What Can You Do In 10 Days?

            “Things will come together Tim. Just trust us when we say it will happen.” were the words told to me several times by the Kioa Island Council and the head workman. Being the type A American that I am, I couldn’t believe these words until I actually saw physical evidence. The people of Kioa Island, my home here in Fiji have proven what the word “community” truly encompasses. Let me give you a little background as to how the SPA Kioa Island Sea Wall Project came about. 

As Peace Corps Volunteers, we are eligible to apply for grants through the United States Government. Here in Fiji, we have two options: 1. Small Project Assistance Program (SPA) and Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP). The Kioa Island Sea Wall Project was through the SPA grant, which is funded from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This type of grant is only given to certain PC posts, and all projects must fit within certain program areas that are defined by USAID and it must support the Peace Corps approach to development and pertain to the work that we PCVs are doing our country. In Fiji’s case, that means it has to do with Global Warming and Health.  

Before the sea wall

             Now these grants are not easy and there is a lot of work that goes into them! As a volunteer, I was responsible for; collaborating with my counterpart (Kioa Island Council) in identifying and making a plan for a project that meets the needs of our village, assisting with the small grant application, handling all financial records and receipts, giving regular reports to PC Fiji, and submitting the final reports. I had a wonderful set of counterparts that truly made my work a lot easier because they took ownership of the project, which was the ultimate goal. I wanted the VILLAGE to be proud of their seawall. Each of these grants is also a lot of hard work for the PC Fiji staff in our office. Everyone from the Country Director all the way down to the Cleaning Lady had a role and responsibility to help make the project a success. The majority of the financial administration, signing off on documents, supporting the volunteer, and submitting the application to PC Head Quarters is all done by the PC Fiji office. I could not have done anything without the help and support of the PC Fiji staff!!! They are truly an amazing group of people to work with and work for.

Collecting rocks from around the island

          






When we identified what the need of the village was, I had to start thinking of a way to make sure that the project met the Peace Corps approach to development. Did the project provide capacity building in the sense of “helping people develop the capacity to improve their own lives” and is the “focus of the work on development of capacity of the people, not things”? Did the project provide sustainability in the sense of “continuing to meet the needs of the community once the initial grant or external source of funding as ended”? All these questions I had to ask myself, and also my counterpart because if we couldn’t meet even one of these, then I was not doing my job as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

After we dug the trench and cleared the rocks

Assembling the Gabion Baskets

             The Kioa Island Council (counterparts) work very closely with the Fiji Government, and they write a lot of letters and applications for funding. I decided to take this SPA grant and turn it into a grant lesson writing opportunity for all the staff of the council. I held a one-day training on what the application would look like and how we could make our application stand out from the rest. To this day, they no longer have me writing their business letters and applications. They all now feel comfortable enough to write them on their own, and have me look them over. One of the requirements for the SPA grant application is that it needs to have goals, objectives, timeline, and a description of the community involvement. The council and I sat down and came up with 2 Goals; 1. The field of Salia (our village) will have a reduction of seawater. As a result, within one month the community will build a 55-meter sea wall, 2. To increase technical knowledge of safe construction practices.  Goal 1 had 1 objective; There will be a 75% reduction in infections that are due to wetlands within one year. Goal 2 also had 1 objective; There will be at least 10 persons who have increased knowledge on the technical skills of building a sea wall and safe construction practices. Goal 1 was created due to our main playing field, directly in the center of the village, floods with seawater during the super high tides. Almost every person walks through this field daily and or plays in it daily. Here in Fiji, people do not wear shoes - I don’t! The bottoms of their feet are completely callused, which makes it hard to determine if they have a cut. In the nursing station, we saw a lot of infected cuts on the bottom of people’s feet that we believe were due to the wetlands of the playing field.  Goal 2 was created due to building a sea wall created some new technical knowledge and skills, which many of the village labor workers did not have. We had a few carpenters around the island, and one structural engineer give a workshop on safe construction practices and how a sea wall could be built. Both goals and objectives were far surpassed by the end of the project.

