(Pig roasting for my las kakae ceremony)
(Me and Alec with small Noel and Johnny during my las kakae ceremony)
Ok, so I realize it’s been a while since the last time I wrote a blog. I apologize for that, but I have been pretty busy of late with all the ending of service stuff here, and during my free time on the island I was unable to type. My computer’s keyboard bit the dust a couple months ago, a really common ailment in Vanuatu. But, anyway, here I am writing what may be my last blog entry in Vanuatu. As of yesterday, I am officially not a Peace Corps Volunteer anymore. Kinda crazy. I had a good exit interview with our country director and that was it, finis nao (done).
But, to rewind a bit it’s been a great last couple of months for me out here. Time flew by as I slowly wound down my service. In late May, Hannah, my older sister came out to visit, my first and only visitor from the US. She more than made up for the rest of you slouches that didn’t make it. We had a great time just catching up and I was very excited to show her what my life is like out here. I try to do my best to give you guys a window into what life is like here, but you never can really know until you see it. Especially, in a place like Vanuatu where, even after living here for over two years, some things still seem to weird or crazy to be true. Example you ask? Sure, about a week ago a guy in the city of Luganville (Santo Island) was killed by another guy who is a native of Paama Island, but his large extended family (over 60 families) has resided in Luganville for some time. Well, this guy that got killed was axed in the back of the head over some dispute, and his brain popped out the backside. Gruesome, yes, and not the normal way people kill one another. But the strange part of the story is what followed. During the week following the event all of the man-Paama extended family got together in near-riot form and demanded that the three men involved in the homicide be released from the jail.
OK, so this is “only in Vanuatu” part: A few houses were burned down in further events that spurred the intervention of the local Santo chiefs and these chiefs ultimately decided that all of this Paama extended family (all 60 or so of them) have been causing too much trouble in Luganville over the years, and now they need to leave and go back to Paama. They revised the decision to say that only the unemployed members of this family had to now leave. No court decision, just, “You guys are out now.” So maybe this hasn’t set in for you as the reader yet so I’ll try to make an analogy.
So, a large extended family from say rural Kansas moves to Chicago staring in 1990. They set up their roots, babies are born there, and these babies become young men and women that only know the city life. You get the picture. Then, one day a member of this Kansas family kills a man from Chicago as part of a larger tense issue where native Chicagoans and these Kansans have been having some clashes. The mayor of Chicago and the Chicago aldermen (district leaders) then come together and kick out all the Kansans than are currently unemployed. No due process of law. You out!
Well, you may read this and think No fair!, but that is how things work here, and the truth is that the analogy I gave only gets you so far because things are just so different in Vanuatu. Land tenure in Vanuatu is mostly held by the local chiefs of the area in question, and in this case, even though Luganville is a municipality, it is still housed on ground leased from indigenous people from Santo. As such, these chiefs from Santo have the right and the support of the national government to remove these people that they deem to be troublemakers. And, furthermore this decision seems to be almost unanimously agreed upon (based on all the ni-Vanuatu I’ve talked to about this issue, including a guy from Paama). So there you have it, even though I’ve been here for a couple years and learned a lot about Vanuatu culture, I can still be very shocked by events like this. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen in the US or in other words just aren’t part of my culture. I still remember a short talk our former country director told us one time where he more or less outlined the way you view your knowledge of a foreign culture throughout the time you are living in that foreign culture. Basically it’s this: After about a year or so you think you know everything about these people that you have been living with. You know their language, you know how to get around, get things done, etc. Then, somewhere down the road someone from this foreign culture does something that you cannot explain; you have NO idea the basis for their actions. It hits you! You may have learned a lot about this foreign culture that you have been integrating into, but there is SO much you do not know and will never know. Because, quite simply, it’s not your culture. In essence, the longer you stay in a place with a culture foreign to your own, the more you realize how little there is you actually do know.
Now, you may be thinking, Seth, you sound pretty jaded and defeated there. It may seem that way, but I’m feeling pretty good about my last two years of service. Yes, there’s much I do not know about Vanuatu, but I’m fine with that, and I actually enjoy that. You guys probably wouldn’t want to read my blog if I was just going through my life events in the US. I don’t consider myself a boring person, but let’s face it; you guys know American culture. Reading about events happening in the US would be, well it would be… The News, and there are much better and qualified people to distribute that information to you.
I really enjoyed taking pieces of my last two years of life and throwing it out there with things like “A rat ate my brother’s shorts while he was wearing them. Bam! whaddya think of that one?” It’s pretty cool, and I will really miss this place and all the cool stories that surround it.
As you can imagine the last few months have been a pretty reflective time for me. You start to ask yourself: what did I accomplish? What has been great? What has been really bad? Am I glad I did this thing? And, I have to say there have definitely been some rough patches or hard times in my service. Work stuff: meetings and workshops got cancelled all over the place, feelings that the project may be doomed no matter how much effort you put into it, failed projects, impossible to work with colleagues, and so on. Then there is the personal challenges that can drive you almost nuts: loneliness, homesickness, gut parasites, oppressive weather, boredom, etc.
