Joining a Fijian Village (including going to school!)
Location: Bay of Islands, Vanua Balavu, Lau Group (East Fiji)
Position: 17 10.6S 179 01.1W
Bula Vinaka from Fiji! Today was our last of ten magical days spent around the island of Vanua Balavu. Tomorrow we will have to tear ourselves away to start heading north, and then west. Being with the rally means that we have to keep moving on, even though sometimes it feels like we should linger for longer. Fiji has over 300 islands and we have only set foot on two so far, so it's fair to say that we'll have to leave a few for a future visit, should we find ourselves coming this way again.
The highlight of the last week for us was being adopted into the village on the island of Susui. It all started when the village put on a long-planned feast for the rally. We all anchored in their bay in the morning, and then they led us in long boats, with most of us following by dinghy, to a hidden lagoon and a beach for swimming and snorkelling. The coral and fish were unbelievable; more diverse and colourful than anything we have seen previously. We spotted a turtle, and the water was so clear that we could do some virtual snorkelling from inside the dinghy on the way to and from the lagoon. Back on our boats, we changed into suitable attire for going ashore to their village - shirts for the men, shoulder and knees covered for the ladies, and no hats or sunglasses. We then dinghied into the beach to present the village chief with kava, plus the money for putting on the feast for us, which was a fundraiser for the Susui Village School. It was a huge feat of organisation, with the entire village involved.
We were welcomed with beaming smiles, singing, dancing, wreaths of leaves for the adults, and colourful fabric and flowers neckerchiefs for the children. Just like in Tonga, the Fijians really know how to sing, and harmonise, and they have strong and beautiful voices. Jack was completely overcome by the wall of sound, and the sight of a whole village of people with extremely bright clothes and very dark skin. He clung to my legs and hid behind my dress when one of the Mamas of the village came to present him with his neck gear, refusing to let her near him. After the welcome singing, we made our way up from the sandy beach, through an arch woven from palm leaves, on to the grass of the village. The Chief welcomed us, there were speeches, and then the entertainment began. The children sang and danced, as did the ladies of the village. The men did what they seem to spend a lot of time doing; sitting cross legged on mats drinking kava. Later in the evening, they played guitars and sang, too, more for themselves than for an audience.
After the formal entertainment, everyone began to relax, and the children of the rally played with the children from the village on the large, grassy area in front of their school. Language proved to be no barrier when there were footballs to kick, hammocks to swing in, and trees to climb. Jack was adopted by a lovely girl called Akisi, who couldn't resist his blonde hair and big brown eyes. She was eleven, and had some younger siblings of her own, so knew exactly how to handle a three-year-old. She held his hand, led him around the feast, pushed him on the swing, sat him on her knee and chased him and laughed with him. We barely saw Jack for the rest of the night. George played football, or soccer as it is here, with much older boys, who were amazing to him. Whenever he got the ball they let him run with it, never tackling him directly, just shouting "Go George!" in encouragement until he passed it. He was absolutely in his element, and it was all we could do to persuade him to stop the game to eat some of the incredible feast the ladies had prepared for us. Eloise fell in with the eight-year-old girls, and no-one wanted to leave when it was time to head back to the boat for bed. We checked with the children what time they finished school the next day, and came ashore with several rally families at 3pm to resume the fun.
We were greeted on arrival by one of the school teachers. "Where have you been all day?" she asked. "What have you been doing? We were looking out at the boats, and waiting for you, and no-one was coming. We thought the boat children would come to school today." This was news to us, and we felt terrible that they had been expecting us but we were completely unaware. Luckily that was a thursday, so we were able to rekindle football and feast day friendships for a few hours until it got dark, and then return the following day at 8am for school. It was mostly from the school teachers that we learnt all about the village.
