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Ok, first of all big apologies to all the intertribe out there. I know we promised you updates about this day at the beginning of the week, but things took a turn for the hectic on the weekend and this carried into the week leaving little time for proper reflection and time to give you guys a good account of the weekend. Needless to say it was pretty good…….. So everything started to build up about Friday. A big shopping excursion to town to find pigs and enough food for about 100 of the expected people coming. As always in Fiji, no-one will ever tell you that something big is about to happen, but you can work it out by the sudden raise in the level of activity and work to ensure things are done. No big words were needed to rouse people; instead it seemed that there was an unsaid urgency and seriousness that suddenly took over the camp. This was typified by Tui Mali arriving on Friday morning with his strimmer to clean his ancestor’s graves himself. You know when a man as dignified as Tui Mali is ready to get his hands dirty in a morning’s work then this is going to be a big deal. Friday night and preparations were in full flow. Shady areas had been built, extra tables to accommodate guests, incredible attention to detail to decorate the site (wrapping palm leaves around the wood etc.), a flurry of weeding and preparation. Then, about 7 o clock there was a realization: what about actually preparing the food?!! From our side (the vulagi) a slight panic set in. How on earth are we going to sort this out so late? |
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Half Way There: The March 1 Half Way Celebration 
So much has taken place in the last few days that it is going to be tough to sum it all up and post some conclusions as outgoing chief. The events on Saturday were a perfect way to end my time on Vorovoro as February Chief. The festivities lived up to everyone’s expectations, including Te and TuiMali. TuiMali was “showing off” his Vorovoro to the outside world; he was showing that the chance he had taken was worth it, that Tribewanted had succeeded and could be a model to look up to for Fijian tourism. Outside shade pavilions were built in just one day for the guests, just about every tribemember was involved in the preparations. The reception area was built and decorated in the traditional fashion, with palm fronds intertwined around the poles and fronds clipped to create beautiful patterns. Colorful cloth with the typical Fijian patterns was hung, and large woven matts from TuiMali’s home were brought in so that there was plenty of seating area. Food preparation went on throughout Friday night, everyone having a good time learning to weave the Meke costumes or build and maintain the lovo, all seated on matts over by the outside kitchen area where the lovo was. The ladies quietly went about their business of preparing the banquet for some 80 people, most everyone we know that comes to help was there, obviously this celebration has much more far reaching consequences for the Mali people that we can imagine and everyone was called in to make sure it came off as smooth as silk; Mali is now “on the map” and tonight the events should be shown on Fiji One, a person was sent to film and document it all. |
When I landed in Nadi Airport there was a band playing… When I flew to Labasa the pilot left the door open… When the boat arrived in Vorovoro… When I arrived in the kitchen there were hot donuts and tea… That was back in January and five weeks later I was elected chief. Can you Adam and Eve it!? So I climbed to the top of the tree house, claimed the hammock and surveyed my new kingdom – feeling like the Lion King. Saturday 1 March 2008 marked the halfway mark of this amazing project that is Tribewanted. The workforce pulled out some Fiji magic and transformed the village into something even better. The attention to detail was superb and no trip to Homebase was needed. Giant leaves were used to decorate the shelters providing shade on this blue sky day. The place looked absolutely T for tremendous. |
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What do 12V pumps, water-saving devices and biodegradable wipes have in common? 
The answer is they have all been donated by some very generous companies. This is a thank you to them, without whom we probably would not be reaping the benefits of their innovative products on the island now. Water saving adapters fitted to toilet tap - Tapmagic Biodegradable wipes - Canawipe 12V Water pump - SHURflo
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Climate Care Certificate (June - December 2007)
How do you offset your travel? |
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Kevin Kimpel: wow what a wonderful fun experience 
I just got home from 2 fun filled awesome weeks on Vorovoro. The intial plan was one week, but after just two days I was wondering why I only had booked a week. When Carol said ” I can rebook your island flight” I took her up on it and booked a 2nd week My advice to anyone planning a one week stay is keep your second ( or third ) week plans flexible enough that you can change them to stay another week. There were many highlights which included visiting the school and being the Meke entertainment, doing the 4 peak challenge with GIles, and interacting with the local Fujians on a day to day basis. Another big plus was that after signing the intial legal release form, I was not treated as a potential lawsuit while I was there. That may not mean much to some, but coming from a country that has way too many lawyers and not enough personal responsibility, it was wonderful to be able to act as a responsible adult and not have a nanny state mentality hovering over me. If I wanted to chop firewood in my barefeet or go snorkeling alone I was free to do so. If you have not booked your time on the island do so soon. You will not have any regrets except having to leave when you do finally pry yourself away. |
From Carol on Vorovoro: Bula Everyone! School visits so far this term (6 weeks in, today is the end of the 7th week) have been a bit different and discombobulated compared to our usual visits previous terms. The teaching staff has been overloaded and well behind due to hurricanes closing the school, a goodbye soiree for Head Teacher Nico, the school AGM, our visit to All Saints and celebration preparations having us miss 2 visits and the new Head Teacher (whom we have yet to meet) taking ill his first week and being in hospital and in his home community recovering from surgery. When we have been at school on Friday mornings, we have abandonned our usual program and gone with the flow of what the teaching staff need in terms of time to get their classes caught up. I did however sit with the teachers on our last visit and shared some ideas on changing our Friday morning program somewhat. The teachers were pleased, so the new program will include the 1st hour of our time at school working with the kids in their class rooms to read and write letters to/from kids all over the world. The rest of our time will be as usual: introductions, songs, sport etc and Green Club. On a practical level, this will enhance students English and give the teachers a break without having to worry their students are sacrificing learning time. I’m really excited about it, so many people have wanted to create links between schools abroad and schools here and now we’ll have a somewhat structured means of accomplishing this! Yeah!!! All the kids I’ve spoken to about it are excited as well, they love getting mail!
and I’ll fill you in on how we’re organizing things on this end to help keep communication between schools flowing. To keep up to date with our relationship with Mali District School, visit Tribewanted.com! |
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The Tribe goes to Reform School... 
From April Chief, Kaz Brecher: I am thrilled to announce that we have found a partner for our April Baby Zaishu project! Eco-design shop, Reform School, in Los Angeles will exclusively carry the Baby Zaishus that will be produced both in their fabulous shop as well as online. I have been a huge fan of Reform School since they launched their store about a year ago. Likewise, owners Billie and Tootie have been passionately interested in supporting the TribeWanted project since I told them I was headed to Fiji in February of ’07. Aside from covering their costs, they will be donating all of the profits from sales to our efforts to raise money for the Mali District School. Not only that, as leaders in the movement to raise awareness about recycling and reuse in art and everyday products around us (just check out their amazing wares online, if you don’t believe me), Reform School will be featuring our Baby Zaishu project in their May Student of the Month section of their site. And we’ll be blogging about the process of how the Zaishus come together. http://www.reformschoolrules.com/c/studentofthemonth/Student+of+the+Month.html This kind of exposure is really important to me, as I think that finding ways to include sustainable practices in all parts of our lives is the key to taking better care of our planet and ourselves. It doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom and brown either…there are plenty of ways to create and keep objects of beauty and fun in our midst that stem from creative reuse or changing the ways we think about consuming. So, here’s big shout out to Billie and Tootie, our friends are Reform School! And we’ll let everyone know when the Zaishus become available on their site: |
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