Viv wearing mother hub 

Some photos

If you would like to see some photos of our first couple of months at Talua, click on the following link:

http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~jvp/Talua/tp1/index.html

God Bless

Jon

U2 still to perform their Vertical Concert in Vanuatu

 

Even though U2 have had to postpone their tour to NZ and Aussie, it is reported they will be still performing at the Talua Ministry Training Centre, Santo Island, Vanuatu on Friday 17^th March and Saturday 18^th March. (Even if it is on a small TV – a DVD of their Vertical Concert in Chicago.) All Talua and Navota Farm staff and students are welcome.

blog blong jon -power problems, voltmeters, motorbike, bush people, don't leave home till you've seen the country, pubic hair, 365, an error

Its Monday night 9:30pm and the generator has been off for the past ½ hour. During the week it runs from around 6-6:30pm to 9PM. In the weekends it runs to around 8:30pm. Tonight the generator started up and then stopped within a minute. About 10 minutes later we heard a different engine start up - the backup generator - it didn’t work and so stopped within a few minutes. Several dark minutes later the deputy principal said thru the window there would be no power tonight. He mentioned that the person starting the generator had forgotten to turn on the diesel. So the engine needed bleeding and no one knew how to do it - Trevor the fix-it guy was away. So the old rusty gears began to slowly turn somewhere in my head. Sometime way back in a former life I bled a few diesel engines on the farm.

Now at this stage here is some information for those cerebrally challenged on matters pertaining to diesel engines. All farm kids have drummed into them never, never, whatever you do, never run a diesel tractor out of diesel. Why? Cos you have to bleed it and that’s a pain. I still find it amusing hearing stories of people on lifestyle blocks whose diesel tractors run out of fuel and they refuel them, and then run the battery flat cranking the engine over wondering why it never starts. A petrol motor that does not need to be bled but a diesel engine does – hence you never run a tractor out of diesel.

In fact I can still remember the day dad purchased a new tractor that had a special self-bleeding system, it was bleeding good. 

To bleed, starting from the manual fuel pump, one cracks different nuts, slowly pumping diesel back through the fuel lines to the injector. Then crank over the engine letting diesel fly out the injectors for a second or two while quickly tightening the last few nuts.

So it was off to the shed to try and bleed the generator. We got fuel to the filter, to the start of the injector but not out of the next section. We cranked it over and still no luck. Then we spotted a small nut hidden - cracked it open - pumped and we had diesel, and hence we soon had power. Nothing like a bit of fun. Although this week has had other electricity problems. 

One night Viv started getting shocks from various appliances. That same night, when we had some students around for a meal, the inverter blew up! An inverter is a box that takes power from deep cycle batteries (or a car battery) and turns it into mains power (240 volts). So the next day I set up the brand new inverter we had brought with us from NZ. We were going to use it when we moved into our permanent house (we move out of this house when the new Dean of Studies arrives). So the next night our brand new inverter blew up. That was a shame as it had been working well, even giving enough power to use our desktop pc during the day.

So at the moment we don’t have any 240volt power during the day. Tonight (while typing with the generator off) I am using a 12-volt light and the laptop it powered using a 12-volt DC adaptor. Around the house I have set up a few cords in various places taking 12 volts from the battery to some temporary 12-volt fluorescent tube lights I have hung up. Viv is sitting under one reading up agriculture information in preparation for teaching it at the local secondary school (Tata School). 

As to what blew up the inverters and is causing us to get shocks (only Philip and Simon have yet to have an unpleasant buzz). Well current thinking is a rat has chewed through an earth wire and perhaps the active wire and when the generator is going it plays havoc with invertors in our house. We will get up in the roof and have a look soon.

So again - this is an example of a lot of energy is used just to get by let alone be productive. And by the way - I am getting quite acquainted with my new digital voltmeter.

On the upside, yesterday Viv and I went exploring on our motorbike. (I brought one on TradeMe the day we left Tauranga). We drove up a road for around 40 minutes. It was interesting noticing the difference of culture even within that short distance. As soon as we left the main road (its only a track), we felt like we went back in time. Even the people dress is less influenced by the west - one guy we talked to was wearing just a loincloth and a weird hat. We went up quite high getting some good views. It was good to get out of Talua to have a look around.

Going around on the bike and looking at the villages we are pleased we live at Talua. Living at Talua is not like living in a village at all - in fact living in a village would be too hard. We have a nice house (compared to others - our is old NZ Bach quality I guess).

You know the old TV advert don’t leave home till you’ve seen the country. Well, in C1 class today some of the students shared about their bush people visit last Saturday. A team from Talua drove to the end of the road (about 1hr drive) and then walked 3 hours to a village to share the Good News of Jesus (if I had heard about the trip I would have joined in). It sounded fascinating as the bush people live very primitively. But I guess the thing that surprised me was the reaction of one C1 student. He really enjoyed the trip because for him it was the first time he had ever seen bush people. That is a weird concept cos even a normal village is kind of primitive! It was one of those moments that make you go uumm.

