Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Kiaman Stories

Kiaman (or giaman) means to lie, liar, false, fiction, not real. Frequently, in Naviso and all-around Vanuatu, you hear these “kiaman stories”. They are a product of “coconut wireless”. When communication is so difficult, people gossip as much as possible when they get the chance and tell the story the best they can remember. As you can imagine, like the game telephone, this results in many falsehoods, tall-tales, and crazy stories; one example includes a Brazilian nuclear submarine arriving on the western coast of Maewo. Three, in particular, have struck me as amazing. Now I can share these amazing “kiaman stories” with the world.
The “JB” Package
Once upon a time I was sitting at the kava bar in Naviso listening to the kava and relaxing when some guys arrive from the other side and sit down next to me. They start to “storian” (storian = talk, chat, etc.) about the happenings on West Maewo and eventually come to a point of contention. Inquiring, I learn that there is a package in Nakoro, West Maewo, with the address: Naviso Village, East Maewo. But the name on the package says only “JB”. They start listing off possibilities of what the “JB” could mean and I, eventually, suggest that it could mean Jennifer Blount: JB. They respond nonchalantly and seem to brush off the suggestion. I agree, thinking that no one would address a package to Jennifer with just JB and Naviso Village.
Weeks pass and I start to hear stories about a package for Jennifer in West Maewo. I hear no confirmations and sometimes hear that the package is not actually there. Another week passes and I hear more and more stories about a package for Jennifer on the west side, but no one has carried the package to Naviso. The stories change and people start telling me that the package must be for Jennifer. Still, no one carries the package over to Naviso.
Another week passes and I am sitting down with some Mamas and they tell me that there is a package for Jennifer in Nakoro on West Maewo. I tell them: I have heard there is a package there, but no one has brought it over. They tell me there is a package there, they will get it when they go over, and, finally, there is a package… I have seen it.
More time passes and no one brings the package to Naviso, but I am headed over to the other side and will grab it on my way through and bring it back. I reach Bertarara, immediately find the postmaster, Paul Wrenn Tari, and ask after the package. He responds succinctly: I have heard about this package (word has spread), I do not know where this story started, but there is no package… Ale! Well, I am not sure what my Auntie saw, but it sure was not a package.
The Purse
Purse noun, verb, pursed, purs•ing.

Noun

1. a small bag or pouch, often made of soft leather, for carrying money, esp. coins
Purse, wallet, pouch, all of these can describe something that carries money, identification, credit cards, etc. In Maewo they refer to it as a purse and thus the story begins…
Once upon a time, at the end of August, Maewo hosted the PISSA games (for the first time). The PISSA games are a provincial secondary school sports tournament (including Soccer, Beach Volleyball, Basketball, Futsal, and Netball). I believe PISSA stands for Provincial Inter-Secondary School Athletics, but I could be horribly wrong. The PISSA games were held at Gambule Secondary School in Bertarara, West Maewo (close to Nakoro). Anyway, I attended part of the PISSA games and found that I lost something I never knew I had.
The day I arrived at the PISSA games, I met up with Nic, Jennifer (who had left the day before), and Melissa (who had followed her school, St. Patrick’s College, to the games). We immediately went to one of the various food stalls. We, of course, went to the one with ice cream. I have never seen ice cream on Maewo before. This ice cream was brought all the way from West Ambae. Anyway, shortly after leaving the stall, I was approached and asked if I had forgotten my purse. As soon as I understood what they meant, I quickly checked my island basket for my wallet. They were both there safe and sound. I told them I had, in fact, not forgotten either purse. At this they left, but I distinctly remember the conversation being strange and awkward, but I am not sure why.
As the days passed, I was regularly accosted and asked about my lost purse. Repeatedly, I told everyone that I had not lost my purse. Soon the story became that I had lost my purse and it had my name on it and my picture in it; neither of these are true of my wallet and yet the story continued. Again and again they asked after my lost purse with my name on it and picture inside. Again and again I told them it was not me.
One day, I found myself sitting on the Nakoro wharf and calling home to America. As I was talking to my brother a boat arrived. The boat driver interrupted the conversation to tell me that he was the guy who had found my purse with my name on it and picture inside. Surprised, I tell him: no, sorry sir, but that was not me. You would think that, if a picture of the owner was inside the purse, he would know that it was not me. Alright, there are five white people on Maewo normally, at PISSA there were seven. Only four were guys. That means he would have to remember the distinctive face of one of four white guys at PISSA; this is ridiculous.
As I make my escape from PISSA later in the week (you can only take so much high school sports and kava), I head back to Naviso to have some much needed rest and reading time. When I arrive in Naviso, I start to storian with my neighbor Mama Hanson. We storian go go and suddenly, Mama Hanson, who had left the PISSA games before I arrived, tells me that she heard I had lost my purse with my name on it and picture inside. Unbelievable, word had spread incredibly far and very quickly. Chances are very good that the entire island of Maewo believes that I had lost my purse at the PISSA games, no matter what I tell any one person to the contrary.

The Black Magic Man and D-Day
As I walked to the PISSA games, I was instructed on the history of America’s victory in World War II. As I walked to the top of the mountain, on my way to Ngota, an uncle of mine, Davis, told me a little story about the happenings on Maewo during World War II. Storian i go olsem ia:
Once upon a time, East Maewo had a man and this man had a sickness and a smell that was intolerable (the description sounded like leprosy). The village decided that he needed to leave, so they exiled him to the bush, but this was not enough as they could still smell his intolerable smell. Thus, they made him go on top of the mountain to middle bush, where he lived, by himself, until the Americans came. Apparently, the U.S. Army learned about this man and had also learned that he was a powerful sorcerer and had great magical powers. Of course, the U.S. Army desired his powers and came with helicopters and caught this man by throwing a net over him (so much for those magical powers). The U.S. Army took this Sorcerer back to America (where he lives to this day) and his powers are why the U.S. was victorious in World War II. Moreover, his powers still make America the World Superpower it is today.

