On Wednesday a cruise ship from Auckland with mainly Kiwis was in
Luganville. On Thursday another cruise ship was in port - the passengers
mainly from Aussie. At the end of the first day Viv overheard a tour
operator talking to the owner of the supermarket we go to, saying how
the first ship was full of NZ'ers and on average they spend half of what
Aussies spend when on holiday.
Does this mean, kiwis are conservative, or two Scottish or poorer?
God Bless
Jon
Blog Blong Mama Viv
We were all pleased to get back to work again because the kids were getting a little sick of each other and spending a bit too much time in each other’s company – not just within the family, rather within the community. The new term saw more kids come back from their home villages and islands and a bit more life around the place. Personally, I found that without the structure of the school day to work around, I was a bit lost and at rather a loose end. Even though I don’t always enjoy the teaching, it is my purpose in being here and without it, there isn’t much for me beyond the daily grind of feeding and looking after the family.
We have struggled to get back into good productive work patterns since recommencing because there has been quite a lot of out of the ordinary stuff happening around the campus. In the first 2 weeks of term the mamas took part in a cooking course, run by some people from in town. This did not include me of course, because of school commitments, but was part of the women’s programme. The second week saw them holding restaurant meals for lunch and dinner. We were delighted to be able to wander over and purchase meals for the family quite cheaply. I thought that our kids were confirmed riceahloics, but even they were sick of rice by the end of having it 2x a day for 3 days! Still, it was a nice change from cooking ourselves, and not having to do the dishes either!! Simon is particularly fed up with having to do dishes all the time here, but we have a strict roster to adhere to for every mealtime except weekday breakfasts when Madeline does them.
The other main focus for life at Talua of late has been preparation for and holding of the Open Days. These were on Thursday and Friday of last week. The main feature of the Open Days is lots of sport, with soccer and women’s volleyball competitions being held, and food selling. The objective is for fundraising and perhaps increasing the profile of the college locally. The preparation involved major tidying up of the college grounds, building of temporary huts for food preparation and sale, mowing the football field which for most of the year is a cow paddock across the road (!), weaving of mats for those visitors who stayed the night to sleep on, etc, etc.
There is usually choir and string band competitions as part of the Open days as well, but there was apparently some kind of clash and no visitors turned up for that. The sport team entries were also down , so I’m not sure how successful it was as a fundraising event. Still there was plenty of food being sold – 2 cattle beasts were killed for the event, and lots of cakes and other goodies were made and sold. Our kids enjoyed the novelty of being able to wander over and spend money on sweets, cakes or gum. Just like being able to walk down to the corner dairy! There is a small campus store here open limited hour, with limited goods, but we don’t buy much there.
In general, a lot of people put in a lot of effort. I found it a very long period of time when I was surrounded by lots of people I couldn’t understand well. In other words – hard and a bit lonely despite the number of people around. Even the kids felt a bit like they were more conspicuous because there were lots of people who are not used to seeing them around. Jon used the time without lecture commitments to do some wiring work in the ceiling that he had been meaning to do for ages. The rats had been chewing on wires and so some circuits, and therefore plugs and lights, didn’t work ( he was mightily relieved not to see any rats in the ceiling space while he was there!!) and he also rewired some places so that we now have 12 volt lighting in more parts of the house. This can run straight off the battery and doesn’t need to go via an inverter.
A song I enjoy at the moment is "God's Top Ten" by INXS (on their latest album ‘Switch’). I think the song is dedicated to the late Michael Hutchence and his daughter. I presume it is about M H being in heaven singing. his songs being in God’s Top Ten. I like the mellowness of the music, the voice of the new lead singer J.D. Fortune , the attractive Suzie McNeil sounds good as well.
But back to the issue of God’s Top Ten. I’m wan lucky fella. I wake up each morning beside one of God’s Top Ten (click here for a recent photo). But that’s not the Top Ten I want to tell you about. During the holidays we went on a on a bus trip (2½ hour drive each way) to what some tourist books call “the most beautiful beach in the world".
The water was warm, turquoise and so very very clear - the whole beach was like one massive swimming pool. The white sand is so fine it feels like white powder, when scattering it underwater it leaves a trail that spreads like white dye mixing in the sea.
In the background there is lush bush, coconut palms and little thatched roof shelters. Out to sea beyond the waves breaking on the reef - a reef that kept the water calm - we saw mysterious looking islands with high cliffs and rugged bush that evoked memories of James Michener’s book “Tales of the South Pacific” and his vivid descriptions of places like Bali Ha'i.
