Friday, April 28, 2006

Blog blong Jon

Sailing, another dream, ANZAC Day, selflessness, new inverter, stiff neck and end of 1st term.

It’s hard to believe this time last year I was on a 32 foot yacht sailing from Auckland to Port Vila. The trip took 11 days. I then visited Utas and Moru village on Ambrym Island and now I’m here with my whole family on Santo Island - my how things change.

Had another dream, in the dream it looked as if a large group of cyclist were killed in some horrific accident near Blenheim - off the edge of a cliff - during the dream I had recollections of the Crave Creek Tragedy. My father was very upset wanting to get to Blenheim from Tauranga ASAP for the funeral service - it was in talking to dad I heard of the accident. There were a lot of dead people, a lot of caskets. I ended up at the funeral service - taking more note of how the celebrant led the service than the actual service (something I tend to do since it’s my job at times - why in the dream did the celebrant walk out backwards after the service?) At one stage Viv and I were telling Phillip, Simon, William and Connie to stop going over to the caskets and touching the dead cyclists.

What brought the dream on? It was not a premonition. Perhaps it was more to do with the previous evening. Last night I finished reading the Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker. A sad ending, but how can any book that is faithful about war have any other kind of ending? (Writing this coincides quite well with last Tuesday being ANZAC Day.) The last book in the trilogy, The Ghost Road, moves between the head hunters of Vanuatu (with their skull houses); enjoying and living for the fun of the chase, the thrill of the hunt, of the capture, the buzz of brining back a head, or bringing back a live person who’s head would be required at some stage in the future - albeit that day could be several years away and a such a person could in the mean time live-it-up, even acquiring great wealth, but live with the constant knowledge that their head had to be available at a moments notice. Now we might say that way of life is barbaric yet Barker cleverly juxtaposes the skulls houses of Vanuatu with the skulls French farmers uncover while ploughing their fields - fields that were once covered in rotting German and English soldiers during World War One.

I didn’t like the crude graphic vulgarness in the book - the morals were disgusting (just like war is savage and disgusting). And I guess when one does not believe in God, then logically there is no need for any kind of objective moral standard because we as individuals become God. And ‘we’ can then do whatever we want. And so, human thought up ideas, codes of ethics so to speak (like bill of Human Rights) become nonsense because by whose ‘human right’ do we make the basis for all ‘human rights’, i.e. if I impose my ‘rights’, they will impact and hinder someone else’s ‘rights’. Hence we need God. Why? God is objective, outside of our subjectivity, outside of our communities collected subjectivity (that currently seems to be collectively on a moral downward spiral - what used to be bad is bad no more, only that that once was shocking.)

I guess Barker was trying to compare the carnality of certain solders living-it-up before they die with those caught in Vanuatu whose head is about to be used. The three books don’t focus on Vanuatu, but on World War One. Anyway, I wonder if we at times, question the “stupidity” of “natives”, of “head hunting”, or perhaps even the silliness of the unsophisticated ni-Van way of live now in 2006, letting ourselves have smug thoughts of how-civilized we in the west are, when we forget the barbaricness of our modern, rather too clinical, killing machines that are used in war today, or of the immorality and shortsightedness of how we in the west eat and use so much of the worlds food resources (two thirds of the worlds resources used by one third of the words population), add to that the weird reality that current generation of children in the west are the thought to be the first generation in human history whose life expectancy is calculated to be less than their parents - due largely to overeating, to luxury, and ‘comfortable’ lifestyle. Perhaps we are not as sophisticated as we think.

This makes me think of selflessness and a couple of examples of it. Daniel (the guy from the Lions Den), when hanging out with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, didn’t want to join in with the palace luxury and rich food and whatnot (Dan 1:8). A palace official was concerned thinking it might mean Dan and his three mates would fade away but after a ten day trial “they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (Dan 1:15). Even Nebuchadnezzar noticed them, they stood out. These four Hebrew men practiced the spiritual discipline of selflessness (and not selfishness). They became great leaders who helped a nation.

Another example of selflessness is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Here we have God the Son, super cool, super powerful, with the ability to do anything. While in his penthouse flat in heaven, he takes off his crown and de-powers himself becoming a human. Not only that - he suffers death on a bloody cross (even though he was innocent) in order for us to be able to have close friendship with him, for us to be able to have peace, that deep inner peace and joy that is often hard to explain. How does this work? Simply put (no doubt too simply) - because of the forgiveness of sins by the death of Jesus on a bloody cross. His dying paid a debt I could not pay. How do I know it works? Well I’m a professional sinner, I don’t want to be, it’s just part of being a human. When I (and zillions of other people) have got on our knees, and talked to God about the problem of our errors and sins, and asked for forgiveness, something actually happens. Weird as it seems - we often experience a profound sense of deep forgiveness. Give it ago.