Sitting around the table one night, all of us (apart from Viv) with no shirts on cos it was hot, started talking about hairs on chests and then hairs under arms and at what age do they start to grow etc. Near the end of this conversation I mentioned pubic hair begins to grow at a similar time - at that moment Simon was having a drink and at the mention of pubic hair he coughed and spluttered his drink. We all laughed including Simon. Connie & William laughing at the mess and not at why, the rest at why and the mess. The simple life style here is sweet, yep it’s hard to live in the sense there are always itchy bites, one is often sweaty and clammy, rats in the roof and power problems. But other pressures one has in the west are not here. No traffic jams (although Port Vila can get congested), no advertising billboards putting pressure to have this that and the other thing. And there is a chance to sit around the table and laugh. I like the laidbackness of the place, being able to walk bare feet to classroom or around campus and not having to dress tidy. Even things like sweets from a shop are special. A packet of chips is like heaven. We received some jellybeans (and other stuff) from NZ yesterday (thanks Neil and Paula). They tasted like heaven.

For our family devotions we are using the book 365 Ways to make a difference: Daily Bible Readings. The book is put out by Christian Aid, written by Peter Graystone, published by Canterbury Press, Norwich. I really like the Christian Aid logo on the back of the book.

Christian Aid
We believe in life before death

The more I ponder Jesus – the more I think he was not only into life after death deliverance (his sacrificial death for us) but he was also into life before death - John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. 365 is a little heavy for the kids to comprehend at times so often we need to explain and unpack things. Back in Tauranga I would daily go online to www.surefish.co.uk and visit the faith section clicking on the daily reading section. http://www.surefish.co.uk/faith/daily_readings/index.htm It is the same stuff as the 365 book - it’s good most of the time. There is something to read (a bible reading), something to think about (a reflection around that bible reading), something practical to do and something to pray. Give it a go - it might be just right for you.

I made a rather bad error in my February 26^th Blog. I mentioned a good book but got the name of the author wrong. The book A Generous Orthodoxy is written by Brian D. McLaren (sorry about that – when writing the blog the book was still being shipped to Vanuatu from NZ with our gear). Anyway what do you think of this quote from the book (and back cover)

“Here’s why I am a missional + evangelical +post/protestant + liberal/conservative, + mystical/poetic + biblical + charismatic/contemplative + fundamentalist/calvinist + anabaptist/anglican + methodist + catholic + green + incarnational + depressed-yet-hopeful + emergent + unfinished Christian.” (from page 25)

Give you something to ponder? Have a good week

God Bless
Jon

blog blong jon - a distinguishing hope

blog blong jon

“What a wonderful maker, what a wonderful saviour” - just listening to these words sung by Matt Redman.

To my non-Christian friends. This morning's bible reading had the following words "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

You know I don't push Christianity on anyone....but can I share this. The more I read the bible, the more I am impressed with the person of Jesus Christ. This includes the relevance of him in our world (both NZ and 3^rd world). So without trying to sound too religious, please do consider looking into the person of Jesus. Perhaps reread in the bible, says the books of Luke or Mark. Perhaps read a book written about Jesus, i.e. The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey, (or his book What’s so Amazing about Grace). To read these one probably needs to go into a Christian Bookshop. Another author that helps one think along these lines without being too religious or churchy is Scot Peck, go into Whitcoulls or Paperplus and pick up The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck.

I would hate you to miss out knowing him (Jesus). This does not mean one has to become all churchy. It means one gets to know the Maker. One ends up with a distinguishing possession of hope, hope that is real and distinctive.

God Bless

Jon

 

blog blong mama vivienne - lawns and stuff

lawns talua style

 

Blog blong mama Vivienne

 

As I stand at the sink to do the dishes, I am very pleased to look out the window at my back lawn and see that the grass has been mown.

 

That is a simple enough statement isn’t it – but one that is loaded with layers of meaning that you will have absolutely no understanding of.

 

Let me fill you in:

Firstly, we live on a campus, therefore my backyard is in fact a communal backyard, part of a large open green space dotted with trees.

 

So, we are not directly responsible for our ‘own’ backyard, nor do we have the equipment to do the work if we had to. (We are responsible for our own ‘garden’ but that’s a story for another day).

 

Mostly students do the outdoor maintenance work around the place along with some Jack-of-all Trades employees.

 

Usually the lawn mowing is done by push mower – bare in mind that this is a large area with various accommodation and ablution bocks spread around and lecture rooms, offices, etc. I understand that they don’t keep the whole area mown with the hand mower but keep various areas such as the most often used paths, trimmed. At present, however, both of the push mowers are out of action – one apparently more or less permanently and one needing some small part or repair work.

 

And so the lawn mowing is currently being done by weed eater! Can you imagine a large area the size of several football fields being done by weed eater? (more commonly known around here as a “whipper snipper” because of Aussie influence!)

 

The day we arrived more than 4 weeks ago - the job had been started. It is done in piece meal fashion, on some days, not on others and in some places not in others but it is never likely to be fully completed. They would also need to start all over again well before it was ever completed.

 

Therefore I was surprised and pleased 2 days ago to observe a guy advancing slowly towards our back lawn area working with the weed eater.

 

Please picture this – after a few wet, grey days the weather has cleared again to brilliant blue skies and temperatures in the low 30’s. This young ni-van fella is wearing dark overalls (and bare feet). I break into a sweat just standing in the relatively cook kitchen area (this where the temp is taken by the way, so it would be much hotter in the full sun) and watching. Sensibly he has a water bottle and takes occasional breaks under the tree hut tree where the kids often play. He knocks off around 11:30am, which is when most work here slows down until at least 1:30.