Under the water there were colorful tropical fish. Back on top there was a wharf to jump off. There were even mini secluded fine white sand alcoves for romantic rendezvous, and perhaps best of all - we were the only people there. We had the whole of this ‘God’s Top Ten’ to ourselves. The experience of being there heightened the feelings of “its good to be alive” and the feelings and thoughts of gratitude to God that go with those feelings.
We have added a page explaining what Jon’s job involves.
Go to http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~jvp/Talua/jonsjob.htm
Like sin - I have a love hate relationship with centipedes. Like sin, centipedes look very intriguing, their many legs, lots of hooks, lots of twists, they do look amazing but also kind of creepy - especially the big ones and mate they can scamper. And when they bite - it hurts, it really hurts - especially bites from the big ones.
I woke up at
Last night a small one had already been on Viv’s neck - fortunately no bite. Three nights before a small one had bitten my arm while we were sleeping in bed.
Yesterday William went hunting for a large one, he and a friend found it they played with it for while. When they went to kill it it hid itself. Eventually we found it lurking behind some boxes and we killed it - the creepy enticing little critter. Somehow centipedes hold a weird hidden attraction but if played with can hurt like hell. All sounds like sin really……
God Bless
Jon
THE GARDEN - BLOG BLONG MAMA VIVIENNE
We now have a vege garden up and running (well, maybe only walking pace so far). It’s only taken 3 months! It is understandable really that it has taken so long. When we first arrived we were too shell shocked by the heat to even consider going outside to do anything as physical as digging a garden. Also we didn’t think that we would be staying in our present house for more than a couple of months, so it didn’t seem sensible to put any effort into establishing a garden near this house if we would soon be shifting to the other side of the campus, or even further away to Navota Farm. So anyway, it has cooled off a bit, mainly in the evenings, but we can cope with a bit more physical activity now if we pick our times and shady spots. In addition we have been told that we will be staying in this house until at least the middle of the year.
Now the need for a garden is more than just the need for a hobby, or the need for physical exercise, as it may have been in NZ. Here we are struggling to keep up with our families vege needs on a day to day basis, so the need is more significant. We get into town once a week to do grocery shopping and at this time we also go to the local open air fruit and vege market. The ‘grocery’ shop is not a supermarket as we know them in NZ. It, like most of the shops in Luganville, is owned by Chinese, and has a real variety of stock for sale from pots to spear fishing gear to sewing supplies, clothing, sugar and beer. The one that we use for most of our food buying has the best selection available here in its 3 aisles of foodstuffs. Most of it is from
The rest of our fruit and veges come from the market and that varies lots from week to week. We can usually, but not always, get spring onions, small green peppers, cucumber, Chinese cabbage, kumara, avocado, tough beans, corn (not sweet, maybe maize) bananas, pawpaw, oranges, mandarins, lemon/limes, grapefruit, coconuts, as well as veges that we don’t want to buy like kava roots, manioc, taro, huge yams, cooking bananas and banana leaves, island cabbage (we buy it sometimes - it is similar to silver beet) and things that we have no idea what they are. Sometimes if we are really lucky we can get lettuces and small tomatoes. Today for the first time I saw and bought a pumpkin. When I write the veges in a list like that it actually sounds like a lot of variety, but really it isn’t and we can only buy enough to last us a few days at most. We have a small fridge and that enables us to keep a few things fresh like peppers and lettuce if we can get it. Otherwise nothing stays fresh very long.
The second opportunity that we have for buying fresh stuff is at the weekly Saturday market held not too far from the college here. The college usually sends its bus down to the market for the students and staff to buy supplies. It is much smaller than the town market and what’s available varies heaps in both quantity and variety from week to week. The cost of the fresh produce is generally very reasonable.
So we were very keen to supplement our diet with fresh veges from our own garden, and particularly to grow the salad type veges that we are really missing. The cost isn’t so significant but it will also help to keep our food bill down as the rest of the grocery items are quite expensive.