To give some closure to the thoughts on war - since it was ANZAC Day last week. May we never forget the bravery of those who selflessly gave their lives so we may live today! May we make our lives count and be worthy of their sacrifice, as well as the sacrifice of Christ.

What’s happened during the past week?

We received a new inverter (to replace the one that blew up) kindly given to us by friends of Viv (a bible study group at St. Peters that Viv went to in Tauranga - thanks heaps guys - it’s working well). I had fun picking up the inverter. It arrived in a suitcase packed with ink for our printer, another computer keyboard (for the Talua library) and a laptop. The suitcase arrived on a inter island ferry from Port Vila - about 6:15pm last Friday. I was at the wharf waiting. Picked up the largish suitcase and rested it on front of me on the motorbike and drove home - slowly as the only light working on the bike was the park light. Each time a vehicle came the other way I’d have to virtually stop as I could not see where I was going. And as for the bumps on the road, they show up clearer in the dark, they are the dark spots on the road (even if I could only make out the next few meters ahead of me). And it didn’t rain much. The fun of living here!

The only problem with the bike trip is it might have been what put my neck out, for a few days this week I’ve had a rather stiff neck, at least its getting better now. Riding the bike back from town I’d put my neck on the suitcase to stabilise it.

Lectures finished yesterday - exams start today. I spent much of the last weekend marking essays. I found this hard - trying to be impartial, and fair. I developed a simple format to help me mark the papers objectively (to a point). I then went through each essay individually with the students to try to help them in future writing.

On the weather side of things - it is cooler at night but still can be very hot and sticky during the day. Yesterday was particularly humid and unpleasant. We have our ups and downs. There are still days we could just pack it all in. Today William vowed and declared he wanted to go home and coming here was a major mistake. He does not enjoy correspondence school much at all. He will just sit there looking at anything but his school work. So if you are the praying kind of person, a few prayers for us would really be appreciated. For Viv as she teaches the kids, for the kids as they do their school work, and for our health. I’ve had stuff start to weep straight out of my leg for no apparent reason. Its in-between (by at least 25mm) two cuts made from slipping on old coral. So I guess something got in I didn’t see and treat.

Nothing is simple in a way, be it cuts and bruises, they all take longer to heal. Today we opened a Weetbix packet to discover they tasted and smelt tainted from some kind of washing powder. No doubt stored in the shop or a ship beside the powder and the smell has cross contaminated. Not a great thing to happen considering a medium size packet of Weetbix costs over $6.

God Bless
Jon

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

eruptions, gremlins, Lenten thoughts, Sapi, Tubana Is

blog blong jon eruptions, gremlins, Lenten thoughts, Sapi, Tubana Is,

 

its been a long time no blog. Why? Not sure. I guess we have been busy.

The other day, after disembarking off a boat, about to climb up to the volcano on Ambrae Island (not Ambrym Island where a team from St. Columba went last year), once we were on the beach, all of a sudden the volcano actually erupted. Plumes of smoke and ash everywhere – quite spectacular. Then much to my horror a huge chunk of rock (size of three houses) broke off the top of the mountain and started falling towards us. Somehow we managed to get back onto the boat, by which now in the dream had turned into a cruise ship. Luckily no one was hurt. It was a vivid dream. We are still taking our Malaria tablets - and apart from a few vivid dreams, none of them “horror movies”, things are fine, perhaps mostly fine.

We have been here three months and are settling in. We still have weird gremlins affecting power supplies and whatnot. The other day I went to show a short DVD to the English class and our portable DVD player would not work. The next day – the same DVD in the same portable DVD player did work? Why? Who knows? Likewise sometimes the Desktop PC starts and other times not? Why? Who knows? In the past I could usually suss these kinds of things. Here there is no logic to what is happening to let “intuition” work things out. Things are just random. (The word random is no longer a favourite word of Phillip, but William says it a lot – meaning anything from the actual meaning of random, to good or bad or whatever).