 

He reappeared the next day and completed our back lawn area. Now add to this picture our house gel, Madelyne, out in this same heat raking up all the mown grass and various fallen leaves, etc. Madelyne, however, rarely takes breaks unless I almost beg her to stop and have a drink and a snack. Madelyne has a cold and isn’t feeling very well and I have said to her that it isn’t so important and can wait, but still she carries on. Amazing. I can hardly do anything more physical than walking outside at that time of the day, let alone mow or rake up grass.

 

Now, to complete this picture you are building of the lawn mowing procedure, I need to describe the lawn to you. The weed eating man isn’t cutting through think swathes of jungle – it’s a fairly low growing grass variety. There is also commonly a weed known locally as “needle grass”.

 

I was fascinated with this plant the first time I saw it, for, as soon as you touch it all the leaves (not blades as in grass but double rows of small round leaves off a central spine) on the whole plant immediately close up. Obviously the first time I noticed the plant I was wearing shoes and didn’t observe the nasty prickles it also has - hence the name.

 

This plant does need to be kept on top of because it can get quite big and is a danger to kids running out in bare feet to get to the nearby mandarin tree.

 

The other issue with the lawn is that the predominant grass is seeding at present and while it is a low growing grass it send up seed heads to just the right height to catch in the hem of your dress. The ‘Mother Hubbard’ style dresses come down to the mid calf length and it is extremely irritating to be pricked by all the tiny seeds. Farmers can imagine heaps of tiny barley grass seeds pricking you.

 

I often sit in devotions or church when the language has become too difficult for me and I ‘ve lost attention, and pick them all out, just to get another lot in my hem as I walk back home after church.

 

Another reason that I’m pleased the grass has been trimmed (that’s probably a better description than mown) is that the large tree near our home is fruiting at present and dropping small berries everywhere. With the longish grass and the wet weather and the dropped berries it was getting rather mucky and disgusting to walk around in some places near the tree. The bats feast on the berries in this tree during the night so perhaps add bat droppings into the mix as well.

 

And, so as you can see, I was very pleased to see the lawn trimmed outside my backdoor for a number of reasons, not just the aesthetic ones. But I’m afraid, under current weather conditions, I wasn’t going to volunteer to do it (and nor was Jon!)

snakes, trucks, potholes, utes, energy, agriculture

snakes, trucks, potholes, utes, energy, agriculture

 

blog blong jon

 

Snakes – at the cruise ship market. A guy was standing there with a snake in a box, and tourists could pay to have a photo with the snake on their shoulder. For us it was the first snake we have seen (apart from last weeks sea snake – we still swim at the reef). We were surprised at its strength and warmth. We didn’t take photos cos we didn’t have the camera with us, and also we felt a reluctance to be part of the tourist scene. I wonder what we will feel when we become tourists in a 3^rd world country at a later date? The cruise ship came in, the passengers disembarked to come and see the markets, markets that sprang up that morning, not to be seen again until the next cruise ship. We wondered if the tourists, when looking at the items for sale, assume this is how the ‘locals’ live? Is what they wear. The boys called it a sham, “all the stuff they are selling, the ni-van’s don’t use or wear!” It’s a bit like Crocodile Dundee offering the Yankee reporter an Aussie equivalent Huhu bug for a meal one night in the Outback, explaining how nice they are to eat. When she asks him what’s he going to eat, he’s opening a can and with a huge grin explains that beans are much better.

 

I drove the truck into town this week. The bus goes into town each morning and arvo, the truck sometimes twice per day, sometimes not at all. Last Friday when walking over to where the bus is meant to leave from, one of the students asked me if the bus was going, I replied I hope so. He was taking his wife (1^st baby due in 5 days) to town to the hospital. Well after enquiring we were told the bus wasn’t going cos of the Talua Council meeting. Then it was suggested I take the truck (double cab, around 6 tonne I guess). The principal of Talua gave his permission.

 

So off we headed, in the wrong direction for a few minutes to get some fuel from Navota Farm. 8 litres of diesel in two 4 litre plastic containers….it brought back memories of North Iraq in 1992, with the filling of our ute from plastic containers on the side of the road, and the person pouring petrol smoking on a cigarette, often I would go for a short walk while the ute was filled….Anyway then we were off, the five us in the double cab and 10 or so on the back of the truck….including the kids. People laughing and chatting. We stopped on the way back past Talua picking up more students and staff, and me explaining they need to pray I don’t drive on the wrong side of the road.

 

The road is filled with potholes, so in true Ni-Van fashion, I was all over the road, sidestepping potholes for other ones. The truck has 5 gears. I only got out of 3^rd a few times. After about 40 minutes we left the gravel road, hitting the bitumen and I finally got to 5^th gear. Comments from the passengers went along the lines that I drove to slow. But hey, I said, ‘we had a pregnant lady on board’, everyone nodded that it was good to drive slow. Coming back that evening I was quicker, possibly taking about the same time the other drivers take. But the extra five or ten minutes a trip if driving slower might actually give the Talua vehicles a lot a longer lifespan! It’s a bumpy road and some ruts are quite deep. At times one has to slow right down cos no part of the road is free from holes.

 

Driving the truck there and back was tiring. Conversely we enjoyed the independence of being “the driver”. As a family it saved the usual “town walking” of up and down, up and down, looking for things. We extended out passports visa’s, looked around the Cruise Ship market, did the usual supply shopping, even had a look at a 2^nd hand Jeep that is for sale – took it for a spin. Then out to the airport for one student to pick up some mail coming from another island. After a substantial wait it was back to Talua (waiting is common thing).