Susui is a small island with 67 inhabitants. Most were born there and there are a high number of marriages between the islanders. There are 19 children at the school, aged 5-13. Three and four-year-olds are encouraged to come along too, as there is no pre-school facility. There are three teachers, who are not from the island, and they are posted there with varying degrees of willingness. Children aged 14 and upwards go to school on the main island, where they live in a hostel and come back to Susui fortnightly. Further education is in Suva, the capital of Fiji, which is a couple of days by boat. Young people who do well in their education generally do not return to live on the island. Those who fail or drop out go back there, so the island has low education levels and accompanying social challenges. The only source of income for the islanders is selling fish and fruit and vegetables at the market at Lomaloma each friday. The teachers are living as part of a tiny hand-to-mouth community, but are slightly at arms length from it, and with higher aspirations and more curious minds than most of the islanders. It was clearly as beneficial and refreshing for them to talk to us about the wider world, as it was fascinating for us to learn about life on a small Fijian island.
School the following day began at 8am - quite an effort for us! - with the children raising Fijian flag and then singing their national anthem in the three official languages of the country - Fijian, English and Hindi. Each area also has its own dialect, which is what the families speak day to day, so this is the first of many challenges faced by teachers posted to new areas! The island pastor then lectured the children for a full half hour on "morality", which was tough for the 13 boat kids who couldn't understand a single word of what he said, but somehow they managed to hold it together and sit still. With morality under their belts, they went on to do reading, writing, maths, and some great games, spread between three classrooms. Luckily fridays seem to involve a lot of sport and singing, so with the hard stuff out of the way, the kids were back running around outside again. Instead of a school bell, one of the older pupils drummed with sticks on a large hollow log to mark transitions in the school day.
After lunch, all the other boat children left to set sail south, but we wanted to stay longer. We asked if we could walk to the other side of the island. One of the teachers told us there was a path, but she'd never been there - even though it was only a five-minute walk!.. We all went, and the kids chased coconut crabs on the beach and climbed enormous trees which had come down in the terrifying Cylone Winston in 2016 (with recorded gusts up to 240 knots). We chatted to the head boy, and pointed to a large hill at the end of the small island. "Do you walk up there?" we asked. "No, never, no-one walks up there," he replied. It is a fascinating insight into their mentality, that they would live in a tiny village and not even want to walk to the other side of the island or climb the grassy hill to see the view.
It is hard to explain how we could have got so attached to a place after just three days, but it was very hard to leave Susui. George and Jack both cried themselves to sleep, Jack over his beloved friend Akisi, and George over his soccer buddies. They wanted to stay forever, become Fijian, and live on the island, and couldn't bear to think they will most probably never see these friends again. The children of the village were so kind, and welcoming, with immaculate manners, and played so well between the differing ages. They have very little and reminded us what we all know; material possessions mean nothing compared to friendship and community. We were humbled to be made to feel so welcome, and with no expectation of anything in return.
From Susui we motored to the main town, Lomaloma, where we headed ashore briefly in search of eggs and plasters. We had luck on both fronts, plus a bonus of ice creams and some green vegetables. We are needing lots of plasters for George and Jack who have both got several insect bites and little cuts which have rapidly become large tropical ulcers. Fun times.. Luckily they are not unwell, and we are well stocked with topical and oral antibiotics and dressings so hopefully we'll get them healed up and back to swimming in a few days.
We are now in the Bay of Islands, which is both stunning and fascinating. It's definitely worth a look on google earth. Steep sided islands formed from volcanic rock and undercut by years of waves lapping at their bases create endless little holes and gaps for exploring. Brave, intrepid trees cling to the vertical sides, making all the black rock appear lush and green. The water is clear, full of coral and fish and turtles, and the sky at dusk was filled with dozens of huge bats. We have been snorkelling, kayaking, sit down paddleboarding (our paddle was dropped to the bottom of a 20m deep anchorage by the crew, and we don't have one long enough to call it a stand up paddleboard anymore..), and exploring all the nooks and crannies around us. Tomorrow morning we head 30 miles north to a reef called Wailangilala, which has one tiny unnhabited sandy island in the corner. It will be another new experience for us all.
After that we will wend our way north-west towards more populated areas, and hope to find some Fijian SIM cards at some point, so we can resume better comms. In the meantime, we will update our position on our boat tracking page when we move, and don't worry about us - someone in the rally will definitely notice if we have a problem..
