21 March 2014
We arrived in Epau Village, East Efate, on March 2nd. This part of training focused on technical training sessions preparing us for our jobs as VITEL (Vanuatu Information Technology and English Literacy) volunteers, aka, many hours sitting in a hot building learning about teaching tools like jazz chants and learning about the ever complicated nature of the national curriculum of Vanuatu. However, on the side we also had time for some valuable cultural lessons…
These are some kiddos that my host Mama and Papa "adopted" during the school year so that the kids would be able to go to school with their friends from the village. The parents of the kids live in Port Vila proper so are busy and work hard make money to pay school fees so during the school year the grandparents take them in!
Group shot: Mama, Papa, brother Loui, sister Julie and three little ones.
One Saturday a group of us took a stroll over to Nangus (a separate part of Epau village about a 30 minute walk away) to witness a “blocking ceremony.” The dating system in Vanuatu is quite different than in the US. Basically, young people don’t have boyfriends and girlfriends; they have secret boyfriends and girlfriends. The two parties keep their significant others secret because, more often than not, once their families find out about their significant other they will hurry them down the road to marriage. Once a young couple has decided to tell their family about their significant other (or maybe once the family just finds out anyway…) the couple will take part in a “blocking ceremony.”
The ceremony is a lot like a formal engagement party in the US, with the addition of many speeches from village chiefs and elders, a large exchange of gifts including mats, “white man food” (rice, sugar and other items the white man has introduced to Vanuatu culture and subsequently increased the health problems plaguing many Ni-Van communities), money, manioc, bananas, and pigs, and a 50 person long hand shaking line all happening while the couple sits next to each other in the center of the group. I felt very honored to be a part of the ceremony and of course enjoyed the food and kava available after!
Another awesome thing I did in Epau was hike along one of the big rivers nearby all the way up to this incredible cave. A group of us set off from Epau and hopped in a truck that took us about 5 minutes down the road to a small road that we took into the bush. The journey to the cave was a combination of fun river crossing, some walking through thick bush and other times of simply wading up the river until we finally reached this massive cave at the end. It was beautiful. We took some time to swim at the opening of the cave (and “shower” with soap because that’s how things are done when you live near a river).
small stop on the way back home--wan bigfala reef with some kranke waves!
Washing in the river was actually one of my favorite parts of living in Epau. Although the water was cold it was clean and oh so refreshing. I would “shower” in the river almost everyday and washed my clothes in the river once a week. Although hand-washing clothes takes a bit of time I’ve really started enjoying it. It’s just hard to dry your clothes on a line when rain will come periodically throughout most days, but it all works out eventually.
We had one week of practicum teaching while in Epau which brought all of us into the classrooms of Epau Primary School. I was assigned to year 1 with two other volunteers and we basically took over the year 1 class for the week during their English sessions. English is taught from 7:30/8-9:30/10am everyday and every school throughout Vanuatu. We made lesson plans for each day and incorporated books, songs and games into our plans each day. The kids were fun and excited for us to be there and change things up a bit but it was also a challenge working with kids we just met. Unfortunately I was also sick Tuesday-Thursday so I missed some crucial practicum days but my partners were awesome and covered for me!
A lot of kids in Vanuatu don't come to school without a bushknife!
Last Friday the village organized our “last kakae” or farewell dinner complete with an enormous table of delicious foods, thoughtful speeches and a live string band! String band is basically the national sound of Vanuatu and is similar in many ways to Caribbean/Reggae…its upbeat and fun but a lot of the songs sound very similar. I’ve really been enjoying the music and will try to find a good video or something to show.
After we left Epau we got to spend a whole week in Port Vila living the very exciting ex-pat lifestyle of gorging ourselves with things like cheeseburgers and nachos as well as a few beers here and there. The eight weeks we all spent in training led up to our Swearing In ceremony where we officially became volunteers, certifiably ready to enter our posts and begin the work we came here to do. The US Ambassador came all the way from Papua New Guinea to swear us in as volunteers but somewhere along the way he lost/forgot the oath of service taken by all military and civilian personnel serving the US. This was funny as we all stood, with our right hands raised and he told us, “you know, I actually don’t know the oath but just stand here with your hands up for a few more seconds.” Of course, after the ceremony had ended, and one person was able to google the oath on their smart phone, we all took the oath of service before heading to the backyard for the reception. There were small snacks, cold fruit juice and of course, kava. The highlight of my afternoon was definitely sharing a shell of kava with the country director.
volunteers wantaem!
After swearing in we went dancing and enjoyed our new found freedom after receiving our V-card (our official title of “volunteer” instead of “trainee” hehe). The rest of the week was spent shopping for all of the random things we thought we would need over the next two years, and of course enjoying some more western style foods. On the Saturday before we left, Alison, Dane, Kelsey, Dave, Kirk and I went to Hideaway Island which is a little piece of land off of Efate for tourists. We of course, wanted to relax and enjoy some sun, drink some cold beverages and wear our bikinis again to even our our awkward tan lines. Hideaway Island is also home to the world’s only underwater Post Office so of course us gals dove down and sent some waterproof post cards. Hopefully the post master works regularly enough that my card will find it’s way to the states soon.
On April 31st I boarded the Big Sista Marine Vessel with all of my possessions present in Vanuatu and 20 h0urs later I arrived at LitzLitz Wharf in Malekule. A three hours truck ride later I arrived to my new village in my house and life really began.
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