 

Yesterday, the Talua truck headed of to Tangoa Head to the weekly Saturday market. Locals from different villages sell food. It’s a Talua tradition. Glen (Aussie lecturer) took a small Ute owned by the new Dean of Studies (he is still in Aussie completing his PHD). We got five minutes down the road and it stopped. So we waited knowing the Talua truck would turn up sooner or later coming back. It ended being the bus that actually turned up. So we headed off to the market, we brought fresh supplies, William took them back on the bus and Viv and I walked along the beautiful beach back to Navota farm and then along the road to Talua. Lovely walk, time to chat and think……yet very hot. Just a walk seems to wallop any spare resources of energy. I guess we have to learn to walk slower and earlier or very late in the day. Even at 8:00AM the Sun packs a punch.

 

On the matter of energy. Last Thursday I took morning devotions, more like a 30-minute church service. (I taught the song “Oh the Mercy of God” by Geff Bullock. I chose it cos of the many words that contain important Christian concepts (grace, mercy). It’s a good song to use during English lessons - unpacking the meanings of the words – the aim being to expand the students’ theological vocabulary). Anyway, after devos, cos Thursday is my day off for teaching (class time), I walked to Navota farm to meet with the manager about my role as Agriculture teacher at the Navota Rural Training Centre (but Ure - the manager was in town). The walk, in the 8:30AM morning sun absolutely drained me. If you are the praying kind of person - pray for our energy. I am more and more impressed with previous missionaries to these kind of hot places……cos work is very draining. When I got back from Navota, it was a battle to do any further work. Even after a meal the energy levels remained low.

 

It seems a lot of effort goes into just living (surviving) and productivity takes a hammering because of this. Take for example the ute mentioned above. To fix it will take a trip into town, and even then it might not get fixed as the mechanic was meant to fix it last time yet the problem persists. Apparently when the ute  (2^nd hand) was first purchased a couple of years ago it broke down at least once every 2^nd week for the first few months until the various problems were ironed out, each time a trip or two to town was necessary to fix the problem. So a lot of time and energy used up for just getting-by.

 

We have been here at Talua for over one month now. How time has flown.

 

God Bless

Jon

frustrations, juxtapositions, banana cakes, malaria, whatnot & sea snakes

blog blong jon

 

frustrations, juxtapositions, banana cakes, malaria, whatnot & sea snakes

 

Well – one frustration is my English. One only has to read a blog by mamma Vivienne, read her flowing style with broad vocabulary and then read a blog by myself, with its jerky style, lack of finesse, and many mistakes. Vivienne should be the English Teacher and Pasta. Some of you reading this are already aware that lack of eloquence in my writing and speaking is a source of frustration for me. I tend to speak (and preach) with a street language vocabulary when at times I would like to be able to use words that convey deeper meaning. I am a philosopher of sorts – with at times quite deep insightful thoughts – yet all too often I can’t get them down onto paper. By the time I am writing they are gone, or to blurred. Perhaps it’s lack of discipline instead of poor English, perhaps its just life!

 

I do enjoy reading (but have thoughts and feelings of jealousy) when I read a book by someone who has penned the same or very similar thoughts to me and penned them well. Outlining the pros and cons of a thought or concept. I enjoy seeing how ponderings similar to mine maybe do make sense – perhaps I did have it right – even if I couldn’t get my thoughts as clear. (By the way - my understanding is a blog can be anything – including rambling on like this, letting my thoughts, my natural Stream Of Consciousness style go wherever it takes me). A book I have been reading lately which I recommend (I have only read the first few chapters) is A Generous Orthodoxy by Bruce Mac Clearen. (I like his style of writing as much as his thinking). If you are a thinking kind of Christian, read it.

 

Other frustrations I have here at Talua – which in a way connected to the above frustration of not being able to pen thoughts clearly – is, one has, or I do anyway, have so many new experiences – some of them seem surreal full on weird juxtapositions of sights, smells and sounds, that at the time they happen I wish I could stop, and blog them – or get them down on paper – not to brag, but to keep them in the memory of being, that is – my memory but also for other people to be able to enjoy.

 

For example – last Friday I was a passenger in the new Talua Training Centre Bus. The bus goes into town twice per day as a commercial bus (seats about 14 people), picking up people from Talua and the surrounding villages, taking them on the 45-minute drive to The Canal (Luganville, aka sometimes as Santo). At one moment in time we turned a corner and were looking down towards the blue sea, at the same time the sun popped out as the clouds hid away and hence the view was made more spectacular. Only seconds before this Pasta Frank (our driver) turned the bus CD player on and this sensual French voice was singing in the background – I have no idea what she was singing – it was in French. The air conditioning was on – I could feel the cool air trying to reach me, not quite making it, it was still warm in the bus as I was sweating just from sitting. In that instant, there was a momentary impression of this is sweet…this is wow. I am not sure if my thinking was this is almost modern – western, I think it was more this is just beautiful, this is pleasant (capture this moment was another thought), I struggle to pen what it was like – but it was good whatever it was. I then looked to the left and saw in a coconut plantation with piles of coconuts in various places ready for husking for copra harvesting, and in the same paddock, an old, totally rusted out, tractor with a group of people loading an old trailer, again, rusty in colour and condition, and I was brought back to the world of Santo.

