A Chiefly Thing to Do
28 August 2014 | 19 08.97'S:178 34.01'W, Vulaga or Fulaga
John

A Chiefly Thing To Do
In the picture from left to right is Tau, the chief's assistant, the chief, Lisa, Me and Joe.
The sevusevu is going to be a lengthy one to be concluded with all partaking in Kava. Joe is formally presenting the gifts to the chief in Fijian while Tau is translating what he is saying to us. Once the gifts are presented, the chiefÂ's assistant then thanks us and says a short blessing prayer. Once this is all complete, there are several rounds of pictures and handshakes and more thank yous from the chief.
The gifts we present to the Chief for the villages are then catalogued by Tau on the ChiefÂ's direction. The village has started to keep a formal diary of all the yachties and their substantial gifts. So at one end of the diary book are pages of the yachts and their crew signed in and at the other end is a list of gifts and a comment from the Yacht crew.
As I said there were many elders and the ladies group at the sevusevu. The newest members of the village were also there, our friends Bob and Ann from Charisma. Bob and Ann are now considered Fulaga Palangi Fijians. At the end we sat around while Simoni mixed up the kava. It was my opportunity to express to the chief and all the people in attendance what our intentions were for the gifts. I was to understand that all three villages generally share in most everything unless something was specifically given to a family.
My recommendations (and that is all they are because they will do with this stuff as they wish once we leave), the oven should be given to the ladies club and placed in a building with access for all. In order for them to pay for the propane, they should start by charging 50 cents Fijian for each hour of use. Any excess money should be used for the childrenÂ's sport uniforms. The meters and meters of material should be divided up as equally as possible for dresses and clothes for the women and children. The sewing machine was also to go to the ladies club along with four solar charged lanterns so if they need to bake at night they have the means to do so. The computers and equipment were to be divided up as follows: two laptops, Wi-Fi router, and projector to the school while the third computer and the printer should go to the nurseÂ's clinic. None of this stuff other than the material was to go to any one individual or leave the island. My recommendations were well rece ived and understood. It was all translated for the chief and his assistant so there was no confusion. We received a lot of Venakas.
Of course we went to church on Sunday, it is Methodist but we go more for the singing because other than a few English comments of thanks to yachties it is all in Fijian and totally unintelligible to us. After church we and Charisma had lunch with Tau and Joe. I had made up four six inch quiches and Charisma brought a coleslaw salad. We try to bring stuff in that can be eaten with fingers. They have no service silverware, just a couple serving spoons and some sharp knives. So everywhere you go you get served by spoon on a plate and then you eat with your hands. The quiches are solid enough but the slaw is quite loose. Joe had slaughtered a small pig on Saturday and the pig, some fish, cassava and yams were cooked in the lovo oven over night and that is what we had for lunch. After returning to the boat around 1400 we kicked back and relaxed.
Monday and Tuesday brought some sewing machines to me to repair while Lisa and Ann helped the ladies upsize a couple dress patterns and then cut one out that Tau took the rest of the day sewing in front of everyone else. And on Tuesday the ladies had a jewelry making session with another yachtie which Lisa and Ann shared in. On that day I did most of the repair on an old treadle sewing machine. Just need to make a belt for the drive.
On Wednesday we had Joe, Tau, Eliza, Samu and Jasmine out to the boat for dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs was served as the main course with some pita bread and my yogurt cheese spreads for the appetizer. I had spent most of the morning baking bread and pitas along with mixing up some fresh cheese. It was a lovely evening. Lisa had backed a red velvet and chocolate cake and at the end we celebrated everyoneÂ's birthday by singing happy birthday to US. We needed to reason to give the personal gifts, so birthday presents were apropos. Samu got a soft soccer ball, Eliza a mask and snorkel, Jasmine a backpack with Orcinius on it, Joe a small ukulele and Tau a guitar. Tau said that everything was absolutely perfect and how did we know the gifts would be so appropriate. Then Joe had some words to say to us while Tau translated and it all ended with a small prayer of thanks.
It was an absolutely delightful evening.
Last night we invited Batai, the local nurse and Bob and Ann aboard for Taco night. Batai is a Fijian that grew up in Suva and so is not from this Island and he can be impartial. We get a lot of insight from Batai how the politics and other issues get answered or resolved so it is always enlightening to have a conversation with him. The tacos were a big hit and about 9pm Bob and Ann returned Batai to the shore for his trek back to his home. We had also brought several bags of clothes for him to distribute as he saw fit in terms of need. We also gave him some powdered milk and whole meal flour which he will give to the needy ones. Batai also has an extra propane tank that I convinced him to donate to the ladies club for the oven so I can get it up and working today.
So now you are all up to date.