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Published: August 3rd 2009
Rest Stop 1
This was the hike to JMC where we popped out of the jungle and onto the beach. By day five it was time to move on to our next base camp. We hired some local porters to guide the team and carry some of our extra gear. Carolyn, a teacher at the school, and her husband walked with us for a great while and were a great help. Most of the hike that day was on flat ground or beach, but the final push to get us to the Jungle Mountain Clinic was up a bit of an incline. We took our time and got up the hill to the JMC, but it was a struggle with all our gear.
Upon our arrival we could see that the locals had begun construction on a new house for the volunteers to stay in. As soon as they heard that we were in Wusi, they began construction on the new house. It was a gigantic structure and truly an amazing thing to see. House building here in Vanuatu is a community event usually. It takes days for the preparations, but the erection is usually done in a single day by many hands. I’m glad that the volunteers got to witness the process of construction. It really shows how things
Last water
This river marks the beginning of the incline to the Jungle Mountain Clinic. It's also the last place to get water before reaching the destination. are done here in the rural communities.
That very afternoon I got to meet with the chiefs and committee members for the aid post. I had to deliver some bad news, and the assembly was not happy to hear it. In the end, luckily, we all came to an arrangement that everyone agreed was fair.
The next day was one for village surveys. The team headed into the valley below JMC and got to work while Nick (our Canadian volunteer) and I had the pleasure of climbing up the nearest mountain to get cell phone reception.
The villages in this valley are some of the more remote villages that we go to. The poverty and hygiene in some of these villages mark the extreme of what we would see on this expedition. Our medical students spent nearly a full day with aid post workers treating an assortment of maladies.
One of the highlights of our time at this camp was the inter-village soccer games that we got to play with the local men. Just down the hill from our camp was a large soccer field and every evening the men from several villages would gather to
Arrival at last
It was a tough first hike for our team, and really let people know what we were in for. play. The women had a volleyball court set up and everyone was practicing for the Independence Day tournaments that happen at the end of July. Each area of villages sends a team for the tournament and winning the annual championship is a great honor. Women compete in volleyball and men duke it out on the futbol pitch. The chance for us to help the team practice was great, and really let us bond with the community.
The second day of surveys was a little rainy but can boast one of the best meals we had on the trip. There was a remembrance celebration for a man who died several years ago in one of the villages, and for this event a cow was butchered. When a prominent person dies in a village, their home is not taken down for several years. When the time comes to finally take down the old house there is quite a ceremony. We were allowed to share in the feast and the steaks were delicious.
At this point of the expedition I decided that the best course of action was to split our group into two different teams. There were several reasons for
A new house
This is the huge structure that the locals began building days before we arrived. It was quite the sight to see. the decision but the majority of the group preferred to stick together. When it came time to leave camp for the next stop, we headed back to the beach at Sauriki and hired a boat to take us South to the Pareo Landing.
Thankfully we weren't delayed any by sea conditions and the ride was pretty pleasant. The waves at Pareo turned a little rougher than desired, but we got the boat ashore despite some communication errors.
And what a beach it was! This third camp would turn out to be one of the more photogenic stops, but you'll hear more about that in the next installment.
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Seamus
Seamus O
Entry incomplete
Sorry for the delay folks. Internet here in Luganville has been inconsistent over the past few days and uploading photos is taking hours. Internet cafe costs are adding up so I'll have to post images later when internet is cheaper.