Again I’ve had to bleed the generator, so I installed a 12-volt light above it and in the workshop so next time we will be able to see things. It’s tricky trying to bleed the engine with holding a torch. Also it’s dark when the generator is started and therefore tricky just to start it. No easy turning a key and the engine fires into life. First get a jumper lead - not two leads (which would help when the battery is flat but the second lead is nowhere to be found!), then connect it to the positive on the battery, turn the key on and touch a part of the generator where a switch used to be – sparks fly and usually the generator fires into life. So in the dark this is a little bit tricky. Also the diesel tap must be turned on. The new student who looks after the generator, the other evening walked into the generator shed to start the generator, (in the dark), turned the diesel tap, and started the motor (I still have no idea how he does it in the dark). And after 30 seconds or so the motor conked out. Why? The person turning off the motor the day before never turned the diesel off, so Kalmara actually turned the diesel off – thinking he had turned it on. That’s another reason I installed a 12-volt lighting system in the generator room.

We must be settling in as we are noticing things that we have seen before but not noticed. Last Thursday evening Viv and I walked around the campus. I wanted to look at the plumbing around the place as I had spent the previous day in town finding parts to repair a cut main pipeline (a plough had cut the pipe). It was our 2nd time of no water in less than two weeks. No big deal really - just like living on the farm in a previous life. After our walk around I now have a list of repairs that need to be done. Things like broken taps - that no longer turn off - not just the washer, no rosettes in many of the showers (one outside shower for the married students is just a tap with black plastic to give a bit of privacy, no drain, no sink).

Anyway, after the walk around looking at the leaking taps and whatnot, I was a bit shocked at the conditions the students live in. Perhaps “bit” is an understatement.

Last Thursday - lent was fast coming to an end. The last few years I have given up meat and a few other things for the 40 days prior to Easter. This year I haven’t even been aware of Easter (no Warehouse TV adverts reminding us to buy more sugar). But during Holy Week I had been thinking about Easter, I was even conceited enough to consider “our coming to Vanuatu” as a kind of Lenten thing. We had “given up things” to be here (not that we did miss the U2 concert in the end, and it was the only thing I was really concerned about missing). Yes, our house here is small, only two bedrooms and William currently sleeps on a mattress on the lounge floor. Yes it is a change from our big house in NZ, with plenty of rooms, views and whatnot. But we still have power (via solar we have it power 24/7), a fridge, internet, and food. Have we really given up much? Yes and no but perhaps in the end we have gained more than we have lost. No TV adverts. The kids are reading more than they ever have. Viv and I chat more. It is hard here, but also easy. Things are special again. Like a ice cream is a treat where as in NZ, its usual. Last Night Connie had her birthday party - yep our little girl is now 7. She had eight girls from Talua turn up for the party. They brought her presents (which considering their poverty was embarrassing), things like a block of soap, a card, one girl brought a 100 vatu coin (NZ$1.47), a bible puzzle book, a lava lava, a woven hand bag etc. Connie was over the moon – they had fun late yesterday playing with a Video Tape. Not watching the video but playing with the tape - pulling it out and using it, one game was kind of like chasing, another a kind of limbo and a series of other games – they probably got more out of that than the actual movie J. No piles of lollies and fizzy for the party. Just a banana cake, some candles and heaps of smiles.

So what is hard? Getting out of Talua, making “friends” who are not part of Talua the community. Having somewhere to go. The power does play up at times, it is hot, the water does stop now and then, the loo does not flush properly, we get tired of itchy bites, at times walking through long grass I can be a bit jumpy…was that a snake…my imagination can get the better of me. Our main outings tend to be going to the river for a swim, or going to the reef for a swim, or going to the Canal (Luganville), which is a 40 minute bumpy road, costs money and while there tends to be a busy time of getting supplies for the following week. Yet the simplicity of life covers all the problems. Yes - reading between the lines there is ambivalence about being here, but it’s a healthy ambivalence. And back to the issue of waking around the campus last Thursday, of noticing things I have seen but not noticed. Our house here is like a #$#$@% castle and its embarrassing, its humbling, its baffling to figure it out, including what the “it” is.

One thing that frustrated me when walking around was - why do they (the students and ni-van staff), not fix things when they break down. It’s like they wait for the chief (or authority person) to tell them what to do. I don’t like that - people become lazy, letting others do the thinking – I wonder if that kind of authority-yielding hinders people from reaching their potential (and plays into the hands of power mongers). Jesus seemed to break down the power mongers (that’s why the he was killed - he confronted the power brokers of the day). Yet even in the church today, sadly people use “church” as a way to have power over others. People have to learn to think for themselves - including living with the consequences of there choices. (It was our decision to come here and its both easy and hard!).