 

So the mixture my senses were taking in was the enhanced beautiful view, the sitting in a brand new bus that still had the brand new smell, the sensual voice, whiffs of cool air adding to the newness of the bus, and then clang of the rusty tractor and piles of coconuts.

 

It is good to be here. The experiences we as a family are sharing make the harder times worth it. An example of a harder time could be last night sleeping, waking up sweating and sticky. Not from sex or from a fever, but from the fact it was humid. Then the air booms with amazing thunder – a sound like a jet fighter flying overhead very fast with the difference being it keeps flying over again and again. The sounds of bats outside talking to each other, loud insects and thunder are interesting, the stickiness – that is when trying to get back to sleep – is a tad unpleasant.

 

Other nights the temperature is quite pleasant. The rain cools things down as well. On a hot day the temperature inside our home gets to around 31. 32 being the maximum so far on the tiny digital readout. If we get no rain, it remains 31 until 7pm or later. If it rains say mid afternoon, the temperature inside drops to 29 within a matter of minutes, and sometimes it remains cooler for the rest of the day. 

 

About the kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and smells. There have been other moments I have forgotten that at the time had a magical feeling to them. One I do remember is from the week before – coming back from town on the back of the Talua truck. A big earth moving truck was going the other way – totally chocker of people heading into town late on a Friday. I doubt there was any room left for another person to stand or crouch on the truck. All smiling, laughing and waving, yelling out to our truckload of people, although we were not as full. The memory to hold onto from that snapshot was the people – that is the faces, the white teeth, the smiles, the happiness, a simple lifestyle that rewards individuals with a happy and contented life. Is this an oversimplification? Perhaps. But it is one worth pondering about as we in the west rush around as quickly as possible so we can relax for our annual 3-5 weeks per year.

 

A gadget magazine that I subscribe to turned up the other day. There was an article about what cable should one use when connecting the various components of their home theatre sound system together. Prices for cables varying from $20 or so per meter to over $350 per meter – does the expensive cable ensure the plasma TV signal is clearer? From a simplicity of lifestyle perspective, it is not the issue of having a Plasma or LCD TV, if one is blessed with enough money to have one, have one – just share it! I think it’s the issue of complicatedness. A cable is just a cable – there are more important things in life. Here at Talua, I am thoroughly enjoying the simplicity of lifestyle.

 

Yes – we all miss things. And yes some days we splash out to make things more enjoyable. Like today’s lunch – to make it a more special meal, Viv cooked pizza (the bread maker made the dough while we were at church), I iced the banana cake I baked last night. For the meal we also ate a packet of chips and a Paw Paw – almost party food! A comment made at the table – when next at a eat-all-you-can pizza restaurant, we will only need two pieces each instead of the usual as many as possible. The two pieces being enough! (Perhaps only a Parkes can understand what is involved here as genetically it would seem we have big appetites, too big for our own good).

 

This reminds me of what someone in NZ said to me before we came here “you will loose weight with the heat”. Another person said they only know one person who has gained weight while in Vanuatu, most people loose it. Well for me – I will probably put weight on – we eat a lot of bread. I do sweat a lot but we have plenty of food.

 

We can buy meat in town for a good price – so far the quality has been OK. We do eat plenty of fruit - currently in the kitchen there are four pineapples (waiting for them to come ripe), some oranges, two paw paw’s and we have nearly finished the latest bunch of banana’s – we buy a huge bunch and tie them to a rafter on the veranda, picking off the bananas when we eat them. The only problem was this time the whole bunch came ripe at the same time. So I baked 3 banana cakes this week.

 

Last year many students got Malaria and so we are careful. We have not too many mosquitoes buzzing around inside our house and if we see them we try to squash them. On Thursday we had a tour of Navota Farm (I will blog my thoughts about the farm at a later date. At the moment there is too much info to process) and by Friday afternoon I had heaps of mozzie bite spots on my legs. For whatever reason they came up quite red – not too itchy - so yes we all get bitten. Apparently the Malaria carrying mozzies have clocks in their nests cos they don’t come out until 6pm. Anyway – the reason for this paragraph is I am very grateful that none of us have reacted badly to Lariam! An expensive but effective Malaria prevention medication (250mg Mefloquine) we take once a week. For some people it can cause major psycho problems but none of us have had nightmares, or hallucinations. So we are grateful.

 

What not. It might seem strange that I am teaching English at Talua when I struggle with penning thoughts and ideas clearly and eloquently. Yet, with teaching English at Talua, it is not eloquence that is needed. In both the Diploma class (D1) and the Certificate class (C1), they have basic English – perhaps around year nine in NZ. Rather it is things like the use of the verb “to be” and ‘tenses’ they get really mixed up with. So I am covering some of the following topics:

1. nouns (especially plurals such as children, sheep, fish and things like hair which do not end in 's' but in English mean more than one.
2. pronouns (I, me, my, mine, etc.)
3. tenses (present, past, perfect, and later continuous.
4. regular verbs and irregular ones
5. comparisons (big, bigger, biggest; some, more, most; bad, worse, worst, etc.)
6. direct and indirect speech.

 

One of the things I am looking forward to is helping them to argue, to disagree, to have a different opinion. Read Viv’s blog about how they often say yes or answer saying what they think you want to hear.