Lots of love to all at home from the crew of the good ship Victoria.
Xxx
Position: 17 10.6S 179 01.1W
Bula Vinaka from Fiji! Today was our last of ten magical days spent around the island of Vanua Balavu. Tomorrow we will have to tear ourselves away to start heading north, and then west. Being with the rally means that we have to keep moving on, even though sometimes it feels like we should linger for longer. Fiji has over 300 islands and we have only set foot on two so far, so it's fair to say that we'll have to leave a few for a future visit, should we find ourselves coming this way again.
The highlight of the last week for us was being adopted into the village on the island of Susui. It all started when the village put on a long-planned feast for the rally. We all anchored in their bay in the morning, and then they led us in long boats, with most of us following by dinghy, to a hidden lagoon and a beach for swimming and snorkelling. The coral and fish were unbelievable; more diverse and colourful than anything we have seen previously. We spotted a turtle, and the water was so clear that we could do some virtual snorkelling from inside the dinghy on the way to and from the lagoon. Back on our boats, we changed into suitable attire for going ashore to their village - shirts for the men, shoulder and knees covered for the ladies, and no hats or sunglasses. We then dinghied into the beach to present the village chief with kava, plus the money for putting on the feast for us, which was a fundraiser for the Susui Village School. It was a huge feat of organisation, with the entire village involved.
We were welcomed with beaming smiles, singing, dancing, wreaths of leaves for the adults, and colourful fabric and flowers neckerchiefs for the children. Just like in Tonga, the Fijians really know how to sing, and harmonise, and they have strong and beautiful voices. Jack was completely overcome by the wall of sound, and the sight of a whole village of people with extremely bright clothes and very dark skin. He clung to my legs and hid behind my dress when one of the Mamas of the village came to present him with his neck gear, refusing to let her near him. After the welcome singing, we made our way up from the sandy beach, through an arch woven from palm leaves, on to the grass of the village. The Chief welcomed us, there were speeches, and then the entertainment began. The children sang and danced, as did the ladies of the village. The men did what they seem to spend a lot of time doing; sitting cross legged on mats drinking kava. Later in the evening, they played guitars and sang, too, more for themselves than for an audience.
After the formal entertainment, everyone began to relax, and the children of the rally played with the children from the village on the large, grassy area in front of their school. Language proved to be no barrier when there were footballs to kick, hammocks to swing in, and trees to climb. Jack was adopted by a lovely girl called Akisi, who couldn't resist his blonde hair and big brown eyes. She was eleven, and had some younger siblings of her own, so knew exactly how to handle a three-year-old. She held his hand, led him around the feast, pushed him on the swing, sat him on her knee and chased him and laughed with him. We barely saw Jack for the rest of the night. George played football, or soccer as it is here, with much older boys, who were amazing to him. Whenever he got the ball they let him run with it, never tackling him directly, just shouting "Go George!" in encouragement until he passed it. He was absolutely in his element, and it was all we could do to persuade him to stop the game to eat some of the incredible feast the ladies had prepared for us. Eloise fell in with the eight-year-old girls, and no-one wanted to leave when it was time to head back to the boat for bed. We checked with the children what time they finished school the next day, and came ashore with several rally families at 3pm to resume the fun.
We were greeted on arrival by one of the school teachers. "Where have you been all day?" she asked. "What have you been doing? We were looking out at the boats, and waiting for you, and no-one was coming. We thought the boat children would come to school today." This was news to us, and we felt terrible that they had been expecting us but we were completely unaware. Luckily that was a thursday, so we were able to rekindle football and feast day friendships for a few hours until it got dark, and then return the following day at 8am for school. It was mostly from the school teachers that we learnt all about the village.