Women presenting food for the workers

Step 1 - construct baskets 

Step 2 - place large rocks in front of baskets

              Now I’m sure you are all wondering just how much does a 55-meter sea wall cost? SPA grants cannot exceed $10,000 USD and the total that the project cost us was $8,193.50FJD or $4,428.25USD. This covered the gabion baskets, the fuel for transportation of rocks, the lacing wire, the cutting pliers, the cement, and transportation for picking up the materials. Labor did not cost a single penny, because part of the SPA application is that the village must have a community contribution of at least 25% of the total cost. This is all in-kind and can be in the form of labor, food, materials, supplies, etc. My village in labor alone had a community contribution of $10,560FJD or $5,708.11USD. We had over 40 men working from dawn (sometimes earlier) to dusk!

               As PCVs we attend a lot of trainings and workshops that are either hosted by the PC or from our host country. One of the many trainings we had through the PC is called Project Design and Management (PDM) where we learn about the different grants that are available for volunteers and also how to create a large-scale project design. My counterpart and I took a trip to Suva and spent a week in May to attend this training together. Pretty much directly when we got back we decided to take on a major project and brought it to the council, who then made a list of needs and then voted on the one they wanted most. Thus began the stress and aggravation of paper work and trying to get people motivated in this project. The beginning became extremely stressful and overwhelming very quickly! Many of the council members wanted me to do the entire application, all the back work, and wanted me to take control of the project because it was “my project”. Now it wasn’t just their fault, a part was the application process, and a bit was my fault too. The council and I had a debrief after all the paperwork and the project was finished and we all agreed it was a learning opportunity for all of us to work with each other and see how two cultures could work together.

Kioa Island Womne's Association

Kioa Island Labor Workers

          









          From the first day of working, the men’s labor force surprised me every day. They would set goals for each day of work and worked at all hours of the day until the day’s job was finished. Many days we started working before the sun rose and we worked until the sun had set. The last morning sticks out in my mind the most. We had worked from 6:00am-5:00pm the previous day in the hot sun. A few of the workers wanted to take the day off, while the majority wanted to keep working the next day. It was voted that we would start work at 4:00am the next morning and work until we finished. I woke up around 3:30am the next day and took my time getting ready because I didn’t think anyone would be up just yet. However, as I started to wake up more I heard the generator on and the voices of a lot of people. I got all my stuff together quickly and ran to the sea wall to find lights were strung on poles and all 40+ men were hard at work. I asked the head workman what time they had started and he replied, “2:30-3:00 this morning! We couldn’t sleep so we wanted to work more.” I was flabbergasted at this statement and in shear awe at just how much pride they took in their project. The entire building of the sea wall took only 10 days! We had 6 days of collecting rocks from around the island, and 4 days of constructing the sea wall. Watching these men dig, move boulders, and lift rocks for hours upon hours in the hot sun is an incredible thing!

            The women also took part in their own special way. Each day the women cooked and brought food for the workers and it was a total surprise to the workers and to me. When they would present the food, they presented it in the Tuvaluan style of placing the food in front of the workers and then performing a Fatele (traditional dance). The entire community became part of this project and was invested in the success and completion. I have never been part of a community that has worked this hard.

Finished Product!

 

            Throughout this whole project, there have been many days where all I wanted to do was give up and throw the paper work into the sea and watch the paper work just dissolve. However, I am so glad that I stuck with this project and pushed through all the struggles. My counterparts also faced the same struggles, and I am so grateful to have such incredible counterparts and an incredible community.


Photo Album Links:
Small Project Grant - Sea Wall
Oct-Dec 2014
July-Sept 2014
April-June 2014
Jan-March 2014
2013
 

Who's That White Guy?!

 

I'm terrible at this blog thing! I really need to post something at least once a month, not every 5 months! How else am I supposed to fulfill your desire to know more about Fiji?!