I have heard this story three times now. The second I was being asked if this story was true and then I heard the story from Nic on West Maewo (his story had changed a little bit, but the essence of the story was the same). For a culture that claims America saved them from the evil Japanese during World War II, they are not humble in this regard. But I had lived in America for 23 years and have never seen this super powerful leper.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Project Report: STI & HIV/AIDS Awareness Program for Rural Vanuatu (NAC 149)

On July 11th, 2011, the workshop Wanem Nao HIV/AIDS mo Sik STI began. The workshop would include talks about sexual reproductive health, STIs, and, ultimately, HIV/AIDS. Before this could happen though, I needed to bring in help from the outside. On the 8th of July, I left Naviso, East Maewo and made my 4-hour trek to West Maewo. In West Maewo, I stayed one night before going to East Ambae to bring in fellow volunteer Nancy Miyake, who had worked in North Ambae (now with Save the Children in Port Vila). After leaving East Ambae, we made one more stop in South Maewo, Baitora, to bring Lindsay Templin. With two more Community Health Volunteers (both female), we made our way back to West Central Maewo and stayed one more night. On the 9th of July, the three of us made the walk back to Naviso via a bush road from Telise Village. A little over 5-hours later, we arrived, wearied and dirty, in Naviso.

The following day, July 10th, we collectively went to Church in the morning and afterwards I was able to make my community announcements about the workshop: beginning on Monday and going through Tuesday. Prior to this, I had been conducting a 4-week media campaign promoting the workshop. This involved repeated reminders during community announcements after church, various flyers, and talking with the community. Leading up to the workshop, I could feel a palpable excitement; people were continually asking questions about the dates and times. After announcements, I had to make some final arrangements and later in the day the other volunteers and I would make preparations. I had to make sure the pig, two roosters, rice, and other kakae was ready for the next two days. Additionally, I had to meet with the Youth Committee that was supposed to perform my drama tomorrow during the workshop – this requires some storytelling:

Two weeks prior to my workshop I searched out 8 – 10 people to help me make a drama visualizing the affects of HIV on the Immune System. I finally got a list of names and set two days to meet before I would go to Ambae to get the other volunteers. These two days would be used to prepare and practice the drama. The first day we were supposed to meet at 7 AM. Of course, being American, I arrived promptly at 7:00 only to wait until 8:45 before everyone showed up. After this, the leader of the Youth Committee, Esron Boe, told me that he would be going to Lalaone in North Maewo to make Copra and would miss the next practice, but would be back before the workshop; this was my first problem I ran into – I did not see him again until July 20th.

In his stead, Ephram was charged with leading the group and Ephram seemed motivated and interested in adding to the drama to improve the entertainment quality. The next time we were supposed to meet I did not want to wait a long time; I decided to come late and meet the late ones halfway. I arrived at 7:45 and found no one. I waited until Ephram came down and told me that they had been there at 7:00 and waited, danced, and finally, assuming I was unable to come, left. Well that did not work. Ephram decided that we could meet the next day, in the morning, before I left for West Maewo and Ambae. The next day I showed up promptly at the Nakamal, after Morning Prayer (as stipulated by Ephram) and, again, found no one. Opposed to waiting, I went to Ephram’s house to find him asleep – he had a kava hangover and had missed prayer. He told me that he would grab everyone and meet me at the Nakamal. About 10 minutes later, I was met by Ephram with bad news: ol man oli lus (All the people are gone). Ok, we decided that we will meet after Church on the Sunday before the workshop, July 10th.

This brings us back to the Sunday preparations. After Church, I find Ephram and he tells me that he will find all the people and get me from my house and we can practice. So, I go back to my house and wait. I do not see Ephram again until that night drinking kava. At this point, I tell him, since we had met once, the participants know the drama and I just need them ready to act on the second morning of the workshop.

Jumping ahead, on the second day of the workshop, July 12th, I go and get Ephram in the morning and tell him to get everyone ready. A small time later, Ephram comes and tells me, once again: ol man oli lus. Well, lucky I am used to this and found willing participants to come and act impromptu. Lesson Learnt: Locals can, but I am not allowed to work on ‘Island Time’.

Now, we can get back to the meat of the story. The preparations were finalized on Sunday, as Nancy, Lindsay, and I went over the workshop details and prepared the Reproductive Health materials – at the same time, making sure we understood how the sexual organs worked ourselves. Once we were all on the same page, we were ready for the workshop.

July 11th, 2011: Day 1 – Sex and Ni-Vanuatu

We began the workshop with an opening prayer and the Bananas Dance Ice Breaker. After this we went outside and played a massive name game. By the time we finished this and went back inside, attendance had boomed and we had somewhere around 70 – 80 people of all ages in the Church. We began the day by splitting the groups into two (males and females) and using picture activities to learn about reproductive health. This took up much of the morning, but before breaking for lunch, we had the groups split into two again (after learning this activity would not work with males and females together) to define what ‘sex’ means. This was an eye-opener and a funny activity; I no longer believe that Ni-Vanuatu have reservations about sex.

After breaking for lunch, we came together again and started the STI talk covering: STI i minim wanem, Wanem ol nem blong sik STI, Wanem ol saen blong sik STI, Hao nao blong blokem sik STI, and i gat meresin blong sik STI. Following these talks, we went into a picture activity that involved some critical analysis of family planning methods. Finally, we closed the day out with a talk from the Nurse, Nicholas Bage, about the services offered at the Mamalu Vanua Dispensary (family planning, STI treatment/medicine, condoms, etc.). After, the workshop was closed with a prayer, thus completing day one.

July 12th, 2011: Day 2 – HIV/AIDS and Gender Play

The second day of the workshop began with a fruit salad dance followed quickly by an outdoors activity: Telephone. Yes, the classic game of telephone, where you try to pass a message down a line or in a circle and see what comes of the message in the end. The activity was meant to represent the importance of learning correct information and how toktok blong rod can lead to misunderstandings and problems. Following this we went into the first section of the day.