But, all that being said on the negative end, there have been so many great things here. I can very definitely say going into the Peace Corps was worth it and I’m so glad I did it. I was taken in by a family and a village, I learned so much about life in a developing country and I also learned a lot about what it is really important in life. During all of this I got some great experience working in international development and conservation. And, the best part is that I had a good deal of fun in the process.
Speaking of fun I guess I should go back a step and give a quick wrap a good last month or so out at sight seeing as I haven’t done so yet. During June and early July I was able to wrap up my projects pretty well. Regarding the MPA project, I have been slowly handing over things to the MPA staff and committee over my last two years. They are going to have a little rough road ahead without a volunteer, but I sincerely think they know what they need to do and will be able to persevere. I had a really good last meeting and closing ceremony with the MPA committee where I gave a speech about how there now lay a rough road ahead for them, but that I believe they have the skills to get it done. They, the MPA, may still try to get a business volunteer out there in Nguna or Pele to work with local business owners and local tour operators. But, the MPA realizes that such a volunteer would only work with them in small amounts, kind of an as-needed basis. I like the idea as I feel a little support here and there won’t compromise the organization’s road to self-ownership of the project.
Well anyway, I had some really good talks with some of the main guys I worked with over the last two years, including Kalpat, the manager the project. On one of my last days working with the MPA I handed over to Kalpat all the files and materials we had worked on. This moment was the actual “I’m done” time for me as I felt like, “Ok, here’s everything we worked on. The project’s entirely in your guys’ hands now.” It went very smoothly. I feel pretty fortunate to have had that closure on the project as a good amount of volunteers do not get to experience that. Sometimes a lot of things are left hanging due to circumstances outside your control.
The sports project has also been closing up well. There is a lot to be done yet and a good deal that the teachers running the project have to work on, but they’re doing it. Javi and I would like to have a volunteer working with the sports project, but it doesn’t really seem that will happen any time soon. Peace Corps, unfortunately, does not have sports development as one of its bigger objectives at present, and as such won’t place a volunteer solely for that purpose. Though, Jeremiah will still be trying to recruit volunteers to take the project on as a secondary project.
In any case, six youth teams are playing good baseball with kids pitching, batting, and fielding exceptionally. We just had our first baseball playoff that involved six teams, and there is a good deal of interest for the sport coming from both kids playing and adults supporting the game. The kids who are too young to play are itching to start, and now have the advantage of watching their older brothers and sisters play a game that was totally foreign to Vanuatu about two years ago.
Girls are playing along side boys in the first co-ed youth sport in Vanuatu, and these boys are realizing just how good these girls are. In the last tournament one girl from the newly-formed Manua team took the mound and was fooling some members of the 2 year-old Ekipe team with change-ups when she had never been coached on using such a technique. Bottom line: these kids are good and we may see a strong Vanuatu Little League team in the coming decade.
But, even more important than the baseball stuff has been just working with the North Efate teachers on sports development and the organization of sports events. These teachers have come along way and their support both among fellow teachers and parents in the community is growing. There’s still a good deal of kinks in the system, but they are slowly working them out.
So the transition from doing my thing to finishing my service with the MPA and sports project went well. During June and July and while things were coming to a close I also set aside a good deal of time too to just storion and spend some quality time with my village and host family. I ate with a lot of different families in the village, played with the kids, drank kava with the guys, laughed with the mamas, and just tried to take it all in. There were times when it was sad and times when I would just look these people and know that I love them and they really love me.
The last day before I left the village I had my last kakae or leaving ceremony with my village. Before it started I was once again treated to a beautiful South Pacific sunset at the end of a perfect day. The village decorated their meeting hall and roasted a pig for the occasion.
(Me with the chairman of the village, Edward)
(my papa giving me a war spear, oh, and I'm not graying, they hit you with baby powder during any ceremony)
Great farewell speeches were given from people in tears, and I too was pretty choked up and in tears when I gave my address to the village thanking them for the kindness and love they’ve shown me and letting them know how much I love them. It was very sad but such a special time to be with my village before I was out. The ceremony closed and then the fun began. We all, men, women, and children, danced and partied until 2am in one great last hurrah with Piliura village.
(My village dancing at the party)
The greatest part: there were no injuries and no damaged property, both common in ni-Vanuatu parties where alcohol is involved. Good times had by all.
The next morning they saw me off on the boat, and I waived farewell to the best village ever. I looked out through teary eyes at the sandy shore I just left behind and realized this was the end of one of the most exciting times of my life. Many good things lay ahead, but I will never forget my amazing adventure in Vanuatu.
So here I am, one of my last days in Vila, about to venture to the North of Vanuatu for three weeks on a trip that will take me to Ambae, Santo (things have calmed down there), and Maewo. I am no longer a volunteer, just man-America now. No work to think about, just going to see the woman I love and walk around the islands for a bit before I head back home. I’ll see you guys soon…
