Talua Sunday

Yesterday was Talua Sunday, a day when all students and staff led services around different churches in Santo. So Talua spread to churches as far away as Hog Harbour (2 hr bus drive north east), some in the Canal and a few west of Talua. The Parkes family went to Araki Island. It was a great day - the boys found the service a tad boring - but apart from that it was interesting, new things to be seen and new experiences to be had. We all got home tired.

The return trip. After an early breakfast, at 6:45 we started walking the 45 minute walk on the road to Najingo. Then we piled on to a small wooden boat with a 25 hp outboard. We dropped off one group on Tangoa Island and then on to Araki Island. The trip was slow, and fortunately for us, the sea was not too rough - no white caps - just a big gentle ocean swell. After about 35 minutes we arrived at Araki. Then it was another 25 minute walk to the third village on this isolated island where we met up with the chief, saw the new church that will be completed by Christmas 06 and made final preparations for the service with the local elders.

The service started at about 9:30 and by 11:15 it was all over. The two Talua students led most of the service. Viv read the bible reading and I did the pikinini talk (really a game as an object lesson).

The only differences on the return trip was the sea was rougher, for that reason the boat travelled a lot slower taking about 50 minutes. No waves broke over the boat though but some of us got quite wet from the sea spray. The other difference was once getting back to land; most of us had to carry additional boxes of Laplap given from the people of Araki to Talua staff and students. So it was a slow and heavy 50 minute walk back to Talua. We all woke this morning rather tired.

All in all, for us this Talua Sunday we walked over two hours, spent over 1½ hours in a small boat in open sea and had a great time.

Araki Island has a population around 225, three villages with one chief for the whole island and as per usual - all the people are friendly. They are a very united people - I presume because of the small population and having one chief for the whole island. It is a world away from the rest of the world being very peaceful and tidy. The gardens and general layout was well presented, everything seemed to have an ordered way about it, and even the toilet by the church was clean and not falling down. Many houses had been painted, there were plenty of flowers and of course the view back to the main land was stunning.

The Island has three terraces, being a similar shape to a three tier wedding cake. From the sea level which is mostly cliffs with a few beaches, it goes straight up about 30 meters to the first terrace. This is a flat terrace about 400 meters wide encircling the whole island. Further up about 70 meters is the 2^nd terrace – the climb to this terrace is not as steep or pronounced with the terrace not as flat as the top of the island or the first terrace. We didn’t walk up there but it looked to be about 400 meter wide encircling the whole island. Beyond that it is another 70 meters up to the top of the island. From a distance it looks like a flat table top – the top being perhaps 1000 meters in diameter. On each terrace and the top, locals have some gardens and coconut plantations.

Possible Projects: After church I spent a lot of time talking to locals about various things on the island. If any church in NZ would like to help. There is plenty that could be done. It would also be a great chance to form long term relationships. 

Water supply: Recently they had two 38meter deep bores drilled – with the current water level only 10 meters deep. The problem is they can’t afford any pumps. Perhaps a church could fund raise for a windmill pump, cement to build a water holding tank up the hill and for some pipe so as to supply water to the three villages using gravity. Currently they use rain water and at low tide they can get water from a spring below the high tide mark. But that is a steep and long walk. 
Paint the new church: Another project could be to help them paint their new church – the roof and walls inside and out. If a NZ church could supply paint and even come over helping them paint - it would save them money for other things. This kind of project is a good introduction type project into the world of sending work parties. Buying paint and painting is easy. The main part of this would be meeting the people, learning cultural stuff, having a good experience, eating Laplap, drinking from coconuts and learning how to say no to further requests (or saying you will pass the idea to the GMO office). Why not give it a go!

Small Primary School: A very easy and enriching project could be to create a friendship with a NZ primary school and Lehilehina Primary School. It is a small school with only 23 children. From the outside the school looks similar to much of the island. Very tidy and well organised with an island sand pit and island (wooden) jungle gym. There is one government paid teacher and also a parent teacher. Speaking to the head teacher she said thought it would be a good idea for her school to have a friendship with a NZ school. This would involve the NZ and Vanuatu children exchanging letters, hand made cards, photos of each other and stories about their homes and life in NZ/Vanuatu. Possibly the NZ School could send a few items such as small sports equipment, books (old journals) and writing material. Give it a go –the current PCANZ person at Navota or Talua can take photos and help with the correspondence. Invite your church and local school into a cross cultural, life enriching experience.

Deep freeze and power system: Another very helpful project could be for a kiwi church to raise funds for an energy efficient deep freeze and solar system. This would help the island run a small fishing business. They have recently purchased a small fishing boat but because they live so far from Luganville, any ice they buy from town melts and therefore any fish they catch go off before getting to town. They found that having to get their daily catch of fish to town on the day they catch them was cost prohibitive. Therefore a solar powered deep freeze would make their dream of a fishing business viable as they could catch fish, freeze them and only have to pay for transport once a week. This would truly bless the island.

Any kiwis coming over to help would fall in love with the island. It has an X factor about it; it is peaceful and remote with stunning views. The only issue would be the 30 minute boat trip to the island.

Bat Poo and whatnot: After lunch we also visited a big cave on the island. We had to write our names on the cave wall using bat pooh before going inside – a local tradition. Once inside it was fascinating to have bats flying around our heads. It was not at all scary like the movies enjoy portraying. There was an almost silent fluttering sound as they woke up and started to fly - hundreds of them. While clinging to the ceiling of the cave they look as small as a mouse and once flying with their wings stretched out they look much bigger – more bat like.

So it was a good day. Last night for dinner and this morning for breakfast the students of Talua ate lots of Laplap, and other cooked food given to them from the villages they visited.

God bless
Jon