Wanem nao HIV/AIDS?
The day started with the Immune System talk and the Drama, showing how HIV attacks the white blood cells and how other diseases can enter the body without resistance. After this we went through the activity: Laef Laen blong Sale (Sale’s Life). I used a clothes line with different signs to indicate age groups and life events. I demonstrated how HIV/AIDS can cut your life short; this was emphasized by cutting the clothes line and having every sign fall to the ground. This part turned out to be surprisingly dramatic as the signs hit the ground. The next activity covered the meanings of HIV/AIDS. We closed this section with an activity called ‘Finding the Ball’. In this activity the participants made two lines (males and females), shoulder-to-shoulder, and passed a ball back and forth up and down the line. After the facilitator said stop, the other group would have to guess where the ball was in the opposite line. This activity was meant to demonstrate how HIV does not have any signs and you cannot just assume anyone has or has not contracted the virus. After this we went into the next section of the day.

Hao nao yu serem HIV/AIDS?
This section was complete with picture activities that allowed the participants to explore the answers to each question. This developed great climates for discussion. The two activities explored what waters of the body HIV could pass through and what were the chances of sharing HIV in different activities. Following this we had a talk about the different general activities that would share HIV based on the waters of the body: Sex, Breastfeeding, Blood Transfusion, Bloody wounds, and Having HIV and being pregnant/giving birth. At the completion of this section we broke for lunch.

Hao nao yu save blokem HIV/AIDS
After lunch we began with another Bananas Dance and a game entitled: Juggling My Life. During the game participants stand in a circle and throw different objects around. The facilitator continually puts in more objects (the objects meant to represent life’s responsibilities), after a small time, the facilitator introduces a bigger object and three smaller objects meant to represent sex, pregnancy, STIs, and HIV/AIDS. The activity is supposed to demonstrate the difficulty of juggling your responsibilities and how sex, a bigger responsibility, can lead to different consequences that individuals might not be able to manage. Following this we went into a pictures activity to explore different ways for blocking HIV transmission. After this we touched on the poster with different ways to block ‘sik STI’ from the previous day. After this came the String Activities that used string and circles of participants to show the ease of possible HIV transmission between groups and islands throughout Vanuatu. Finally we went into condom steps and practice, using male condoms only, as female condoms had not reached Lolowai Hospital in East Ambae when we had last passed through. The condom work closed out the section blocking transmission.

Closing Activities
After the last activities, that were done in separate groups (male and female), we came together again to participate in a Gender and Development activity called: The Thing Game. The males and females were set-up as teams on either side of the Church and told that, exchanging turns, people from each group could come grab from the pile of ‘things’ and women would “act like a man” and men would “act like a woman”. While they did this we would record each activity. These resulted in a great amount of laughter with men pretending to breastfeed and give birth and women pretending to act drunk and rowdy, put on male condoms, and drink kava. The activity was followed by a debriefing session that touched on the multiple responsibilities that men and woman shared and how using a condom was a responsibility of everyone: Yumi Evriwan gat Raet blong karem Kondom. Finally, we finished the day’s activities with a talk about the difference between treatment and cure and how testing worked in Vanuatu.

As a group, the other volunteers and I answered all the questions from the ‘question basket’ that had been collected throughout the workshop (the first day’s questions were answered in the morning). Following this, the workshop was ended with a chorus and a closing prayer. Afterwards, the community made a ‘Thank you’ ceremony/lafet and killed another pig for kakae. The volunteers and I were presented with Salusalus and drank kava with the Chief. The village performed a small custom dance and everyone brought in local kakae too. The celebration was a big one and made for a great ending to the NAC-funded workshop in Naviso, East Maewo.

Success Story
In a small tangent, I can tell you the story of one Auntie of mine who, following the workshop, approached Nancy and explained to her: after going to the workshop, she discussed with her husband and they had decided to start using condoms. She asked Nancy if she could get her some condoms and Nancy passed the information to me. Later, I was able to get her the condoms she had asked after. This is explicit proof of the need to make these workshops with facilitators of different sexes and the importance of volunteer collaboration.

NAC-Funded HIV/AIDS Workshop: North Ambae July 17th – 18th

Summary: The Benefits of Volunteer Collaboration
After the workshop in Naviso was completed, I followed Nancy Miyake back to her site in North Ambae to assist in facilitating her workshop. The workshop was designed similar to the workshop in Naviso and Nancy and I changed sections based on what worked and what did not work in Naviso. Moreover, we added new sections to test in North Ambae. Nancy’s workshop involved three different villages in North Ambae. The experience was rewarding and the community opened up well to me during talks about sex and other sensitive issues. Nancy’s workshop was benefited by the presence of Rolingson Tari, the PENAMA Provincial STI, HIV/AIDS Officer, and his counterpart, VSO, Eric Ochieng, a volunteer from Kenya.

The workshop in North Ambae was very successful and I believe without the collaboration between Nancy and me before the workshops, at a PEPFAR-funded workshop for Village Health Workers, and before/during the workshop in Naviso, the end result would have been quite different and nowhere near as successful. I believe collaboration between volunteers is necessary for growth and this can be seen explicitly in my work with Jennifer Blount, the education volunteer in Naviso, and my work with Nancy on the HIV/AIDS workshop. These things could not have been possible without PEPFAR and NAC Funds and the backing of Peace Corps Vanuatu staff. The next collaborative workshop will take place on September 18th in Baitora, South Maewo. With the cooperation of so many volunteers these workshops can only improve and with them, the collective understanding of Ni-Vanuatu regarding all aspects of Sexual Reproductive Health, STIs, and HIV/AIDS.          
          

