June 11, 2009

Tassarikki Village
I believe we have found “our” village in Vanuatu. We have spent a couple of days in the village now and we also see the locals every day when they pass by Sequester to go to their garden plots on the main island. We are anchored in Havannah harbor, in between the main island of Efate and their island of Moso. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to dinghy across the protected water from one to the other. The farmers come across in the morning and spend the day in their gardens; or else they take the transport into Pt Vila to sell the produce at the local market. Every evening the outrigger canoes or power boats take the people back to the village and we sit out on deck and wave goodnight to them. Everyone is very friendly and we were invited to visit the village and attend church with them. So we went on Sunday.
The service was a special one for Proclamation Day and all the surrounding villages gathered in Tassarikki. There were even a number of people who came from Pt Vila. Of course, they all had to be transported to the village by boat, so the service was late starting. We had brought our computer with pictures of the Marshall Islands, so entertained them before the service. Everyone was very interested in seeing how other islanders live, and they realized that their lives were very similar.
The church service was different than any we have attended in the Pacific. It was very interactive, with lots of singing, praising and rejoicing. Every sentence was punctuated with “Halleluiah”, and we must have heard that about a thousand times during the 4 hour service!! There were 5 churches represented, so they all had to do their bit. The young people put on skits with singing and dancing. The preacher was very lively and the boisterous crowd ate it up. It was all in English, so we understood everything. Our experience with church in the Marshalls was that the congregation seemed to be asleep and no one even looked at the pastor. This was the total opposite, and even though it was VERY long, it wasn’t boring.
The next day we sailed back to Pt Vila to stock up on food. The trip takes about 5-6 hours. We only spent 2 nights in town and sailed back out here yesterday. We should have enough provisions to stay out here for a few weeks.
Ted had promised to look at some generators and solar systems, so today he packed up his tools and took them in. He drew quite a crowd around him as he was fixing a generator.
I took the opportunity to walk to the school for a visit. It was a half-hour walk through the woods by the lagoon, quite pleasant, and I caught the kids at recess. The 4 teachers made we welcome, showed me around the school, and we talked about where we have visited and what they are teaching. I was invited to come back, so will probably do that. The preschool wasn’t in session, as the teacher was sick, so would like to visit that class.
The whole village was in a “meeting” when we first arrived, and we found out later that a visiting nurse was talking to them about reproductive health. Maybe next visit I’ll get to see the health clinic and talk to the nurse a little bit. Most people speak very good English, so it is nice to carry on conversations. So far we are the only yacht out here, but we understand that in “season”, which is from July to October, there can be many yachts here. There were lots of yachts in Vila, with many more arriving each day. We probably won’t be alone here much longer. But there is plenty of room and good protection with good holding in sand. I rowed around a little bit this morning and found a lovely area of coral that should be great to snorkel. That will be for tomorrow. Karen