May 2004 - Paul Jeffries

Olsem wanam yufella, .mi wok long time long NZ, mifella kam long Malakula en hemi plen, foldaon long Norsup.

Hello all, I worked for a while in NZ, then I came back to Malakula by plane, my plane landed (fell down) at Norsup.

Thought we’d have a little Bislama 1.01. I love the language and find that I can understand more and more as time goes by.

I arrived back in Vanuatu on the 19th of May and will be here until the end of June. In my last report we surveyed the damage from the cyclone, as most of the roads had only just opened. This time we were swinging into action to start the rebuilding of the facilities needed.

We started in Aulua where the village water tank had been hit by a coconut tree. Russell, an independent NZ volunteer who works alongside the Malakula Medical Relief Trust, and I managed to remove the damaged panel from the water tank and panel beat it into a semblance of its former self. We refitted the panel to the tank and poured concrete onto the base of the tank to stop any leaks. The tank will take up to a month to dry, by which stage we hope to have the pipe-work on site and connected.

Russell and I stayed in the local village, living in a grass bush house assigned by our host. Our host, Chief Harry, had organised a “White fella swim house” for us to shower by bucket and a local woman cooked us kaekae. We finished the tank and were told that they were putting on Kava for us. For those not up with the play, Kava is the ceremonial drink that is consumed for just about any reason, but is a sign of respect if offered and made especially for you. It tastes a lot like muddy water, has a bitter taste and numbs the mouth fairly quickly.

The main hardship of the trip was picking up 100 bags of “sandbeach” (builders mix) from one side of a very wide river. Fifteen bags were loaded into the van at a time and taken to the village 30 minutes away where the bags were transferred into a 4-wheel drive to climb a mountain track to the tank. Word of our work spread like wildfire and before we left we were asked to look at the water supply of seven other villages, all in close proximity.

So off we went, walking through dense bush, up steep slopes, emerging on the edge of 150-foot high waterfalls, it was breathtaking and a bit scary at the same time. We managed to fix a few leaks and replace two taps, which to us was minor, but to the locals we were mana sent from above. In appreciation of the help offers of fruit and vegetables came from everywhere. These offers were declined, as they needed the food more than us.

The damage sustained by the island from the cyclone is worse than most expected. Most villages are affected in some way. One village elder asked if I could supply him with some saucepans and cutlery as the village had lost everything in the cyclone. Others have no water. We are just scratching the tip at the moment and our work is cut out for us. I do love a challenge…only another 200 tanks to build.

This month…slowly we are making a difference. Lukim yu (bye for now).

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