Tuitai Cruise Line - a tourist boat that comes to the island

Tourism is a big part of Fiji's business economy. Since my island (Kioa) is the only Polynesian settlement in Fiji, we invite tourists to the island to take part in our cultural traditions. For the tourists, our main point of "attraction" is the Fatele, our traditional dance. The Fatele was brought all the way from Tuvalu, formally known as The Ellis Islands, when the first settlers migrated to Kioa. Fateles are very different from the Fijian traditional dance, the Meke, which is very intense and utilizes every body part. Fijians used to be known as being very aggressive in the South Pacific and took part in many tribal wars, and the Meke reflects just that. A Fatele is more gentle and has an emphasis on the hands and arms, similar to a Hawaiian Luau. Just like the Fijian Meke reflect Fiji's war history, the Tuvaluan Fatele tells a variety of stories of their homeland (Tuvalu) and also of Kioa.

Another big draw for tourists, as in many countries, are the hand made crafts produced by the local citizens. Kioa in particular is known throughout Fiji for having the best and most unique crafts. The ladies of my village spend DAYS making their crafts and then sell them to the tourists, and this is typically the women's only income. They make a variety of crafts that truly reflect the maker themselves.

Women selling their handicrafts

When the island receives tourists, they typically arrive on a cruise ship as part of a scheduled tour. The entire village, including myself, is involved in welcoming them. My role is to blend in with village, help answer questions, and also take part in the Fatele. As you can imagine, I stand out in the crowd here- "Who's that white guy??!?". After living just under a year now, I have started to realize how much more I identify with the community than with the tourists. For example, I will describe how "we" settled the island and what "our" traditions are. I have also gotten to participate in all parts of the Fatele; singing, clapping, drumming, and now dancing! When I first started to dance, I don't know who was more excited- my village or myself? Still to this day everyone gets super excited to see me put on the traditional dance attire and stand up with my fellow dancers. I'm still learning the dance moves that go with each song, but I'm getting there!

The "army" of boats to greet the big boat

Before becoming a PCV, I had traveled to over 15 countries and have done the "tourist" stuff. After living here in Fiji, and witnessing the other side of tourism, I don't know if I will ever travel the same again. When I traveled before I never really learned too much about the country that I was visiting, let alone any of the language! Now I think learning a little bit about a country, especially a basic form of the language, can really make your experience 10x more enjoyable! Experiencing local customs and what locals do is truly experiencing a country, not just visiting the touristy attractions.

The whole community gets together

Having respect for the country and it's locals is also something I have seen a lack of in tourists in Fiji. Most are young college kids who come here to party and it really reflects poorly on their home country. I have heard all too many times from Fijians, "You white people like to party! You all are very loud and get very drunk." Every time I hear this I have to express that not all white people are like that and that those individuals are not what ALL white people are like. It's hard to hear because you don't want to be clumped together with people where the only similarity is your skin tone. When I do travel now, I also seek out opportunities to experience what locals do for fun. I want to learn the basic language and facts about that particular country. Respecting a countries culture starts by learning its language and its customs. Talking with the country's local people can bring about opportunities that you can't experience through a tour guide or walking through a museum.

Now since I have talked about this Fatele, here is a video of the Fatele in my village. I am not in the dance because I am video tapping, so just use your imagination and picture me up there!
Youtube of Fatele

There I am dancing!

Since it has been so long since I posted last, I have taken a TON of pictures! I also took a 2 week vacation out of Fiji to go to Hawaii with some of my family so those pictures are included! If you have any questions about Fiji or want to know more, please email me at tdoak08@su.edu and I will write a post about it. Always looking for ideas on what to write about!




Pre-Service Training
Posters Made
Fiji 2013
Fiji 2014 (1)
Fiji 2014 (2)
Fiji 2014 (3)
Hawaii Holiday

Working Beach Corps

            Well it has been a little while since I have last updated you all, or even wrote a post! Sorry about that! Things here in Fiji are actually starting to pick up and I’m becoming
busy during the days, which is a very nice change.

            Since the last time I posted, I have been working on a variety of different projects, so I thought I would line them out for you all. 

I.               Improve the water – this project consisted of taking a survey of our current water sources and seeing how we can improve them. The health inspectors of Savusavu came out and assisted with the inspection and gave us some advice on ways we can improve them. One of the things that we have been thinking about is adding another water source to our village. We currently have two, and they dry up, get clogged, etc. every so often. This third water source is quite a distance away, and four councilmen and myself hiked to this source. Boy was it bush whacking to the extreme! A picture below can depict just a glimpse of how in the bush this place really was. 

