Blogs from Vanuatu, Oceania - page 5

Hey, Here're some pictures from my Vanuatu trip! It was really awesome, but quite adventurous. The full pacific experience inclusive earthquake and a tropical cyclone. Unfortunately, the sea was quite rough after the cyclone, which affected the visibility underwater for some days. I also got stuck on Efate (Main Island) as all flights where canceled, because of the weather. Nevertheless, it was really amazing. Very nice and very friendly people!! Made many new friends... The second part has the better UW pictures, which were taken several days after the cyclone, when the sea got quiet. Yu play play gut! Lukim yu! Stefan ... read more

The beginning of December turned into a time of contemplative re-evaluation for our Sele Clinic Project, and also a time of frenzied rush to get goods to where they needed to be. On the 15th, I had to leave Espiritu Santo to take care of business in Port Vila for the end of our year in Vanuatu. The clinic was not completed, nor did it look like it could be until Project MARC returns to finish the job. I left the villages holding the bag. The chiefs who’d worked so hard were left hanging. They understood the situation and had lived through the problems. They agreed to the change in the plan but it didn’t really matter. The reality was that the clinic was not finished and that was a real kick in the gut. It ... read more

Third week of November. This was to be the week of water. And what a week it’s turned into. As some of you may know, there is no running water at the project site and the nearest water source is several hundred meters from where we’re working (there’s also some serious hills and cliffs incorporated into that distance). We have already moved a 6000-liter water tank to the site so if we can just fill that up, we should be good for the completion of the foundation. If we need more water after the foundation’s complete, we’ll have to fetch more for the mortar. Now the tools that we have available to move the water include: our trusty steed (the Land Cruiser), three 200-litre plastic drums, a diesel powered water pump, a spool of 1inch hose ... read more

As some of you all know. I’m not back in the states as was originally planned. I’m still in Vanuatu, still building clinics. Had I held onto my original tickets, I would have landed back in the states late October and spent the holidays with family. I’ve changed my tickets thanks to some very generous benefactors here in Vanuatu. These benefactors have promised to finance the construction of a second clinic this year in Espiritu Santo. The location has already been selected by the Ministry of Health and Project MARC had already planned on building a clinic at this location. Realistically, I didn’t think that we’d get the funding for it within the next two years. The villages surrounding our next clinic site are truly lucky to have such generous business owners on their island. Now ... read more

As many of you know, I planned on doing several things with Project MARC while in Vanuatu this year. When I left the states this past July the number one item on that list was the construction of a Clinic/Dispensary on the West Coast of Espiritu Santo. In all honesty, I’d been trying to get this clinic built for the better part of the past 3 years. My hopes were high and it appeared that we finally had the funding needed to get the job done. Some refer to the work I do in the states as: ‘Non-profit Fundraising.’ But others often refer to it as: ‘Hopeless begging from financially strapped individuals.’ Although I’ve had more people tell me, ‘NO’ than I can count (through incredibly imaginative means)…there were enough bright and shining stars that actually ... read more