Where do you start in establishing a garden here? Well, all the staff and students are allocated space to have as gardens. This is to help them financially as many students have little or no money in reserve, and having a garden reduces their dependence on bought goods like rice and flour. Most of the garden land is down the road a bit on Navota Farm land and is used for growing the bulky things like taro and manioc. Some land in the college grounds has also been ploughed up for use by the students this year and has just this week been planted in a variety of seeds provided by the college. I complain about our limited food availability but really when I compare what we have to what the students live on - often just bread at breakfast, and rice with a tiny amount of tinned fish for other meals - what have I to complain about? This is the single students who eat together and roster the cooking I am meaning. The couples and families do their own thing, mostly in their outside “bush kitchens”.
Our allocated garden space is not far from our back door. Anything that is not actively kept tidy very quickly begins to revert to jungle here, so this piece of garden didn’t look much like a garden, except for the wildling taro and manioc plants, grown up from small pieces of tuber left in the ground. There are also some pineapples and the odd banana, lemon, coconut, and pawpaw trees. These are actually dotted all over the campus, apparently wherever they have come up. All the students do various duties around campus, including most of the ground maintenance and lawn mowing. As staff we are able to ask for students to come and help clear the ground for the garden, which we did. The main tool for any job in
We are very close to the coast here and the soils are thin and coralline. In our spot there are lots of small pieces of coral and also some large chunks in the soil. The soils are very light and friable. The rain sometimes falls very heavily but always drains away very quickly. We are learning about the importance of shade and keeping up the water to our seedlings. Some of the first things we planted didn’t come up, or didn’t survive because we had a very hot, dry spell earlier in the month and the garden suffered before Jon put in a hose to bring water closer to the garden and we bought a sprinkler.
Another major problem that we needed to deal with is the chickens that wander freely around the place. On the first day after the guys had cleared our patch, some ladies walked past and commented in Bislama, most of which I didn’t understand. I did pick up the bit about “fowl I scratchem”. In other words “watch out for the chickens they will scratch everything out”. So the next step was to get a fence up around our plot. Jon used his Navota Farm contacts and a few days later the students and farm manager came down with a tractor and trailer load of logs fresh from the bush, some still complete with epiphytic orchids. They then dug these logs in by hand at intervals around the garden, nailed up split bamboo horizontally between the posts, and stuffed dry coconut palms in between. And there you have it - a chicken proof fence. Well it is so far - I’m sure a really determined chicken could get in but there are easier pickings elsewhere.
We have planted corn, broccoli and carrots which didn’t come up, lettuce and Chinese cabbage seedlings that don’t look too great, cucumbers which came up marvelously but then proceeded to disappear until I put some cans around the last few to protect them from whatever (you should see the size of the land snails here!), tomatoes that I raised in pots, dwarf beans, peppers and radishes looking good so far, climbing beans just coming up, and watermelons planted out from pots too. The melons and some other things are subject to attack from small brown beetles, but most things seem to be suffering more from the heat than anything else. Locals put up shade frames over their seed beds which seems a sensible plan to protect them from the heat of the sun. The dry season is coming when water will be an issue as it is hard to keep enough water to the garden already with the low pressure and sharing the water with the neighbours. I want to make compost and mulch the thin soils. Most rubbish of any kind is burnt here. I need to rescue some and add organic matter to the soil.
In general I am really enjoying getting out into the garden despite our early failures and the mossie bites. Sometimes one does feel rather shut in in this place as we are not very free to come and go, and there isn’t really anywhere to go to just here anyway. So at least I can escape from the house out to the garden. Unfortunately I can sometimes still hear the kids arguing from there!! I don’t think too much about the wildlife that is rustling around me. Usually it is just a little gecko, but sometimes there is a large frog or a land crab or even a rat. There are snakes in
If trying to email us - our phone line is down and so it's hard to send
and receive.
God Bless
Jon
Last night we celebrated the end of exams. Our pastoral care group met at our place. After devotions, a shared meal we played various games – kind of mind twisters. It was good. Then at Connie’s insistence we taught everyone Wink Murder. A great game for people that often never look one in the face.
Some laughed letting us know they were the murderer before they killed anyone. Others sneakily killed off people - a good game, a good time, and lots of laughs.
The photo is Kalangai strumming away at out place with little Sammel (Peters and May's boy) sitting beside him. Our Pastoral Care group is made up of students from
By the way - we have added more photos. Goto http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~jvp/Talua/tp2/index.html to see them.
God Bless
Jon
It’s hard to believe this time last year I was on a 32 foot yacht sailing from
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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 17th March and Saturday 18th 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.
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.
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 26th 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
“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 3rd 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
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!)
