% of a population is handicapped or disabled. Which makes about 150 on Paama with a population of about 1500...which seems high but can't be denied since so many are hidden away. She discovered several during her week stay here, many of them coming to light gradually throughout the week but it took some digging.
I spent Sunday with her…which was also Father’s Day in my village so the nakamal was bustling with preparations. Bread and tea for breakfast followed by rice, chicken, fish and laplap for lunch. I accompanied her to visit a 7-month old girl, Karina whose mother, Marie is hearing disabled and Karina born with club feet and abnormal hand. She had been operated on but Connie found that her knees may impede her walking. She showed Mama Marie exercises to do with Karina to make her strong.
We then visited Catherine age 28 with Downs Syndrome who has had a good life, involved daily with housework, cleaning, washing and sewing. Her family has been a good support for her, although some days she spends sitting under the mango tree from sun up to sun down.
Our last stop was a visit with Morris, a 9 month old who my Papa Isaiah has been treating with custom leaf. At 5 months, the parents say Morris was cursed with black magic…Connie found the top of his skull was not fully closed which meant that he may not have a fully developed brain. This was evident by its unsettled crying and even more so by his non-focusing eyes and non-reaction to the banging of a plate. Morris was blind and deaf. It was heartbreaking to see but the Mama was always smiling, cuddling with Morris and showing him love. His Papa too, although he sat aside with a look of worry and concern. His motor skills were of a newborn, not a 9 month old. Connie patiently sat while his Mama nursed him…a reason why he was fatfat and often what she did to quiet him. Connie gave some exercises for them to do with him and encouraged them
This time with Connie showed me another facet of this place which has made me wish I had more time. Awareness and talking about it to people with the short time I have left , I hope will at least help to get it out in the open instead of keeping it hidden. There's always more we can do.
This slow and primitive island life has its own drama and soap opera sagas and here are a few of the story lines...
Ana has two daughters, Esta the eldest and Serah. Esta has two children whose husband lives in Vila as a result of Esta’s mother Ana having had an affair with Esta’s husband… or in other words, he was seduced by his mother-in-law. This happened last season and now this season’s story gets juicier. Esta begins seeing Ison (who is also my RTC manager’s brother) and he gets her pregnant. Esta’s parents refuse to let them be together since Esta already has kids and instead encourages Serah, her younger sister who is also an RTC student to get with Ison. So, Serah seduces her sister’s boyfriend, Ison and she is upset that Esta is pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby. Now she is telling everyone that she too is pregnant with his baby. Whoa.
Next…a particular church group who are thought of as more morally "good"on Paama are not without their drama. Roslyn is married to Brown with twin girls and a boy. Nelly and Massing are married with two boys. Brown was caught creeping and spying on Nelly and even calling the public phone near her house just to hear her voice.
A few villages over, teenager David has a crush on a sweet girl Doku who suddenly faints after being shined on with a flashlight and put in a trance. He learned from his adopted grandfather Silas (who also is the fastest kava chugger) how to cast a spell (black magic) on someone that makes her fall in love with you. Doku falls ill and is taken to the clinic where her mother arrives by plane from Vila to exercise out the spell and demon.
RTC manager Sandy is so overloaded with work for school and family. Not only does he manage and teach at the RTC but his wife, Helen does not go to the garden, does not cook, clean or wash clothes. She’s known to just toss dirty clothes on the lawn and leave them. Poor Sandy is left to take care of everything for his wife and two boys (with another on the way).
