Kirsty Feb 14 07
From Tribewanted
Hey guys,
Time for another quick update... we are in Labasa for a couple of hours to pick up some supplies and buy a few things for the Valentine's Day party we are having with the Fijian family tonight. Quite a bit has been happening, so just a few dot points for now:
12 Fijian workers arrived yesterday with a shipment of bamboo and have started building the walls for the two new accommodation blocks (Kimbo's Interlaken and Stu's block of 4 rooms). They will also be tackling the new bucket shower's walls. It has been interesting to watch them work, especially seeing how hard and fast they work to get things done. I took some "before" photos and will take some during and after ones too, as well as some video to post when I get back home.
The arrival of the workers also meant another kava ceremony, which went until fairly late last night. We had some interesting conversations with everyone, although it was quite embarrassing to admit to some of the facts about my lifestyle back home in Adelaide. They all seemed quite shocked that I bought every single thing I ate from a supermarket, had only been fishing twice before for fun, the last time being 10 years ago, that I only knew a few of my neighbours, etc. It really makes you think about your life, and I am sure it would be a huge culture shock to them to come and stay with me for two weeks!
Craig (only other tribie on the island) and I have been drawing some maps - scaled maps of the island and tribe village, and another one of the garden and what is planted where, so they will hopefully be posted in the next couple of days so that you can see where everything is. Be warned that the scaled maps of the village may not be exact, as they were done by counting the amount of steps it takes to get from the start to the end of buildings etc, not in metres or feet.
We will also be doing some work this week on the bure, as everything inside is still damp from all of the rain - now that the weather is starting to dry out, we will get all of that sorted and cleaned up. All of the noticeboards, information etc (including fishing leaderboards) have been affected by the weather and will have to be recycled, as well as the foam and materials around the edge to lean on. Will get all of that sorted asap, hopefully by the time the next group of tribies arrives on the 19th.
Books in the library have all dried out fine - there are some great ones there! They are all catalogued and I will get the list online when I get home. I also have information from the school with a proposal for the Dream Foundation to have all of the buildings wired with electricity, including a quote from a local company for costs, so I will post that ASAP as well. Apart from that, there don't seem to be any immediate needs for the Dream Foundation resulting from the hurricane.
Ben has also mentioned creating some wooden boxes with perspex fronts to hang on the walls with noticeboards inside so that everything is protected from the weather and visiting
To answer the rainwater collection question - all of our rainwater tanks are full, including the 10,000L tank and a few smaller tanks. We have been regretting not being able to collect any more water while it is raining, but apparently it would go stale by the time it was used if we had too much anyway.
Other work this week will include walking around the entire island and clearing debris from the hurricane - it has been washing up all week and there is a LOT! Including at least 40 individual shoes of all different types - I am amazed at how many have lost shoes in the sea to have them wash up on Vorovoro.
Hopefully I haven't missed any questions... will hopefully post again before I leave next Wednesday.
Kirsty.