The council men and I hiking to the new potential source

II.             Healthy Island Program – This project has become my main project and goal to complete. This is a program that the Ministry of Health (MOH) uses to encourage communities to be healthier. It has a step-by-step process to make sure that a community can be successful. I have completed the evaluation and compiling phases, and now am working with my village to develop an action plan on issues that should be addressed. The ultimate goal is establish healthy programs within the community and re-evaluate in a little over a year.

III.           Community Health Workers – The MOH has asked each village to have a Community Health Worker (CHW) because not every village has immediate access to a nursing station or health centre. These CHW assist their community by having knowledge of basic first aid, and basic medical care. They essentially are allowed to do bandages and hand out Advil. What I am doing is giving educational tools to my CHWs so that they have a deeper knowledge about a variety of health topics. I am also creating programs for them to do on their own that do not need the presence of a nurse, or myself. 

Teaching Fijian Hand Washing Song

IV.            Clean Kioa Island – Being on an outer island, rubbish (trash) becomes and issue almost every day. There are no dumps like there are in the states, which can become a problem! This project has had many steps, and began with just going around and picking up trash myself and inspecting homes of my village. While I did these inspections, I educated and suggested to people that they should have three bags in their kitchen; one for tins, one for plastics, and one for rubbish. I also gave them some information about different diseases that come from poor rubbish sanitation. It took many weeks for people to really start cleaning, but I am starting to see a great improvement in how peoples home look. The next step is creating pits for each district of the community so we can burn the rubbish. It’s not the best form of environmentally friendly cleaning, but there are limited options being on the outer islands. The tins we will bury and the plastics we will save and use for future projects to come.

Trying to get rid of the water inside the tires

Talking about Dengue Fever with the school kids

V.              Dengue Free Kioa – Here in Fiji, Dengue Fever is at an all time high. A little bit about Dengue Fever can be found at this link ® (http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/) The mosquitoes that can carry Dengue Fever breed in fresh water pools. So anywhere where a fresh pool of water is present, those mosquitoes can lay their eggs there. The most common places are; coconut shells, water basins, bucket bathes, and tin cans. With the help of our regional Health Inspectors office, we initiated a Dengue Clean Up Campaign. This campaign consisted of us going from house to house and inspecting their yards and house for potential Dengue risk areas. We found a many around, but people are starting to clean up those areas and I have seen an improvement in the areas that were at risk. 

"Wash you hands before eat!"

VI. School Visit – Twice a year, the Ministry of Health sectors the primary and secondary schools that they are in charge of. The school health team consists of two nurses, a peer educator, dentists, a dental hygienist, a doctor, and a Peace Corps Volunteer if they have one. My district consists of 3 primary schools, two of the schools are Fijian and then one school is Tuvaluan. The school on my island speak very good English, where as the two other schools do not speak English very well at all. My job in the school visit was to teach proper hand washing. I first talked with the kids about why we wash our hands and all the facts about germs and such. I then showed them how germs spread by placing baby powder on their hands and having them shake each other’s hands. They were able to see the process of how quickly germs spread, and how if one person doesn’t wash their hands after going poop they are now covered in that persons poop. After we played the game, I taught them a song (one in English, one in Fijian) to remember when we wash our hands. They can sing this song two times through and it is about the 20 seconds that they need to wash their hands. It was by far my favorite part of my service thus far. Being around the kids was the first time that I was really able to be myself and just let myself be me. Being around the kids reminded me of HH and I just felt right in my element. I am now trying to get more involved in the school so that I can have this feeling more often.

It’s only been 5 months, but I do feel like I have been working and not just sitting around too much. Sitting around and doing nothing is not something that I do well, and I don’t plan on doing that! 

As per always - here are the links to the photos :-)  

2014 Album  

2013 Album

Posters Made

Pre-Service Training

Fetaui!

The Drink of the Pacific

One of the first things I heard about Fiji when I received my invitation was a drink called “Kava”. I heard horror stories about how awful it tasted, and that it made you hallucinate! Well…to my surprise most of the things I heard were not true!