Friday, August 5, 2011

A Series of Thoughts: American Local Language

Talk in that Language

Before I begin, I must state that Naviso is Anglo-phone, meaning the schools teach in English – though Anglo-phone kind of implies they speak English, which isn’t the case. Anyway, one night I was in the Nakamal rather late after drinking kava, The kava was finished and I was hanging around with the late night crowd (the guys who never go home at night and just eat dinner at the Nakamal – usually the younger guys – similar to the bar patrons who are there until past closing every night) and in comes a visitor, from West Maewo, who starts spouting about going to University in California – in not broken, but definitely not fluent English. At this point, my small brother looks at me and says talk to him, I don’t quite get his meaning, so I ask again and he says, with a big smile on his face: Talk to him in the language you talk in America! Oh! English!

I want to party all night long

When a person dies in Naviso, a hundred day celebration follows – a Bongi. Every 5 days until the 20th day they make a lot of food and drink a lot of kava. After the 20th day, they do the same every ten days. On the 15th and 100th day (and some other days if they decide to) they hold an all-night custom dance which involves stomping of feet, clapping, and singing – for the men – and, basically, running in place and pounding your feet for the women. I have to say, the women’s part is much more physically exhausting and demanding, but after about 4 – 5 hours, I regretted dancing for so long and decided my time was better spent sleeping on a mat in one of my Bubu Women’s open air kitchen.

Is that safe to drink? – Peace Corps is bad for your health

When you really think of the demands of the Peace Corps you come to the realization that Peace Corps is bad for your health.  Besides the obvious stress factor, the moving from home to the middle of nowhere really beats at your emotional, mental, and physical health. Country-specific, my liver probably looks like Swiss cheese thanks to the incredibly culturally-appropriate kava. Of course, what I’ve heard is that the effects of kava, on the liver, disappear after a small amount of time where you have not drank kava – at least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Fortunately, I have absolutely no regrets in joining the Peace Corps and actually encourage everyone else to consider service, but I am a little off my rocker.

The irony of the question ‘wota ia i sef blong dring?’ (is that water safe to drink?) is that, by our standards in America, it probably never will be safe. Our question also hinges on local knowledge about, to put it crudely, what shit happens to be in the water. In America, all our water is treated, thus safe drinking water means treated drinking water (there are some possible exceptions of course in the bottled water sector – though I don’t believe anything those guys tell us anymore). While my water source is one of the cleanest in Vanuatu – a spring/cave source – it still isn’t treated. With rain catchment, I inherently don’t trust it and more people seem to get sick from these giant disease buckets than any other source. Really, water runs down a dirty gutter, is strained once, and then sits in this giant tank for who knows how long – a disease bucker wan taem. But, to get back to the point, how do the people know if the water is, in fact, safe? I believe the appropriate question should be: How sick will drinking this water possibly make me? 
      

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Series of Thoughts: Circumcisions and a Kava-Diet

Well, I’ve seen more expensive prices

Today, as I was walking purposefully down the “public road”, after finishing my run at the school, I saw that the Nurses had put a new notice on the Dispensary notice board. Previously, this board was used primarily for my public health posters, promoting the benefits of cutting your fingernails and using a toilet, but, more recently, the board has been adopted for its actual purpose of announcing Dispensary, work-related news (olsem the Nurse’s schedule and hours). Today I saw that they had put up a fee notice. The notice was basically a menu of different services offered and their respective prices: out-patient fee 150 VT, in-patient fee 300 VT, etc. – nothing special… right? Well, I thought so too until I got to the bottom and read: circumcisions 1000 VT or you can pay with two fowl or one piglet. Maybe the chickens, but I’m not giving up a pig to cut the top of my child’s penis off, no sir; I don’t care anything nothing about possible hygienic possibilities.     

I wouldn’t go to that extreme

The other day, Jennifer and I sat “storian-ing” with our neighbors in Tanbwalu, outside the nakamal. Jennifer had to go to the store and since I was at her house and the store is on the way back to my house we ended up passing the nakamal together. This led to us both sitting down for a toktok. After a barrage of comments about Jennifer’s recent trip to Pentecost – leading to the realization that as PCVs, we travel around Vanuatu a lot more than the locals – the Mamas we were talking with got into the usual groove of commenting on how ‘fatfat’ aelan laef has made Jennifer – ‘fatfat’ being a compliment here. Finally, Jennifer had to go and, with a final ‘fatfat’ comment thrown at Jennifer as she walked away, the comments were then directed at me: this is when and how the arguments developed. Two Mamas, Marian and Hanson, could not agree if Kava or running was preventing me from becoming ‘fatfat’ because, of course, trips to Port Vila make me ‘fatfat’, but I lose all my weight in Naviso and become ‘bunbun’ – I would say the difference overall is negligible, but maybe the mass Taro consumption is making an impact.

That would be cool… possibly…

Since Peace Corps has changed its focus to goal three: returned PCVs sharing the culture of their host country with fellow Americans, I’ve begun to think about the possibility of Peace Corps paying for one person in every volunteer’s site to return with the PCV to the US for a small trip, olsem wan wik. This payment would include round trip fare and medical expenses and would be up to the PCVs discretion (if they want to do it and who to choose). After these thoughts, I have continually thought about whom I would take back, presupposing this was possible. I’ve thought about my Host Papa or maybe a good friend. Lately, I have thought that I would ask my host papa samting olsem: What would you say if I told you I could pay your road to come stay with me in America for a week? After this question I would let him make the decision. He might go “Hell yes!!” or he might recommend one of my brothers – who would have a longer time to tell stories to the following generations (not to sound morbid regarding my Papa’s life expectancy). Then I came to the realization that this might be a scary possibility for any of the people I took, similar to my transition in Vanuatu. It’s hard to think of it that way because the US is home to me, but not to them. Granted they wouldn’t being staying for two year, leaving home and going so far can be a, simply, shocking experience. I think an older candidate or an adventurous youth would be best… if this was possible.