 

I have also been teaching them basic down to earth stuff on how to use the library and basically survive and do well in a theological course. A Jon Parkes How to Survive Theological Studies and Do Well 101. This includes giving them a theological vocabulary so they can read and comprehend the NIV Bible and the books in the library.

 

On Friday I spent some time talking about the single and plural of sheep, and how cattle is always plural (somehow I had been talking about bulls and cows etc). At one stage I was asked a question something like “what is a cow?” – in context of cattle I guess – perhaps they call a paddock of cattle a paddock of cows even if there are bulls etc.

 

So this was my answer. If Father Bull eats 3 bales of hay per day (I explained what a bale of hay is, and wrote up the amounts for them to calculate the answer), and Baby Bull eats 1 bale of hay per day. How many bales of hay per day does Mother Bull eat? After some thinking the answers varied. Some said 4. Others said 2. I explained that they were wrong – as there is no such thing as a mother bull – she has to be a cow!

 

They understood straightway and there was plenty of laughter.

 

So I enjoy teaching. I try to be interesting and have jokes. Sometimes I get carried away and start preaching instead of teaching – say if explaining the meaning of a theological word. So yes – it is rewarding.

 

So that’s my blog. If you read it all – well done (its over 2400 words). When reading through the above I noticed I didn’t mention God. Well as God is already fully in my life – he is in the lines above as well. As to how things between him and myself are at the moment – I need to give that some more thought. I think they are OK. There have been times I’ve prayed so desperately – more than ever before. Has he answered? I guess he has - on something’s I have yet to see!

 

I will say hearing his voice is strange at the moment and perhaps I need to stop and ask him why. Perhaps there are so many new things happening I am experiencing my ears are a bit blocked or just hearing too many things – perhaps in the silence of Talua it is really noisy.

 

Anyway. God Bless you.

Jon

 

Oh, about the sea snake. We saw our first one yesterday when swimming in the rock pools on the reef. The sea was too rough to swim out from the reef so the kids swam in the rock pools. After about an hour (Phillip and Simon had gone back home), Connie and William and I were in the water, looking at a sea cucumber some of the local kids had got out of the water when one of them said, “snake, snake”. We all got out of the water to see a sea snake swim by and spend a few minutes hovering in the rock pool before heading further along.

 

The theory (so it seems) is when you see one. You get out, go home, let the snake swim away and swim in the reef the next day. So we will see. As it’s been pouring rain all afternoon today and so we have not ventured to the reef for another swim.

Blog blong Jon

It's easy to help

One thing I am enjoying is how - in a way - it's easy to help. Even just by offering an outside (objective) viewpoint - it helps them to see things. No doubt my objective thinking will be off the ballpark at times, but yesterday I went to the local primary school.

 

We hoping our kids spend one day a week there (on sports day), so they can join in the afternoon sports events and perhaps join in classrooms in the morning. They enjoyed it. Comments that night having tea were, (William, “It was really great”, Simon, “it was OK – better than I thought”, and Phillip, “it was putty…you didn’t go to the loo…” Connie found it a bit overwhelming. The kids also felt very embarrassed to have everyone watching them etc.

 

Anyway, about the school, there must be about 15 - 20 solar panels doing nothing. (in NZ that could be as much as 20K worth of panels being wasted). It is thought the panels were given through aid about 10 years ago - they were used for lighting in the classrooms – now, only one works. I understand the problem is the batteries, I presume being 10 yrs they need replacing.

 

So I asked some teachers why not get new batteries, or sell them to use money on other needed capital, or sell one to pay for new batteries (one might be enough - I don't really know), or get some of the panels (they are all spread around the school outside each class room) and join them together outside the school office so they could have a school computer that works during the day - not only for the 1½ hrs each night when the generator is working.

 

Their comment was it is good to have new ideas, etc. Even giving lessons on simple battery maintenance would be help. Will they do anything? I don't know but I think it got the teachers thinking.

 

I am enjoying teaching. Please pray I do a good job.

 

On the farm - the 4 wheel bike was not working. I am not a mechanic - in fact the opposite, but they said there was battery problems, I checked, all it was was a fuse. I explained the connections also need to be tight, they tightened them and it's now going. (I confess I was lucky cos that problem was easy). So I am enjoying it here.

 

Although I was stung by a centipede in my sleep last night. I woke with a shock. Trying to work out what happened - under the bed was a big centipede. Two night a go - Viv couldn't sleep (read her latest blog), and when she was finally asleep, I woke with cramp (first time in years)...and yes it work her!

Some more blog from Viv.

Early one morning 

I’m not sure if it is a reaction to the anti-malarial medication or just a reaction to the newness of everything and the heat, etc, but I often find myself lying awake in the night. This is the situation again tonight. It is almost 2 am and my mind is very full and active so I thought I would try to write some of these thoughts down. This could even prove to be the best time to get on the computer, without the almost never-ending demands of the kids, and also not having to compete with Jon to use it. The desktop is coming sometime, along with the rest of our shipped goods – presently somewhere in Port Vila in the midst of customs for some undetermined period of time.

This is also a good time to write from the point of view that it is quite a pleasant temperature to work in and there is a slight, cool breeze coming in through the open glass louvre windows. Our poor old laptop will not get too over heated, and I shouldn’t break into a sweat just sitting typing as I usually do.