 

Easter Sunday several of the staff preached in different pressie churches in the Canal. So Viv, the kids and I went to Sapi church. I brought along two students to help (and give them practice etc.). It was nice day, long but nice. We left at 8AM, church started at 10AM, the church put on a “smol kaikai” for us at midday and then we waited around till 3 pm for the Talua Bus to pick us up (another hour before getting back to Talua). At least it was an outing. It was good for us to see another part of the Canal and not just the shops etc. The Sapi church is slowly being built (probably over 10 years or so), no ceiling, no windows, concrete blocks, even the roof looked temporary. Another church where we dropped Ps Masia off was made up with a few sheets of corrugated iron.

 

Yesterday for Connies birthday (Easter Monday), we went to a nearby deserted island (Tubana). The island belongs to Talua, but has no water and so no one lives there. It is a few acres in size. We paid a guy to take us there. He dropped us off at 9AM and picked us up at 4PM. A teacher at Tata School took us there - he was our guide, so to speak – but he forgot to bring his bush knife, fishing net and matches. So we explored the island, swam, tried to catch fish (we found a old holey net), and tried to light a fire with sticks – we got plenty of smoke and tied arms, but no fire L. We ate jam sandwiches and surprisingly ants did not invade them before we ate them. It was a good time - and more importantly for us (at present so it seems), it was another outing. 

cheers and God Bless

Jon

Monday, April 03, 2006

Dress Sense (or is it non-sense??)

Dress Sense (or is it non-sense??)

 

Time for some more thoughts from Mama Vivienne. Now if you didn’t know, along with the wonderful title of ‘mama’ goes the even more wonderful privilege of wearing a Mother Hubbard dress – at Talua, at least. In case you are unfamiliar with it, let me describe this garment for you. There is one basic pattern – the front and back yoke are in 1 piece, with a v-shaped neckline in the front and a square neckline at the back. The middle piece is gathered or pleated from the bottom of the yoke at about armpit level and falls to somewhere between waistline and hips. The skirt is also gathered/ pleated on to this piece and drops to midcalf length. The hem of the dress is often shaped in a scalloped pattern and the sleeves are puffed and gathered in a bit above the elbow. There are often decorative flappy bits added on at the hips (right where you really don’t need to add on any extra bulk!). These do seem to also be of some practical use: wiping hands, moping sweat, wiping pikinini’s noses…

 My Australian neighbour, Rachael, who has perfected the fine art of making the Island Dress (as the locals call it), tells me that there is no pattern necessary and no shaping in it at all. Each piece is a rectangle of varying sizes, gathered or pleated into the appropriate size. I guess this simplifies things as all material is sold by the yard and is a standard width.

          The dresses are individualised by the choice of colourful, tropical patterned material, and also by the addition of various ribbons and laces – mostly to the yoke.

There are often long ribbons hanging from the sleeve. These are a pain and actually quite dangerous when you think of the gas cooking elements, the sink for washing dishes, the toilet….

          I was warned by Rachael before coming to Talua of the expectation for female expat staff members /wives to wear the Island dress. I had one dress in my possession that Jon had been given for me on his trip to Vanuatu last year, and I presumed I would buy more when I arrived if I needed to. Rachael gave me a couple of her dresses when I arrived and I was also presented with a couple of new dresses by the former principal’s wife – Mama Helena. I was very grateful for her generous gift with just a touch of wondering if this was a not so subtle way of ensuring that I wear the Island dress. These 2 dresses are beautifully sown and one even has a hand-stencilled pattern on it. Unfortunately one is in brown and tan tonings, and the other is in bright orange. Anybody who knows me will know that these aren’t colours that I’d chose for myself!!

But really, colour is not a high priority here. I went looking in town for material to have a dress made for me. What I thought was a nice pattern with turquoise blue and flowers in pinks and yellows, turned out when made up, to look like some exotic tropical cocktail! Jon thinks that I’ll never get lost in that dress as I can be seen for miles around!! Madelyne our house gel, made that dress for me, for the pricey fee of 300VT – about NZ$4.00.      