UPDATE: I have contemplated this more and for the next weeks that I am in Port Vila I will be exploring some grant opportunities to try and find money to pay for this. I believe the total cost would be somewhere around USD 6,000 for a round trip ticket, medical expenses, passport, and logistical costs – to get them to the US. I believe, in the interest of Peace Corps Goals 2 and 3 (Sharing between the cultures of the host country and the US), that this would be an amazing way to achieve cultural understanding. Additionally, if those of you following my blog have any grant application ideas, please share your thoughts. I honestly believe this would be an amazing cultural sharing experience and, of course, it would be ridiculously awesome.        

Monday, August 1, 2011

A Series of Thoughts

An Introduction of Sorts

Up to now, I’ve had a number of different blog “tactics”. First off, I attempted to recapture everything in one blog no matter the length of time. Secondly, I worked ahead of time, on Maewo, to prepare multiple blogs covering various stories and topics (none of these recaps being exceptionally short). Lastly, I tried to stick to topics, did not prepare ahead of time, and kept things short (more or less commentary on multiple events). In essence, this last one was the best version of a recap, but inevitably left out a lot of detail. I have learned that being in Port Vila discourages me from spending the time to blog. While being on Maewo, I have a near insatiable desire to write all about my various exploits (big to small). With this in mind, I have tried to prepare ahead of time, but keep things short and detailed—something of a true commentary. Each commentary will cover a short number of activities or musings, more often than not, of mine the past months. This might result in some expanded storytelling, but as of now they are simply a series of thoughts (or perhaps the ravings of a madman). 

Let me touch on these things first…

The Chairman comment from the previous blog comes from the PHAST workshop I held in the beginning of May. I realized many things in the speed blog entry at Lolowai Hospital were unexplained and I will now touch on those things now. During the PHAST workshop, the participants felt the need to give me a title—this is a trend in Naviso; I have spent a lot of time watching committees form and titles handed out (after which the committee does nothing, but we now have a Secretary of the Disaster Response Committee). So, in that same vein, I was given the title “Mr. Chairman” during the PHAST workshop. Every time some wanted to address me they would raise their hand and say “excuse me Mr. Chairman”.

Regarding Condom Man, he is a creation of a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer (whose identity must remain confidential for obvious Super Hero reasons) who distributes male and female condoms in the latest joint UN/Vanuatu Ministry of Health social marketing campaign to encourage condom use. He, of course, was introduced at the PEPFAR Village Health Worker HIV/AIDS training of trainers in Pango, Efate (outside Port Vila). Actually, calling him a he could be misleading; we should probably use a gender-neutral pronoun. It’s probably wrong to try applying a sex/gender to Condom Man (even though that name directly opposes this statement)—might send the wrong message about responsibility.

Adjusting to “Aelan Laef”

For those of you who have been following my Vanuatu exploits regularly, yu save finis se I’ve been living pretty flas in the backend of the middle of nowhere. What, with my fancy water-seal toilet and raised tap/showerhead and an indoor tap/sink. I’ve been living the High Life. Now, I must readjust. I officially moved in May 5th, 2011—approximately 6 months after arrival. I did not have much time to adjust before I left for Ambae and Vila at the end of May, so this has really been my readjustment period these past months. Now, I am surrounded by naked children who cry incessantly (all being around two years old) and desire to follow me around and sit in my house all the time. Additionally, I never really understood the “fishbowl” problem until now. While hanging around in my house, I am constantly made aware of a shadow in the doorway who happens to be a person, usually a child or yungfala. I usually ask “olsem wanem” (What’s up?) and quickly get a “No” (Nothing) more often than not. After this, they usually stand around for awhile staring at me. I have combated this these past months by being exceptionally boring most of the time; unfortunately, my inclination to play music on a speaker makes me far less boring and is now an invitation to come inside and sit. On top of all this, I have had adjust to swimming naked in the river (the swimming hole); the rough equivalent of swimming naked in a public place. There is a “private” place for the men to swim naked. It’s not really private—I constantly sit there in the river and watch people walk by in front of me. Luckily, years of training have made it so they don’t turn their heads 45 degrees and look right at me.

Workshops: Yes, I do work in Vanuatu! This is not just a Vacation!

Poetically, I like to consider myself a used car salesman. I mean why recreate the wheel when you can just take it, put some more flair on it, and call it a wonderfully new idea (I especially like adding pictures to everything). “Participatory Methods” also make everything easier as, inherently, the participants do the work and I just facilitate—no leading necessary and that means a lot less talking. Sounds like a scavenger, huh? Well my friends, there are truth to these words… I guess the difference is I understand the importance, the methodologies, and the purpose behind each different “wheel”. I also am almost finished with my MPH requirements, so the three letters to my name will add credence to my assessments… hopefully…  

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

REALLY Good Friends

Well, I have been neglecting my blog lately. I feel like I have been running around like a chicken with their head cut-off recently. Sometimes Port Vila can be less an escape and more of a prison. I think this stems from trying to get so much done in far too short a time. The most popular activity in Vila is running around and finding everyone that you need to talk to gone. This seems to be a theme in Vila. Just the past few days I have found myself bouncing around Vila Town looking for funds that were awarded to me, every time I went somewhere I found that the person with the key to the safe, where the money always happens to be, is out and decided to take the key with him. Actually, this seems to be a theme throughout Vanuatu; when I went to the other side of Maewo to check the post office last, I found that Paul Wren (postman-extraordinaire) had gone to Vila, locked up the mail in his house, and had stolen away to Vila with the key. As you can imagine, this can grow quite frustrating when you either walk three hours to the other side of the island or just simply jump from bus to bus in Vila to find that the person with the key is never there; this totally changes my perspective on “key” members of the community—ok that was cheesy, but I can’t resist sometimes. Anyway, now that I have a small time to wait and chill out at Lolowai Hospital, East Ambae, before I take the boat back to Maewo, I decided I would try to type out my life the past three months in a small blog entry.