What is kava?

Kava is a drink that is consumed in many different ways throughout Pacific Ocean cultures. It comes from the root of a plant that in Fiji is harvested after 4-6 years of the plant growing. The longer the plant grows, the more concentrations of kavalactones it has. Kavalactones is the compound that creates the effects of Kava drinking. Fijians typically call the drink “grog” or “yagona” (pronounced yangona). So I will use both terms in this post.

How is it made?

(Sun drying kava)

There are many different ways to make kava and it all depends on which country you are drinking it in. In Fiji, the plant is harvested and then the roots are spread out to sundry, and then pounded into a fine powder. Once it is a fine powder, it is strained and mixed with water. You can also take the root and boil it, and then mix it with “cold” water after it boils for 15 minutes. This is called “Raw Kava”. In some other Pacific Ocean countries, the root is chewed, grinded, or pounded.  

How do you drink it?

After the kava has been pounded in a fine powder, it is strained and mixed in a Tanoa, which is a large bowl made wood that has multiple legs. Sometimes the Tanoa is decorated with shells, paintings, or carvings. Sitting at the Tanoa are three people, one sits at the head of the bowl to keep mixing the kava so it doesn’t settle too much, and the two others are on the side distributing the “bilos” out to the drinkers. The “bilo” is a half-shell of a coconut and used to drink the kava. If you are sitting directly in front of the Tanoa, then you are the guest of honor and are given the first bilo of kava. After the guest of honor is served, then it goes in a hierarchy manner. When you are given the bilo, you clap 1 time as a respectful manner, almost saying please. You drink the kava in one fluid motion, and then hand the bilo back to you received it from. Once you hand it back, you clap 3 times as a form of respect, almost saying thank you. Throughout the entire time the kava is being served, you sit with your legs crossed. After the kava has been served to everyone, everyone will clap and then you may then uncross your legs and stretch.

(This is the set up of a formal grog session) 

(This is a "tanoa" with a "bilo")

What are the effects?

Like I said before, the ingredient kavalactones is a sedative and anesthetic. After drinking a few bilos, your face and mouth become numb, and you begin to feel more relaxed. Sometimes when I drink it, I feel sleepy. It also causes you to have to pee a lot, so don’t break the seal to early!! As the grog session keeps going, you will start to notice everyone will start to relax and open up with conversations that are not typically talked about during the day. People will also bring guitars, and ukuleles and sing many traditional songs. When locals talk about the effects of grog they call it being “drunk” or “getting high”. Kava does have long-term effects on your body if drank excessively. It can cause liver and kidney damage, suppressed sex drive, dry skin patches, among many others.

(They be feeling sleepy!)

Ceremonial or social?

Kava drinking is both a social event and ceremonial. In terms of ceremonial, they are done in events such as political, religious, and social functions. The ceremony usually has a ritual presentation of a bundle of yagona, called a sevusevu (gift) and then drinking of kava. Many people drink kava to be enlightened spiritually as well. When it comes to social kava drinking, it is usually done at night or during celebrations of some short. Both men and women drink kava, but it depends on the village laws if women are allowed to join in on the grog session with men. In my village women are not allowed to drink grog in the grog sessions, but are allowed to drink it in their home. Both ceremonial and social drinking of grog can last hours upon hours and multiple Tanoas will be filled. It is impolite to leave the grog session if the Tanoa is full, so you have to wait until it is empty to leave, which can be hard when they keep filling it…

(This was during our sevusevu when we first arrived in Fiji)

Does it taste good?

When I first had it I expected it to be AWFUL! But to my surprise, it only tasted like muddy water and didn’t taste bad. After the many different sessions I have been a part of, I have come to enjoy the taste of grog. It’s funny because when the locals drink it, they give a after face and grown as if they had just had a shot of strong vodka. So I guess it depends on your taste buds if you like it or not.

So who’s ready to try some grog?! Many more pictures have been posted and the links to the albums are below! I hope that you all are trying to keep warm during the cold winter, as I am trying to keep cool and only sweat 1 or 2 buckets…

2014

Posters

2013

Pre-Service Training