So, how do I feel about wearing this all covering, not very flattering dress? Well, in strictly physical terms, it is cooler to wear a dress than a skirt and top, because it is loose around your waist - if the material is light and cool. Ironically, the material available to be made into these dresses doesn’t always seem to be pure cotton. Pure cotton is the best for the humid heat of Vanuatu, and either these new dresses of mine are not pure cotton or else they are a very coarse weave of cotton that is taking a very long time to soften up with washing and wearing. They are still rather uncomfortable and prickly. One ready-made dress that I bought is Rayon, I think and feels noticeably hotter when I wear it. It happens to be my Sunday church dress and I come back from church wet with sweat.

The reason this dress has become my church dress is that it is my only dress in blue colours. Most of the Talua women wear a white Mother Hubbard for church on Sunday, but apparently blue is an acceptable alternative. This seems to be only a Talua tradition as women in other churches wear a variety of colours, although often plain colours rather than patterns.

 Children don’t wear the MH dresses much except for Sunday. The girls most often wear skirts and tops and occasionally shorts. Connie was also given a small MH by Mama Helena.  For some reason she has always called them Mother Behubbard dresses, and so hers quickly became a ‘Baby Behubbard’! It is very cute to see her wearing it, but, like mine she finds it hot and prickly and so it doesn’t stay on for much longer than church.

I am wondering if they are made from this material that is a bit coarse so that they can cope with the hard life they get from being hand washed. This is not hand washing, as I have previously known it – literally rubbing with the hands. Every day around the campus you hear the sounds of scrubbing as the mamas and house gels scrub at the clothes on a wooden board with a scrubbing brush. It is pretty hard on the clothes and lots of our stuff will not last the year out. I presume that the situation is similar in the villages where a lot of washing is still done in rivers on stones.

So, is Talua representative of the rest of Vanuatu in its conservative dress style? Well, I can’t really say for the rest of Vanuatu, but from what I’ve seen, times are changing. Around Luganville, our nearest town and 2nd largest in Vanuatu, I would estimate that 50-75% of older women wear the Island dress. Amongst younger women I would think it would be more common to wear skirts and T-shirts. But for teenagers and young unmarried women it is quite uncommon to see them wearing Island dresses, except at church. Many young women wear long board shorts. I expect that the more remote islands and villages off the beaten track are more conservative, whereas Port Vila is more influenced by its tourist population. We once asked Madelyne if she wears Island Dresses at home and she said that it’s mainly when she’s working at Talua - that’s expected. At home she wears mainly skirts and tops.

We understand that Pasta Fiama the principal of Talua is quite open to modernising the dress code here. His wife isn’t too keen on wearing Island dresses all the time because they are too hot. I have looked and not found any written expectations but I’m sure they are on paper somewhere. Personally, I don’t mind that they are rather unflattering too much, except when I’m feeling particularly hot and bothered. I think a little bit of modesty doesn’t hurt in this age of bare midriffs, low riders, and showing as much bra strap or boxer shorts as you can get away with. But practicality and comfort should be of greater significance.

I have struggled to know what to do about swimming. I want to be modest, and certainly don’t want to embarrass myself or anyone else, but I’ve tried swimming in the dresses and it’s a right pain. The kids thought it was very funny the first time I swam at the reef nearby in one of Rachel’s handed on, slightly too big Island dresses, and ended getting one of the dangly ribbons all caught up in the snorkel I was using. I don’t feel that I am a confident enough swimmer to want any extra weight around me, especially as there is often quite a significant swell. One other time I was wearing a dress in the sea while we were trying to body surf. Jon is sure that wearing the dress helped me to catch some of the waves – acting like a parachute! So much for modesty when the dress ends up around your waist anyway! My most recent practise is to wear a shirt and shorts, wearing a skirt over top to and from the water. This seems to be far more reasonable, and I think that is what most young women wear swimming outside of Talua, with older women swimming in skirts or dresses.  The women do still usually swim in different areas to the men though, so modesty prevails anyway.

I have adopted the practise of wearing a normal skirt and top when we go into town. I think that it is modest enough ( no bare shoulders or short skirts) and doesn’t immediately identify me as a ‘missionary’ – because these are the only Western women who would choose to wear MH’s. Once we all went into town and our visit happened to coincide with a cruise ship visit. Town was swarming with scantily clad Aussie tourists. I was wearing a MH and, while one hand it was something to distinguish us from the tourists, it did make me feel a little self-conscious. More and more I am appreciating a break from wearing the MH anyway, a chance to be a little bit more of an individual.