Just call me Mister Chairman

At site I have been working to get the community to start taking action and adopt changes in regards to sanitation and hygiene behaviors. Through multiple workshops and  health seminars (or “toktoks”), the community has gained some momentum in the right direction. Recently, I delivered two letters for the Naviso Tarsur Village Development Council and Water/Sanitation Committee requesting funds/help in rebuilding the water supply and materials for building VIP toilets (pit toilets with pipes to trap and kill vectors for disease). The water supply letter was delivered to Rural Water Supply at the Department of Water (a part of the Vanuatu Government) and the request for funding for materials for VIP toilets was delivered to the Australian Direct Aid Programme at the Australian High Commission. I feel that the chances of acquiring funds for the VIP toilet materials is good, but first I must collect price quotes and letters of reference from area leaders and provincial planners. Regarding Rural Water Supply, I feel that the chances are better because of the location of Naviso (isolation combined with need), but I have also heard that many of Rural Water Supply’s construction equipment is currently located in Malampa Province which could greatly hinder Naviso’s chances of gaining help. As well, Rural Water Supply is completely donor-funded and can only construct/fix/assemble five water systems every fiscal year in Vanuatu (I am still not sure if this is five per province or nationally, but I am becoming more and more convinced that this is a national figure—not provincial). Fortunately, I have paid in advance new joints for the Gravity-Fed System (pipes feed water from a spring source within the rock that travels through the pipes at a very high pressure; this pressure often leads to broken pipes and problems in the water system) in Naviso. The pipes are available, but the joints were not. Theoretically, the Water/Sanitation Committee and the Naviso Tarsur Village Development Council will raise the funds and pay me for the joints at price (approximately 53,000 Vatu or 500 USD). With these joints, the community should be able to fix the current system, which would help greatly in keeping the water clean and providing a constant source. This does not mean that Naviso is not still in need of a new water system, the opposite is in fact true: there is a great need for an improved water supply. The joints provide a temporary fix that could last a fair amount of time, but it is more of a patch job opposed to providing a new working tap system that reaches the whole community (and is clean of course). As mentioned above, the high pressure often takes its toll on the old pipe system. I am hoping that with the presence of the pipes, within reach, and the possibility of receiving funding for VIP toilets that the Naviso Community and its leadership will take action and help to raise funds.

The effort to start transforming the sanitation, water, and hygiene situation in Naviso began with a workshop called PACA (Participatory Analysis for Community Action) which used community mapping, daily/seasonal schedule analysis, and a needs assessment to ignite action and ended with the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) workshop which used various activities to help the participants educate each other on the importance of sanitation and hygiene improvement in the community. In the end, the community decided to request aid from the Australian High Commission, specifically the Australian Direct Aid Programme, and try and build VIP toilets in Naviso. As of now, the community has done a census counting the households that did not have a toilet and making the need to dig your own toilet a compulsory activity (compulsory by withholding access to the health dispensary; I was not quite sure about this decision, but it was not my part to criticize). If every household has a toilet by the time I go back tomorrow then that in itself is a massive improvement; if we can get funding and build VIP toilets for every household that will be amazing. That was a quick breakdown of my efforts regarding hygiene and sanitation and I will be spending a lot of time the next months preparing the applications for funding for materials, but the reason I came into Vila was HIV/AIDS and that will also be a focus of mine the next few months as I have just received my 63,500 Vatu to hold my workshop in Naviso in July.

Condom Man to the Rescue

After I left Maewo on May 22nd for the Training of Trainers at St. Patrick’s College, Vureas, East Ambae, I stayed for half the workshop where we helped train young people from different Peace Corps Villages to run Camp GLOWs (Girls Leading our World) and BILDs (Boys in Leadership Development). These camps address leadership and empowerment of youth. Additionally, the camps touch on issues such as Adolescent Reproductive Health and STIs and HIV/AIDS. I left halfway through this to travel to Vila to help facilitate a PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) funded workshop. The PEPFAR Workshop—HIV/AIDS Aweanes: Blong Save Wanem Nao HIV mo AIDS—trained 19 Village Health Workers from Shefa, Penama, and Malampa Provinces to run the workshops, build awareness, and educate the people of their respective areas about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent transmission. The Village Health Workers can share the correct information about the sickness and promote methods for preventing transmission. Ideally, this will mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in the country. Vanuatu has only five confirmed cases (two of which are dead), but the testing system is underdeveloped and accessibility is limited. With a disease like HIV, the virus can spread like wildfire and the exact numbers of infected persons is hard to calculate. After the epidemic that hit Papaua New Guinea, it is incredibly important to raise awareness of the infection and promote preventative measures in Vanuatu.

Well, that is all for now. I have run out of time and must take the boat back to Maewo now. I will be back in internet connection in August and will hopefully have more blogs prepared. Ale!

NOTE: As of now my parents have decided to try and reach Naviso in October. My Mother, in a wonderful display of ingenuity, has decided that she might charter a helicopter to fly straight into Naviso to avoid the boat ride.       

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Bislama Bekegen! Ni-Van Phrases and Stories…

So, for the first month or two, I would always hear “fuck” when the locals would talk in local language. I would hear it quite often too. It sounded like a transitional word in the language, like Long or Blong in Bislama, meaning to, at, on, belonging, etc. So, for the longest tome I just assumed it was part of language and eventually I might derive the purpose of it. After a while though I became suspicious and decided to ask. At the nakamal one night I heard “fuck” (or in Bislama “fak”) and turned to one of my brothers (from my extended family), Dennis, and asked: What does “fak” mean? Dennis turned to me and said: Fak? It’s a swear. Oh! Well that makes sense. Good to know the Ni-Van culture has picked up swear words, even in the most remote parts of the country. I’m sure I will find some more language gems, but for now I can tell you some of my favorite Bislama phrases I have learned.
 
Folem rod ia i go
When you walk around in Vanuatu, or Maewo, a lot of times you don’t where you’re going. One time I was walking back from the garden with my two brothers (Siro and Pato) where we had grabbed a stump of kava and bamboo for my house and I reached a crossroads. Since I was leading, I had to decide on which way to go and since I didn’t know I turned to my brothers and Pato told me: folem rod ia i go. Well that’s great. Translated, folem rod ia i go means: follow that road—that’s about as specific as Bislama gets. So, now I’m stuck at a crossroads and I’ve got two choices and my brother tells me, without any hand gestures indicating which way, to follow that road. Lucky for me I guessed the right road, but this phrase pops up quite often when you need directions.