 

I experienced today, with Madelyne our house gel, the amazing deference that the Ni –Van people show to white people like myself. We had been warned of this phenomenon, but today’s incident brought it home.

 

Madelyne isn’t particularly easy to talk to. Even though she speaks quite good English, she is reluctant to talk a lot, and often shies away with embarrassed giggles, and her hand over her face, from any compliment or encouragement that I try to offer in response to her amazing work around our home. Perhaps because of this and my own lack of confidence in my role of employing her to do the house work, I often find myself answering her questions for her, or at least offering her possible options to answer my questions. Today, for example, it was relatively cool midmorning after heavy rain, so I offered to make her a cup of tea. I normally try to get her to have a wee break in the morning at some point, because it seems unless pushed she would spend the whole morning working very hard, often out in the hot sun, without a break. Any way, in offering her a cup of tea, I tried to find out how she liked it – with or without milk. I guess that I composed the question wrong and she said yes to milk, even though with a little more pushing I discovered that she really didn’t want milk at all. I probably should have thought of that - if you don’t have a fridge, you would never be in the habit of using milk at all, and actually there are no dairy farms here. All milk is imported as powder or UHT so probably in the villages there would be no culture of use of milk at all.

 

I hope that she enjoyed her tea. She would never say if she didn’t anyway, but she wouldn’t sit down and drink it, having a real break, she took it outside and had it while she hand washed our clothes!!

 

I have had other experiences with her not wanting to contradict or say no to anything I say, especially in trying to ascertain how and when she would prefer to be paid for her work in the house and also for a dress she made for me. I guess I will need to be more careful in how I ask questions of her in future. I feel a bit uncomfortable with this total deference to a white person’s wants.

 

Ants 

I hate ants. Having lived in Auckland and Tauranga, I am quite used to the situation of having ants in the home, and although I hate finding them in my kitchen in NZ I was quite prepared for them to be a problem here. I feel that God must have given me a certain amount of special grace to cope with them here as I haven’t felt too phased by them.

 

The issues are , of course, adequate ant – proof storage and kitchen hygiene – trying to wipe up any crumbs or sticky spills as soon as possible after a meal. Give an inch and they will take a mile – the only real problem we’ve had so far was in the peanut butter. They found their way into the jar when the lid wasn’t quite tightened. I scooped them all out and we ate the rest of the contents. It was far too expensive to throw it away! Needless to say, the peanut butter now lives in our small fridge. The small jar of marmite that we brought from NZ is also in there. I’m not sure if ants would go for it or not, but I didn’t like my chances of being able to fish any out if they decided they liked it!!

 

The dishes, too - as much as we’d love to be able to shut everything away in the dishwasher, that isn’t an option here, so we have to educate the kids in the fine art of dishwashing (after having heated some water on the gas stove first, of course).

 

One can’t help but have a certain amount of admiration for the wee blighters, too, especially when you observe an ant struggling under a burden several times its own size. Yesterday I had to spend several very long, hot hours waiting for ride home from town. At some point a lady sat next to me and snacked on some peanuts ( this is straight from the shell – not the shiny - packeted, roasted and salted variety). She dropped some of the rubbish where she was and some time later I observed the ants on the ground examining the leftovers. I noticed a group of perhaps a dozen ants struggling with a relatively large scrap that they wanted. As I watched them on and off, over a period of  probably an hour or 2, they struggled to get themselves going anywhere with this scrap. I guess they didn’t have themselves quite balanced or the teamwork quite sorted for they spent ages kind of going around in circles and not making any progress. I glanced back at them occasionally, amazed at their perseverance. And then all of a sudden they got it right and they were off, quick time with their prize – due reward for all that effort.

 

At this point I probably should make some clever observation about teamwork and unity, etc or quote a verse from Proverbs about the industriousness of ants, but it is now after 3 am and I can’t be bothered. I hope I have done enough writing to solve my insomnia problems and I’m heading for bed!! 

some pics

here are some images (i hope - as it is soooo slow). In the tree hut the kids made and jumping into the river (the river is a 20 minute walk away. Simon swiming in the sea -can only go about knee deep cos of sharks, a person was killed a couple of years ago just along from here. Phillip and William sitting outside our tempory house.

Blog Blong picinini

What I like most about Talua

What I currently miss the most?

William’s most Favourite thing about talua is that the locals are nice and
friendly.
What William currently misses the most about New Zealand is playing with my
friends.

Connie’s most Favourite thing about talua is going to the river and climbing
trees.
What Connie currently misses the most about New Zealand is playing with my
friends in Tauranga.

Simon’s most Favourite thing about talua is playing in the trees with the
locals.
What Simon currently misses the most about New Zealand is playing with my
friends and finding out all the things at intermediate.

Phillip’s most favourite thing about Talua is swimming and playing in the
river with the local kids. What Phillip misses the most about New Zealand is
mucking around with his mates.

Blog blong Mama Vivienne

***due to very slow internet - we will NOT post many photos on the blog***

week two - Blog blong Mama Vivienne

It’s time for me to reflect on the last week, and especially on finally
reaching Talua. I say “finally” because it seems to have been a long time
coming. We are sick of packing, and living out of suitcases and then
repacking.

