Blogs from Vanuatu, Oceania - page 11

After leaving Banam Bay for the Maskelyne Island Group we got word that the two volunteers meant to join us for our October Expedition would be delayed due to lost luggage courtesy of a wonderful airline. Delays are common for us, however, so it was no big deal. The goal of our October Expedition was to gather information from the Southern and Western Coasts of Malekula for the Vanuatu Ministry of Health. The tall ship Alvei was to deliver hiking teams to key points along the coast so that overland teams could hike from village-to-village gathering information. Since we were delayed a bit I decided to do some preliminary scouting to the islands off the South Coast of Malekula. Akhamb Island is the largest of these and is home to over 600 people. Several years ago ... read more

November third was a rather interesting day. It’s not that every day is like this for me, but days like this happen frequently enough. I haven’t gotten around to recording many of my days this year, but maybe that's because I’m a little too busy living them up. To fully grasp the entirety of this single day in the life, one needs to learn a bit about the night before. Simply put: there was a kava session. Un-simply put: I got to further the bond between a village chief’s family and myself, opened the eyes of an inexperienced companion traveler, engaged in a friendship ceremony with my oldest friend in the country, and all of this was because I failed to solve a supply chain issue which had erupted over inter-tribal cultural differences at one of ... read more

When Seamus asked me to write a few pages about my Nambagura volunteer experience I have to admit I was a little bit stumped (and a bit miffed, homework, really Seamus, homework, nobody told me there would be homework). What do I write for two pages about this village that hasn’t been written about or experienced in every other village; we came, we helped, we connected, we were thanked. And then it dawned on me that it was this last part that set apart my Nambagura experience for me. From our first day of work for MARC, which was the offloading of the supplies into the copra shed at Banam Bay, there was something unique that tweaked my interest about Nambagura. It was the chief’s son Taso, a rather large almost burly man but with a ... read more

“Two days-volunteer-diary” 9-10th of September 2009, by Franzi Rudolphi, Germany As a volunteer of Project MARC, I would like to describe my experiences I’ve had here in Malekula, this small and beautiful island belongs to Vanuatu. Originally I came to the South Pacific for sailing on Alvei and finally living my dream which appeared to me 12 years ago. After nearly two month of fulfilling it and getting much more than I ever expected, the work for Project MARC completed this awesome and incredible experience and I have to say it was an honor and a great luck for me that I could give a helping hand, even if it was only for two weeks. I try to explain why by writing down my memories of two days building a water tank and water pipes for ... read more

so i posted these out of order...blonde moment? anyways, here's another blog from sher. should have been the first you read. however if you have been dutifully reading the blogs, you shouldn't have any trouble fitting in the august 7 post where it rightfully belongs. later- b 20 July 2009 A first: Blogging from Maewo has upgraded from snail mail letters sent to my sister for typing: tedious for her, plus I'm running out of ideas for decorating the borders of the pages to keep her entertained, PLUS photo-less. This new era has me typing and burning CD's from our laptop, complete with pictures and hopefully simpler for her to "copy and paste" them right to the web page. Onwards, then. I'll pick up with life after the New Zealand/Vanuatu vacation with the family; that was ... read more