Antap and Daon
You probably already guessed what these words mean, but I will clarify anyways: On top and down. Simple enough, right? Well, these two are also important in telling directions. While I spent a few days “antap” in Ngota, the middle bush village, completing the survey, I got used to the function of these two words in Bislama. Ngota is basically laid out in a straight line, coming away from Naviso, with bunches of house on the left and right as you make your way through. Now, depending on where you are in the village people might tell you to go “daon” or “antap”. This means that sometimes I might be closer to Naviso and they would tell me I have to go “daon” (closer to central Ngota) or they might tell me to go “antap” in the same context. The more frustrating part about this is most of the time “antap” to me means going to middle bush and “daon” means leaving middle bush, but they get much more complicated. On West Maewo, if you’re in the North and are going South, you’re going “daon”, if you’re in the South and you’re going North, you’re going “antap”, but if you’re in Central Maewo and you’re going South, you are going “antap” and the same goes for heading “North”. Let’s not make life too complicated now.

Lo wei
This one is a real gem for directions. When you want to know the location of a person, place, or thing, many times the response is “lo wei”. This means, basically, over there. Well that doesn’t help much, but sometimes this is accompanied with a hand gesture giving a general direction. That helps a great deal, because without that you have to guess what general direction was indicated. I can’t really complain though, because I use “lo wei” quite frequently.

Saed i go / Saed i kam
These two mean: This direction and that direction, respectively. They are generally more specific than the other aforementioned phrases, but they are also completely dependent on context. This means you must always take into account where you are and hope that when they say “saed i go” (this direction) you understand the context and pick the right direction (unless of course hand gestures are used, then you’re usually in the clear).

Well that finishes up some of my favorite Ni-Van and Bislama phrases. Now I can share with you a story I was told at the nakamal, late one night, after many shells…   

Arthur @ Bon Marche
Arthur is apparently a bald white man that came to Vanuatu and became a male prostitute (or might have been before—they didn’t clarify) and charges according to time and movement (Ni-Van for sexual position). Additionally, everyone knows about him and is well aware of his true profession, but, apparently, he works at Au Bon Marche during the day and I can see him there. When I asked what Bon Marche (Central, Downtown, Nambatu) I was simply told: “Bon Marche”, with a nod of the head confirmation. Bon Marche. PERIOD.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The 12 Days of Christmas and the Wokbaot from West to East Maewo and Back

Other volunteers have visited Naviso. Before Jennifer and I came to Naviso, plenty of the old volunteers of Maewo had made the journey to the other side, but this past Christmas Group-23 made Naviso history again by bringing over 5 more volunteers, meaning that 7 white people were in Naviso at the same time! But just getting everyone there was an adventure by itself.

On the 23rd of December, Jennifer’s Papa-Luke, my Brother-Siro, and I went to the other side to bring the group back to Naviso on the 24th. After being repeatedly asked what road we should take I decided, while it would be the longest, walking to Berterrara and taking the truck road over would be the easiest way. This meant we would walk roughly 2-hours north and then begin the approximately 3-hour hike over to Naviso. We attempted to get a truck to take us up to Berterrara, but that fell through when Jill never showed up. After about 8-hours we finally arrived in Naviso. Yes, that does say 8-hours. I am not quite sure why the trip took so long, even today I don’t know, but once we got to Naviso we were able to relax for a few days before trekking back.

The next few days were filled with celebration, plenty of food, and, of course, kava. On Christmas Day, all the guys in Naviso stone ground kava for us and this resulted in a lot of kava drunk Peace Corps volunteers as the kava is quite strong in Naviso, but everyone made it out alive, so that’s a positive.

On the 26th we made the trek back to Telise. This time we took the road to Norovorovo and it once again took 8-hours to reach our destination and once again I have no inkling why it took so long. And on the 27th we took a boat north to go and see “Big Wota”.

Big Wota: Stop Punching Yourself

The Epic Wotafal of Not Maewo
“Big Wota” is a massive waterfall in North Maewo that you can walk to the top of, if you don’t mind walking up a rock face with rushing water. I minded, I minded a lot, I don’t like messing with forces of nature, especially raging water, but peer pressure of course gave way. In the end we reached the top and Nic Thiltges was able to get some epic photos with his waterproof camera. The trip also resulted in the epic cave crawl.

The Stalag-tite or mite (the one hanging from the ceiling) and the Amazing Punch to the Head
As we are about to leave “Big Wota”, Nic Thiltges finds a cave underneath one of the waterfalls and decides to climb in while inviting us to join him. As we reach the spot, I find him holding stalag-tites or mites and positioning his feet on the wall to climb sideways into the cave over a pool of water. I think twice and just about don’t make the attempt, but the other volunteer behind me, unwittingly, pressures me into making the climb. As I grab the first stalag-tite or mite and position my feet, the stone breaks, resulting in all the force I put into holding that stone coming at my head. I punch myself in the head with my fist still holding the stone in my hand and fall backwards into the pool of water. As you can imagine, it looked pretty epic and I did come out alive in the end, so it was a pretty good laugh. After staying one more night in Telise, our group headed over to Ambae to meet some more volunteers for New Years on East Ambae at St. Patrick’s College in Vureas.