We are now in Talua. We flew Port Vila to Santo early Thursday morning and
were picked up by staff from Talua about 8AM. A while was spent in town
(Luganville) buying the food supplies we need for the following week - we
can get whatever we need, not much selection but what we need, not exotic
but simple – so from a supply point of view we will be fine? We also went to
the butcher to buy stuff for the next week - meat seems slightly cheaper
than in NZ (and much cheaper than in Port Vila).

first impressions

Santo appears to be quieter, cleaner and greener than what we saw of Port
Vila. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see a lot of Efate Island because of lack
of transport and the bad weather associated with Cyclone Jim. So it was a
relief to arrive in the wide empty streets of Luganville. The drive out to
Talua was hot and sunny, but very beautiful, with attractive pastoral scenes
of cattle grazing under coconuts. The road got rather rough but apparently
rarely if ever becomes impassable despite fords, low bridges and swampy
areas.

Talua campus itself is pleasantly tidy, open and green with some large
trees, garden areas and accommodation blocks. Our house is in a block of 2.
It is very tidy and well kept thanks to the previous occupants and a
wonderful house girl – Madelyne. It has just 2 bedrooms and an office but is
quite open and spacious. It also has an inverter so that we can have a
limited electricity supply outside of the generator hours. This is very
important for the breadmaker and occasionally a fan if we are really
desperate.

Orientation week is just beginning so it is too early to know how the daily
routine will go, but we are getting used to the early morning starts – first
bell 5.30 am and lights out when the generator stops around 9pm.

So far, part of our daily routine has included a walk down to Navota farm.
The kids really enjoy swimming in and jumping into the river, chasing crabs
and freshwater crays, collecting shells, etc. It’s just a pity that you get
so hot walking back again.

I’m impressed with how well the kids are coping. Not too many grizzles and
fighting siblings considering it is all so different for them. I am also
really pleased that they are out playing with the local Ni-Van children,
playing, building treehuts, learning about new fruits, walking down to the
river, etc

Port Vila

The photos are out of order. The top one is after church service havng a meal in a local village. The next two at the air port

We have been in Port Vila for 5 nights. I (Jon) made a rather dumb mistake when getting the airfares sussed – I didn’t ensure they were return so when we arrived in Port Vila, customs would not let us in (if I didn’t purchase return tickets to Auckland they would have put us on the next plane out of Vanuatu). The tickets were rather expensive but apparently can be canceled with a full refund (a slight fee). So not a good way to start our adventure.

Arriving – the kids excited

In away we'd rather be in Talua, we would like to know what Talua will be like. On the other hand this is a time to catch-up on sleep, spend time learning Bislama and give some time to adjust to a new culture then straight to Talua. (the Pearsons have satellite TV, at Southerland House we have power 24/7 where as in Talua its going to be 3 hrs per night, a 40 minute drive from the nearest town, no TV and who knows what the internet connection will be like).

Airport Welcoming Committee

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Woa – it’s hot, then the cool music in the airport (welcoming committee) – but then the 1½ hr wait in customs. When driving from the airport into town on the back of the ute (enjoy not wearing seatbelts) How can they live like this? It seems pretty budget – like the houses are pretty rough. Seems same to Tonga.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST?

Connie – Gobbies (Ghecko’s – has gone from worst thing to best over a couple of days)

William – swimming

Simon – snorkeling/standing up in church (you get a chance to cool down & loosen up the clothing – get some air moving)

Phillip – snorkeling at Hideaway Island/fruit

Vivienne – tropical flowers/smiling faces/lush greenness around

Jon – mangoes/visiting village/chatting with Roy/ceiling fans/the usefulness of MP3 as compared to music on CD’s/having close family time – card games etc./giving the family new experiences

DISLIKE THE MOST?

Connie – don’t like walking everywhere in the heat

William – bugs landing in my drinks (it only happened once)

Simon – the cockroaches that are about 2 inches long/the house (Southerland House “it’s pretty cruddy”)

Phillip – the heat around midday

Vivienne – not being settled/the hight cost of living in Port Vila/not understanding the language and not understanding the exchange rate/not being able to keep up with the news/cockroaches/swollen feet & ankles/don’t like being considered by everyone as a rich white tourist spending up large

Jon – living in busy Port Vila – would rather be in Talua and be able to know what the year will be like/remoteness/lack of connectivity/miss technology/being here in a different context. i.e. the last couple of times I was here were only for a few days – this time its for a year, last time it was a different group of people and that group created memories, this time it’s a different group – my family (and it’s great having the family here) yet it is different for me and some expectations based on those past memories are now different. And in bringing my family there are different levels of responsibilities compared to the previous group where there was a level of yahooness and carefreeness plus more adult conversation then what children bring.

Meal in church after the service in village 25 minutes out of Port Vila

What is Port Vila like?

A tourist town, selling lots of stuff for that tourist market. Heaps of small Van’s (“buses”) and taxis running around taking people from A to B.

It is a strange mix, poor people living in the town still living a kind of olden way of having a garden (somewhere) which grows most of their food, and western people going to the supermarket buying expensive food (western food is more expensive than in NZ – just about anything one can buy in New World Tauranga one can buy in Port Vila) A ½ hour drive out of Port Vila people live in villages, the old way, with no electricity, subsistence living. (As villages get power – for the first month they love it, until the power bill arrives and they turn it off – I guess till they work out a form of moderation).

The villages closer to town some people go into town to work – their wages are low, but it is an income compared to someone living in a remote island where it is very much subsistence living.