A week on Mota Lava

The reason for no blogs lately are varied. Been very busy with visiting teams and building the new staff house. Another reason is we spent a week up in the Bank Island's - staying with Bishop Charles and Mary Ling on Mota Lava. The first photo is from the south looking up the east side. In the photo people are waiting for a boat to drop of cargo into a small dingy that will then bring the goods ashore. The supply boat was the first one to the island in around 5 months. And for some reason it was chocker with cement for building projects on various islands and therefore did not have much room for food supplies. Many of the orders for supplies the small shops had made back in May and June - did not arrive. Charles had ordered a lot of stock for his small shop - he was heart broken as nothing arrived.
The next photo is also from the south but looking up the west side towards the airport (just off the edge of the photo). These four guys had been to their garden (a 2hr walk) and brought back some of the produce on their 'local trucks'. Right along this coastline rubbish from fishing boats and other vessels is scattered everywhere. The wheels for the 'local trucks' are bits of foam cut into wheel shapes - the foam was found washed up on the beach.
The day we left - Charles and Mary looked after us so very well. On the last night they killed a pig and we had a small feast. Charles and Mary's son, Father Tione Ling teaches with me at Talua. We also meet with Tione's inlaws - we visited them in their village and they came to the feast. At low tide we could walk to a small island called Ra. While there we met up with the parents and family of a student at Talua. So it was a good time, and I was reminded how the students live in the real world of Vanuatu - I think too often my views are based on the false impression of living at Talua and the busy life of Luganville and Port Vila which host less than 20 percent of Vanuatu's popluation. Yet even on Mota Lava DVD's of recent films are watched by the locals in the grass huts and a small generator running to power it all - so even in the remote parts of Vanuatu the west is encroaching.
Bishop Charles is very forward thinking and hard working. His section and house were lovely with a track down to the beach (right where the photo of the four boys and their local trucks was taken). Charles took us for an hour walk up into the bush in middle of the island, here he has a large "farm"(garden). Everything from plenty of Pineapple's, and lots of local island food, to Pepper and Vanilla. Also African Yam - which is the closest thing to Potatoes we can find on Vanuatu.
So the time at Mota Lava was great. The day we left we had a 5 hr wait at the airport on the island (a shed with no loo, and the air strip was overgrown with a guy mowing a part of it with a small lawn mower). A flight to the north from Santo had been double booked so our flight had to fly to an island and back to Santo before returning further north to pick us up. The airport is a 2 hr walk on the north end of the island - we went on the only working on the island to the airport - that took 50 minutes, that was 50 minutes of wondering well the wheels fall off (sounds very simular to Ambrym when the wheel did fall off the only ute when we arrived at the airport - back in 2005). The chassis of the ute was not in good shape so the vehicle did not drive straight - it kind of crabed along partly twisted.
Thanks for your prayers
God Bless
Jon
see more photos of while we are at Talua: http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~jvp/Talua/Talua.html