The Mysterious Internet of Lolowai
Lolowai, the Provincial Health Center for Penama Province, the location of the Provincial Hospital, and home to wireless internet…  WHAT!? Sometime in the past, an Australian installed wireless at Lolowai Hospital, but nobody knows where it comes from or where or why it was installed. This is one of the mysteries of Vanuatu and most likely will not be solved anytime soon. More or less one of those mysteries that people are fine to: leko i stap (live and let be).
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The Journey of the Chinese Handbags
Way back in November, Jennifer and I sent 5 total Chinese Handbags to Maewo via the Makila, the one cargo vessel that travels to West Maewo. A Chinese Handbag is a large bag with two handles and a zipper on top. The bag costs 300 – 600 Vatu based on size and they usually break very easily. PCVs use these bags to transport mass amounts of Vila purchases to the outer islands on cargo vessels. Ahead of time, Jennifer and I knew that the Makila very rarely came to Maewo. I know, accurately, now that the Makila tries to come to Maewo once every two weeks (depending on weather). Safe to say, considering the trip you must take to get to Naviso, we were not expecting to see our bags for a long time: while I got one bag earlier, we did not get the other 4 bags to Naviso until somewhere around January 15th, right before Jennifer had to go back to Vila for her Phase II Training.

When I heard the Makila was coming to Maewo, after I we had arrived, I assumed that meant our bags had come. After making the walk to Telise, I learned that the Makila dropped off one of my bags and no others. Fortunate for me, but confusing too: where are the other bags? First we are told that the Makila was full and couldn’t carry the bags, so they had been left in Vila until the Makila came back. After a couple more weeks, I walked on top of the mountain to call Nic Thiltges and ask if the bags came. The answer: a clear and resounding no. FROM WANEM!! Soon after, a villager, Hamlinson, comes back from the other side with a note from Boe Malo (that’s Nic Thiltges’ Kastom name at site). The note told me the bags had come the first time, but someone had written Berterrara on all of the addresses, so they were dropped off in Berterrara, North Maewo. Since the last PCVs had just left Gambule Secondary School in November, the people of Gambule decided to just abandon the bags in Justin and Sheridan’s (the past PCVs) old house—and not tell anyone. Luckily, Boe Malo had found them when he walked north one day for a small trip. Unfortunately, the Headmistress had the key; the Headmistress who was currently on East Ambae. Moreover, when my Host Papa and I walked over to the other side and showed up in Berterrara to get these bags, we were unaware that the Headmistress had taken the key with her to Ambae. This led to us walking another 1 ½ hours – 2 hours south to Telise to get the one bag that made it to Boe Malo (where they were supposed to go). After we got to Telise and spent the night, we made the unfortunate journey, following the creek, through the bush back to Naviso (when I had some of my biggest “road falls” to date). After this we didn’t think about the bags until after New Years; I had requested Paul Wren to move the bags to his house as soon as the Headmistress came back.

Once back from Ambae, after New Year, with additional baggage, due to Christmas packages picked up at Lolowai Post Office, we decided that we would grab a truck and get everything up to Quatevol, a little bit closer to Naviso. After that, we have a much better chance of getting the contents brought piecemeal to Naviso. So, the day after we got back I tried calling every truck driver who might go on top: nobody answered. This led Boe Malo and I to walking north to ask truck drivers in person. What we discovered is that the rains destroyed the road and the only driver willing to risk the trip, Jill, is currently fixing his truck. Well, that’s just dandy! In the end, Boe Malo and I walked back to Telise empty-handed.

After this string of failures, I was still committed to getting the bags on top and to Naviso before Jennifer left for Vila in two weeks, so the next day we planned to get the new baggage (Christmas gifts, etc.) to Berterrara and try to find some yungfala to help us carry them on top. The next morning I called Walter, a truck driver in Norovorovo, to pick us up and take us and our baggage north to Berterrara, so Walter came and picked us up that morning and we started the drive north. Unfortunately for us, after about 10 minutes of driving we hit one of the river crossings and the rain had destroyed the road. Clarification: the road is impassable. Well, shucks! After this we turned around and headed back for Norovorovo where we got a boat to take us and our things north. Finally, an hour later, we reached the north with all our things to learn that all the yungfala couldn’t help us because there was a funeral… In the end, all my efforts this time ended in ultimate failure. I did manage to carry my bag of Christmas gifts up to Quatevol, but it practically killed me and made the rest of the walk very tiring. Luckily, that was later carried the rest of the way for me and made it after 3 or 4 days. I had not given up on my commitment to get the bags to Naviso before Jennifer left though.

The Sunday after we got back, we announced to the community, at the community meeting after Church, that we needed those bags to get there before Jennifer left. I read off names of yungfala, that Jennifer’s Host Papa—Luke—had provided. The following Tuesday, the group of 12 Man Naviso, my Host Papa, and I headed to the other side to get the bags. After a full day of walking,  3 hours there and 3 hours back, we successfully got all the bags to Naviso: a mere 2 months after we put them on the Makila for delivery to Maewo—All I do is win.

The Doti Waetman of the Not
A Doti Waetman (in English, though it’s already pretty close, Dirty Whiteman) is a North Maewo Ni-Vanuatu, so named by Boe Malo’s Host Papa. This story fits into the middle of the “Journey of the Chinese Bags”, the time when Boe Malo and I traveled to the north looking for a truck. Our final destination was the house of Master Ron (in Bislama, Master is equivalent to Mister, I know, it’s just as racist as dirty white man-once you learn what it means). At Ron’s house we were fed ridiculous amounts of food and introduced to the westernized part of Maewo. Ron owns trucks, boats, and has a white man house with a manicured lawn and pool. This place is ridiculous and the income/wealth disparity between him, alone, and the rest of the island is amazing. He is called a dirty white man because he is half-white, half-black: WAM BAM! TOTALLY POLITICALLY INCORRECT!

Back during World War II, when America stationed their military in Vanuatu to watch the Japanese, many soldiers were stationed throughout Maewo. One German-American soldier decided to “localize” and ended up with kids. After he left, back to the states, he left his Ni-Vanuatu family with enough money to outshine every other Man Vanuatu. Now, his descendants have a large business in copra, transportation, and sales in Maewo. This makes them very wealthy, especially by Ni-Vanuatu’s standards. Unfortunately, as helpful and kind as they were to Boe Malo and me, they could not provide us with a truck on top (as you learned above). I guess Doti Waetman cannot solve every problem.