Susui is a small island with 67 inhabitants. Most were born there and there are a high number of marriages between the islanders. There are 19 children at the school, aged 5-13. Three and four-year-olds are encouraged to come along too, as there is no pre-school facility. There are three teachers, who are not from the island, and they are posted there with varying degrees of willingness. Children aged 14 and upwards go to school on the main island, where they live in a hostel and come back to Susui fortnightly. Further education is in Suva, the capital of Fiji, which is a couple of days by boat. Young people who do well in their education generally do not return to live on the island. Those who fail or drop out go back there, so the island has low education levels and accompanying social challenges. The only source of income for the islanders is selling fish and fruit and vegetables at the market at Lomaloma each friday. The teachers are living as part of a tiny hand-to-mouth community, but are slightly at arms length from it, and with higher aspirations and more curious minds than most of the islanders. It was clearly as beneficial and refreshing for them to talk to us about the wider world, as it was fascinating for us to learn about life on a small Fijian island.
School the following day began at 8am - quite an effort for us! - with the children raising Fijian flag and then singing their national anthem in the three official languages of the country - Fijian, English and Hindi. Each area also has its own dialect, which is what the families speak day to day, so this is the first of many challenges faced by teachers posted to new areas! The island pastor then lectured the children for a full half hour on "morality", which was tough for the 13 boat kids who couldn't understand a single word of what he said, but somehow they managed to hold it together and sit still. With morality under their belts, they went on to do reading, writing, maths, and some great games, spread between three classrooms. Luckily fridays seem to involve a lot of sport and singing, so with the hard stuff out of the way, the kids were back running around outside again. Instead of a school bell, one of the older pupils drummed with sticks on a large hollow log to mark transitions in the school day.
After lunch, all the other boat children left to set sail south, but we wanted to stay longer. We asked if we could walk to the other side of the island. One of the teachers told us there was a path, but she'd never been there - even though it was only a five-minute walk!.. We all went, and the kids chased coconut crabs on the beach and climbed enormous trees which had come down in the terrifying Cylone Winston in 2016 (with recorded gusts up to 240 knots). We chatted to the head boy, and pointed to a large hill at the end of the small island. "Do you walk up there?" we asked. "No, never, no-one walks up there," he replied. It is a fascinating insight into their mentality, that they would live in a tiny village and not even want to walk to the other side of the island or climb the grassy hill to see the view.
It is hard to explain how we could have got so attached to a place after just three days, but it was very hard to leave Susui. George and Jack both cried themselves to sleep, Jack over his beloved friend Akisi, and George over his soccer buddies. They wanted to stay forever, become Fijian, and live on the island, and couldn't bear to think they will most probably never see these friends again. The children of the village were so kind, and welcoming, with immaculate manners, and played so well between the differing ages. They have very little and reminded us what we all know; material possessions mean nothing compared to friendship and community. We were humbled to be made to feel so welcome, and with no expectation of anything in return.
From Susui we motored to the main town, Lomaloma, where we headed ashore briefly in search of eggs and plasters. We had luck on both fronts, plus a bonus of ice creams and some green vegetables. We are needing lots of plasters for George and Jack who have both got several insect bites and little cuts which have rapidly become large tropical ulcers. Fun times.. Luckily they are not unwell, and we are well stocked with topical and oral antibiotics and dressings so hopefully we'll get them healed up and back to swimming in a few days.
We are now in the Bay of Islands, which is both stunning and fascinating. It's definitely worth a look on google earth. Steep sided islands formed from volcanic rock and undercut by years of waves lapping at their bases create endless little holes and gaps for exploring. Brave, intrepid trees cling to the vertical sides, making all the black rock appear lush and green. The water is clear, full of coral and fish and turtles, and the sky at dusk was filled with dozens of huge bats. We have been snorkelling, kayaking, sit down paddleboarding (our paddle was dropped to the bottom of a 20m deep anchorage by the crew, and we don't have one long enough to call it a stand up paddleboard anymore..), and exploring all the nooks and crannies around us. Tomorrow morning we head 30 miles north to a reef called Wailangilala, which has one tiny unnhabited sandy island in the corner. It will be another new experience for us all.
After that we will wend our way north-west towards more populated areas, and hope to find some Fijian SIM cards at some point, so we can resume better comms. In the meantime, we will update our position on our boat tracking page when we move, and don't worry about us - someone in the rally will definitely notice if we have a problem..
Lots of love to all at home from the crew of the good ship Victoria.
Xxx
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