Vincent and Chief Kaisa sailed to Port Vila with us. It was an interesting week getting to know these two men. |
The cost of shipping a single item such as a bag of rice or flour or a box of whatever is generally 500 Vatu (VT) or about $5.00 USD. To you and me, it is well worth the price to get goods sent somewhere.
To the out-island villagers, the price is astronomical since
they have little cash and few ways to earn some. Therefore, they go without
until they have someone heading to the “big city” of Port Vila or Luganville to
buy things. Then that person returns bearing the burden of carrying all of the
purchases.
Since our plan was to go to Avokh Island and scope out the situation and then return to Port Vila for the goods needed, we became the ferry for Chief Kaisa and Vincent. These are the two men with whom we connected in 2014 and the reason we decided to assist Avokh.
The whole family came to see the boat. |
Since our plan was to go to Avokh Island and scope out the situation and then return to Port Vila for the goods needed, we became the ferry for Chief Kaisa and Vincent. These are the two men with whom we connected in 2014 and the reason we decided to assist Avokh.
It was an interesting experience sharing the boat with them for six nights and the passages down and back. It was also intriguing to watch them navigate their way around Port Vila once we got there!
Then it was time for them to leave so we could weigh anchor. |
Some missions were more successful than others: Chief Kaisa
met with their Member of Parliament (MP) and was able to secure 40 sheets of
metal roofing for the village community building, which had been blown
completely off during Cyclone Pam. The problem now was how to get it to Avokh.
Big Sista charged $7 per sheet to transport it. That was the final price after
they had been told both $2 and $3 a sheet originally. (But that is the way it
goes in the islands!)
They did not have money for shipping or the lumber, screws, nails, etc. to put the roof on once the sheet metal made it to the island. Besides, Big Sista doesn’t stop at their little island, which is surrounded by major reefs, so they have to pay to have it transported from the loading dock on another island. The sheets of metal are too large to be paddled on a canoe for many miles so transportation needed to be worked out.
They did not have money for shipping or the lumber, screws, nails, etc. to put the roof on once the sheet metal made it to the island. Besides, Big Sista doesn’t stop at their little island, which is surrounded by major reefs, so they have to pay to have it transported from the loading dock on another island. The sheets of metal are too large to be paddled on a canoe for many miles so transportation needed to be worked out.
After shopping for guttering, computer and printer, roofing materials and supplies and much more, we looked like this! |
Eventually we did manage to get the list of needs from them. Since 500 VT for shipping a box on Big Sista seems like an unreachable thing, I think they were overwhelmed with what 100,000 VT was – and why we were offering it!
Chief Kaisa and Dennis met with Dave of the Butterfly Trust. |
No place to walk or stand. Even the galley floor was filled so I did little cooking! |
Once the guttering system was sorted out and priced, the
next priority was installing the roof on the community building. Being
concerned about how much things were costing and how quickly the gifted monies
were being used up, Chief Kaisa thought it best to use nails on the roof rather
than the very expensive screws made for the job. Dennis convinced him to
“invest in the future” by saying “nails vs. screws – roof blow off or roof stay
on!” In the end, the roof should stay on with the roofing screws! Vincent's sister had a "few small" boxes for us to pick up! |
Both Trillium and Starblazer had each donated a 20 liter petrol can filled with benzene so the island now has a way to have 40 liters at a time for the generators and chainsaw. We then learned that the community had used 6 liters to run the generator for the Independence Day celebration! Since no one pays for anything and it seems to be free, they just use it! Well, there will be a new approach now after we have had some time with Chief Kaisa and Vincent to talk sustainability and economics! (Later, Chez Nous gave us two more benzene containers so now Chief Kaisa can run his own petrol station!)
And a few more on another canoe! |
Two happy islanders. One stuffed Hallberg-Rassy 46! |
Limona brought us a lunch of laplap. |
Since it was a nice anchorage, we decided to stay there for
the night. Vincent and Chief Kaisa went ashore and spent the night with family.
Vincent and his sister seem very close as they are also close in age. And you
could tell they were siblings by their smile, eyes and many mannerisms. It was
fun to see how excited he was to get to visit her. We enjoyed giving them the
opportunity to see family and friends in Efate.
Interesting to see them learn western business practices. Should protect them in future dealings w the "outside" world. If they have to lose that child like innocence (and of course they do) it's great if it can be replaced w sensible, fair practices. Thanks for taking the time to write your blog!
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