Blogs from Luganville, Santo, Vanuatu, Oceania

Well everyone…it’s been a month since the last entry and a great deal has taken place. Of greater significance, however, is what has NOT taken place. Please try to remember folks, this is Vanuatu, and we first-worlders need to be able to roll with the punches. If you’re not interested in the dreary prose, here’s the short version: The construction of the Sele Clinic is being put on hold at the request of the Ministry of Health, but against my personal desire. I want to do what’s best for the greater good and most economically efficient for our donors, but I feel terrible about not finishing the clinic this year. However, what you want and how you feel are rarely in agreement. If you’re strange enough to enjoy my ramblings, here’s the long version: I’d like ... read more

The first week of expeditions have been a bit slow moving, but maybe that’s just because I’m still getting acclimated to being in Vanuatu again. No matter how many times I want to push things to go faster, I keep getting taught that you don’t rush Vanuatu. We’ve had a few speed bumps, but I dare not call them ‘obstacles.’ Over here we like to refer to them as ‘New Opportunities for Creative Management.’ When life in Vanuatu decides to throw you a REAL obstacle, it usually involves a natural catastrophic event (i.e. Tsunami, 8.5 Earthquake, Unexpected Volcanic Eruption, etc…All of which happened in 2009). The first day of the month presented one such issue. Due to a communication error on my part, there was a missed connection for one of our volunteers. I was one ... read more

Travel Blog 6-24, Luganville. It’s business…It’s business time… “That’s why they call them business socks…” I arrived in Luganville yesterday morning after two weeks in Port Vila, taking care of business. I don’t actually own business socks, but I did bring along a single shirt that would be appropriate to wear in an office. Let me tell you, in the past few weeks that shirt has gotten a work out. For those of you that don’t know me in my natural habitat, Vanuatu, it should be noted that shirts, shoes, and shaving are uncommon things to my person. These past few weeks however have seen me in an ironed, collared, button-down shirt. Since I only have one, it looks like all the photos were taken on the same day. The primary goal of my time in ... read more