Wildgeeza Jan 16 2007

From Tribewanted

The past few days here have been mental with the politics of writing in the forum area, meeting and greeting new-footers, and slowely adapting the plans I have made for a rennovation of an existing tin shack.

My office

I had to show you a picture of what has become my new office. Creating designs for the accomodation, organising the budget and general admin work is pretty much all done on this desk.. hehe,.. just a tad different to the offices of London... even IF they had window views!

Chief ceremony

I had my official chief ceremony on the 8th of Jan. Yup 'Fiji time' strikes again, but it was worth the wait with quite a lot of the Mali people I met at New Years, turning up for a sing song, kava and meke dancing. - get me in me nice pocket sulu, bula shirt and chief errr,.. 'thing'... hehe

It was a great night. I basically presented some grogg (kava) to Tui Mali and said a small speech about thanking him for accepting me as a chief, hoping that he'll appreciate the work I do for the Tribewanted and Vorovoro and that it will not only benefit the the Tribewanted ideals, but also the people of Mali through time.

The dancing was the funniest bit. It was like being back at school. None of us (the blokes) wanted to get up and dance, so somehow Fijian culture embraced the problem and said the women get to tap you on the shoulder to 'choose and use' you.. So, once picked, you have to dance. Grumblingly to begin with I danced away, then by the end of the night, I'm doing some form of Scottish jig with two lovely Fijian ladies either side of me. Being Cheif clearly pays !

With that, it's a weird feeling having everyone calling me 'Chief' all day; not just the tribewanted, but also the Fijian workers I'm employing to help with the shack building as well.

Turtle power

Marco and Murry managed to see the Fijians with a turtle after fishing the other day. There are 'grey areas' to turtle here in Fiji, much like the idea of some whales I guess. They are protected by law and cannot be purposefully caught, however, if one gets netted while fishing, they can be caught and used and eaten.

As excited to see a turtle as I was, I didn't want to see it on it's back in the village awaiting it's cook-pot, so refused to go and see it. I think we made a bit of an impact/complaint, since Dan managed to call Ulai - the Tribewanted lawyer here in Fiji and also Tui Mali's cousin, and he managed to explain the law and the sensitivity towards westerners.

So, we were able to take the turtle roughly back to where it was found, and released it back onto the beach and into the sea. I caught a lot on film, but can't upload it here in this cafe. It was an awesome and warming moment to see this struggling turtle released back into the sea!

We're also hoping this will become the beginning of a conservation and re-teaching of the Fijian villagers here to accept and protect the turtles. In time, I'm sure Tribewanted will create a project that's not as sensationalised as some other areas of tourism, but create a safe haven for the turtles that visit here.

Tin shack

The refurbishments are going well as you can see from the images. There were many problems from the start and it's looking to be a bigger project than first thought.

We've stripped the roof off, then realised some of the posts needed resetting in cement, since they were rotten and moved too much. Then I decided the existing floor should be removed and reset too, since the gaps could trap fingers and toes, and I know some families are due to arrive in April+.

With the need of so much development, I've hired Peter and his son to help out with a lot of the labouring. There's just not enough tribewanted members here to pitch in, but it's also good to get some people from Mali involved. Peter has done a great job creating the 'A frames' for the roof, resetting the existing beams and putting up with my constant changing plans, adding beams and supports and helping with his structural knowledge. He's also asked me to draw up plans for his house.. which I agreed I will when he produces the size of land and budget available. :)

Today I'm back in Labasa (obv. internet) and hopefully picking up the final wood for the roofing. So, come Monday, we can get the roof finalised, and the flooring in place. This will just leave the bamboo for the walls to show up, then fitting out the inside. It's all going well so far!

The boys photo is basically the chaps I've been with the past week or so. left to right, top to bottom, me (obv.) Dan, Adam, Marco, Kimbo, then Murry at the front. I think I've mentioned a few of them so far, if no, in the journal at least ;)

Anywayz,. it's time again to go and finish off some shopping and jump on a boat back to the island.