Saturday 23rd Febraury
We discovered somewhere in the afternoon that we had no white plastic box of computer bits, with all our software, cables and battery chargers. This concerns us because I was sure I got every item like that out of the container and into the truck, so maybe it is still in our garage at home?
This fired me up about going back of the final load of stuff in Vila, including some furniture I had purchased off some Australians. So taking the neighbours family we head into town at 1.30 pm. I attempted to do several things in town, to check out the hardware stores and see what they had, but on a cloudy slow Saturday pm it was only the Chinese trading stores that are open for business. They are sell evrysumting (things) from jandles to machetes to fresh meat. It’s a jungle in there! So I bought more jandles, a large round plastic bath for the kids and more mosquito coils since I hope not to be back in Vila for the next week and Grace had been asking for a bath. She loves water play and she can be having the pinetarsol while she does it. In the finish a glass top table for outdoors, two mountain bikes and the basins I was ready for the return, which somehow takes me under two hours. The kids want to have a bath. The only other thing we can’t find is a box of pots and pans which I finally have to conclude fell out the window somewhere. So much for big loads.
Sunday 24th
Our neat neighbours told us church is at 10 am so we had slow morning tidying up, enjoying our first coffee and pawpaw in the new table setting out side. Whereas the commissioning service had been long and formal, the church service is small and friendly, mostly Bislama but some English. We are again officially welcomed. The Children enjoy it more because they can move around and eat snacks and draw. The chapel has a nice shape, is over 40 years old but still solid. In the afternoon about 10 teachers from the islands around Efate turned up for a 5 day workshop on literacy. Elder Manu has it mostly under control but needs my small Yamaha generator for lighting. I wired in a plug and gained lighting in three buildings.
Week 25th to Fri 29th
I continued helping Manu with the lights, running and nice long while house wire across the lawn to attach in the old managers house. In the afternoon the students turned up again, so we planned resuming our studies the next day. The dorm they stayed in has no lighting, water or toilets, but I see to it that they all have mosquito nets.
Tuesday was special for the heavy rain, it having been oppressively hot the day before. We persevered with classes and devotions focussed on Genesis 1:1-5. Alex from Pentecost had picked up a Bislama Bible in the old manager office and took it to the dorm to read, so he helped me out reading it out in class. Naturally not everyone is comfortable doing this. Alex seems to be a good sort of student, communicative and helpful, but also honest about the problems with the place. I hoped he would stay. A new student turned up called Edwin from South Santo, a friend of the two others from there I believe. Over the next two days I tried to build a bond with these 6 people, eating bush food with them, including crab sucked from the shell, and explaining how we could still have a valuable year. However with no curriculum I don’t really know if I will legitimately be able to offer these young people certificates at the end of the year.
On Wednesday a loud difficult student called Isaac did not appear, they said he was in Epau village. That afternoon I had a walk in the bush to get a feel for the size of our place followed by and couple of hours fixing the brakes on a bus that came by to ask if we could help. Having earned ourselves 1000Vt, I spent much of it on steak for the students at the local home kill farmer, Patrick from Taranaki. We are very lucky to have good meat available a short walk away. That night the three boys visit us to say that their parents are unhappy with the condition of the school, and that they will probably head to a Rural Training Centre near Vila
I woke early on Thursday morning and wondered down to the sea, and sat on a bench. The early morning bus with a few people already aboard lumbered past me into Onesua. Later at Ebule I found out that three of my students had been on that bus and were leaving for good, after having told me of their concerns. Kenny the tutor wanted to go to Vila as his Grandfather was in Hospital, and Austin wanted to go with him, not wanting to be left alone. I was then down to Lesley the female from Nguna who lives with Jonathon. So on Thursday I took the opportunity go to Vila and suggest we close the school and fix it up first. Elder Johnnie has more students he assures me and that he will be there on Sunday to have a look.
Alex left with the bible, I realized I should have stipulated that he regard it as a loan and give it back if he intends to leave.
Sunday 2nd March
Elder Johnnie turned up with quite an entourage consisting of local pastors and the members of the Ebule (emergency) management committee. I thought that with only one student I would not be having a commissioning of the school, but a truent came back and two new local boys arrived to begin studying. The commissioning church service for the school was quite long but acknowledged honestly the “human catastrophe” that had occurred here. I was in some shock that this was happening. Following a large lunch we had the committee meeting in which they asked if Naura or I should be the acting manager. Rob Meier helped me out understanding some of the proceedings, one item being steps underway to bring Robert the Santo manager to justice for his theft a year ago. I wanted them to come and see the dorms, and I wanted to confer with Andrew Bell at Global Mission before accepting anything. So after the meeting we wandered up to the windmill and looked at the petrol pump beside it, followed by an inspection of the dorms. A lot of vandalism is evident to them. As I hear about how functional this place had been two years before, I realize how valuable this place had been to the local communities in training the young people. I don’t know why a place like this can go backwards so rapidly, undoing years of local and overseas input, and yet so little repercussion fall on anyone?? And the main culprit it seems has the temerity to ask for compensation after plundering so much for himself and selling it in Vila.
Monday 3rd to Friday 7th Mar
My four students, three boys and Lesley, begin again. This time we have Elder Naura living with us and he minds the students. He is easy going a gets on well with the boys I think. On Tuesday after getting the petrol water pump filling the tank on the hill, I took one of the local students Gideon out snorkelling, my first time over the reef. Wednesday was a national holiday, Chiefs day. So a devotion in the assembly hall, followed by a lazy lunch, then I went to collect the boys from Ebule to take them for a swim. We ended up by accident at Paunangesu, a beautiful and friendly village be the sea. The children befriended us and we had a great time swimming in warm seawater. Davie and Grace had their very first mask and snorkel and flippers attempts. It was just so funny, they are completely uncoordinated underwater and looked like drowning spiders. Later Gracie tried to play soccer with the six year olds. She has this really odd way of kicking the ball, it looks like a sort of curtsy, and then her leg flies out, misses the ball, but connects with it on the way back to her body, so the balls goes backwards. All these lovely back kids sat there laughing, watching her little pantomime, while the six years old kick it around better than me even.
Villages are an interesting mix of tidiness and order, and dilapidation. Traditional thatch and corrugated iron, age old food techniques and lawnmowers and televisions, I hope I can video it some time without offending people. No one so far has asked us for money or things, just a bit of curiosity with my inverter that I can use to power appliances during the day. Quite a few people have asked about the cost of my mountain bike, which we use for small rides to Ebule or to buy vegetables.
Thursday we worked some more on the pump and water line, then I got sick and had to be driven home for a rest.
Friday Naura went to town to pick up his wife, expect to see him on Monday afternoon.