Since April last year we have been planning a move to Tanna island in hopes of strengthening 8 Christians who were baptized and to plant the church in more villages. Well, on January 24th, all our planning and preparation came to fruition when our family moved to Lorakau village.
We had shipped our truck and our belongings previously (read prior post) and now WE were ready to move. We hopped a plane on Monday, January 24th which marked the beginning of our village adventures. A short one-hour flight from Vila brought us to our new home, but we weren’t there yet. After the flight we had to get a local transport to take us to the main town of Lenakel where I had parked our truck. Being greeted by Pbles and Ruth, Christians from Etas now living in Lenakel, we were excited to begin our work together.
With some laplap made just for us now nestled in our tummies, we piled in the truck to try and tame the wild road to Lorakau village. It took us 1 ½ hours to reach Lorakau, which is longer than usual because the road had nearly been washed out by a recent rain. All the passengers piled out of the truck at the base of the large mountain and walked up the hill to repair the road so the truck could pass. Climbing the hill in 4 wheel drive, it felt like we were inside of a washing machine being tossed back and forth. Any minute, I was sure it was going to rain to complete our “rinse” cycle and let us know that we truly had been in a washing machine.
What I miss most
You may ask, “What do you miss most, living in the village?” Well the answer is anything but short, but here goes.
1. I miss any cold drink. Having luke-warm ice tea is better than plain water, but only just slightly.
2. I miss ready access to medical facilities and pharmacies. For about 2 weeks I have been battling a rash that I hoped could be cleared up before our move. This was not going to happen even though I went to a doctor in Vila, the problem is still “persistant”. Not having the right medicine to nip the problem in the bud is quite annoying.
3. I miss a mirror. Not trying to be vain here, but I just realized that I haven’t looked in the mirror for 4 days. I really need to shave.
Food
Our diet consists mostly of root crops, with which laplap is made, rice and canned meat (corned beef or tuna fish). When you have no refrigeration, your options are limited. Cindy will be writing more on this later. Sorry to make you wait.
We have no dining room table, so we pull out a piece of wood that we brought at every meal and use our makeshift table to save room in our house.
House
Speaking of house, we live in a cinder block house. It is about 24 feet long by 15 feet wide. It has been divided in the middle by one bamboo woven wall. On one side of the wall are the beds: two single beds for Kaela and Melia, and one double bed for Cindy and I. We noticed right away that privacy was going to be nearly non-existant and when I change clothes or put medicine on my body, the girls have to go outside.
The other side of the bamboo wall serves as our kitchen, dining room, sitting room and office. Yes, all that in a 12’ x 15’ area. If nothing else we’ll grow closer as a family, right?
Well, that’s it for now. More to come soon next week.
In Christ,
Aaron and family
Friday, January 28, 2011
Welcome to Cindyville...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Even though our flight arrived in Tanna at 12noon-ish on Monday we didn’t actually arrive in Lorokau Village until 4pm (Due to grocery and household shopping, lunch with Pbles and Ruth, and really bad roads up the hill – with the locals jumping out of the truck to fill in the holes in the road to make for easier traveling). We arrived hot, tired, and more than ready to finally settle in to our new life.
Our first week here has consisted of getting our house set up and functioning and – dare I say it? – comfortable (even with our meager belongings). Looking at what we brought to equip our two room house, we still are acutely aware that what we have is far more than many of the local people and yet, it is what we need (for our sanity and comfort) to be able to make a home here for this extended period of time. Aaron observed correctly when he said that we do not truly “fit” in either Ni-Vanuatu culture or American culture. We have too much for one and too little for the other.
Here is a list of all we have done this week (at least all that I remember) –
• Aaron nailed a piece of wood in the shower area to make a “shelf” for our shower caddy to sit on
• Aaron rigged a tree “post” outside our shower area to hang our solar shower from (A few degrees of heat to the water makes all the difference – especially to the girls!)
• We put up a shower curtain (using a tree limb for a rod) to help cover up the openings where the “curtain” (rice sack) the local people hung doesn’t quite meet the wall.
• I upacked and arranged our household items, made beds, set up my kitchen area and table for Kaela to do her school work next week (these took two whole days to complete!).
• We hung mosquito nets over the girl’s beds (not because there are a lot of mosquitoes, but to keep out spiders, cockroaches, and other bugs, and to keep the rats off their beds). Not that this is always a problem…but, still, a possibility.
• Aaron hung new clothesline from the coconut trees outside because the old clothesline was rusting and sagging.
• Aaron also set up his “office” (a table and small bookshelf in one corner of the kitchen-school room-sitting room-and now, office)
We are getting into some semblance of a morning routine. We’ve been sleeping in more than we thought – not because we are going to bed late, but because the rats are SO LOUD at night running around, trying to get into things, that Aaron and I haven’t slept well.
Anyway, when we get up, I start the teakettle to boil water for tea (Aaron), coffee (me), and hot cocoa (Kaela and Melia). I slice bread for breakfast to have with Peanut Butter and Jelly – this morning the bread was moldy so we ate breakfast crackers with PB&J instead. We won’t be able to get more bread until Friday, so I’ll try to bake a cake this afternoon to have in the morning. I haven’t yet been able to stomach the idea of eating cold kumala (sweet potato) or laplap for breakfast. The remainder of the hot water I use to wash my breakfast dishes.
After breakfast Aaron goes and fills two large buckets of water for the day for us to use in rinsing our dishes, cooking, extra bath water, and sometimes for washing clothes. I also fill a small bowl each morning for us to use for handwashing (along with my Bath and Body Works soap – Ha!). I know it isn’t as sanitary as “running water”, but it is better than nothing! He also fills our water filter bag to filter our water into our water jug for drinking. After breakfast, I wash the dishes, have the girls help me sweep the house. The girls also carry a bucket of our scrapfood from the day before down to feed a pig that lives nearby our house. The rest of our days have been filled with various other activities, visiting with the locals, preparing food, and trying to get ready for next week – when we hope to start our normal routine of Bible studies and trainging and teaching school. We are looking forward to it!
Even though our flight arrived in Tanna at 12noon-ish on Monday we didn’t actually arrive in Lorokau Village until 4pm (Due to grocery and household shopping, lunch with Pbles and Ruth, and really bad roads up the hill – with the locals jumping out of the truck to fill in the holes in the road to make for easier traveling). We arrived hot, tired, and more than ready to finally settle in to our new life.
Our first week here has consisted of getting our house set up and functioning and – dare I say it? – comfortable (even with our meager belongings). Looking at what we brought to equip our two room house, we still are acutely aware that what we have is far more than many of the local people and yet, it is what we need (for our sanity and comfort) to be able to make a home here for this extended period of time. Aaron observed correctly when he said that we do not truly “fit” in either Ni-Vanuatu culture or American culture. We have too much for one and too little for the other.
Here is a list of all we have done this week (at least all that I remember) –
• Aaron nailed a piece of wood in the shower area to make a “shelf” for our shower caddy to sit on
• Aaron rigged a tree “post” outside our shower area to hang our solar shower from (A few degrees of heat to the water makes all the difference – especially to the girls!)
• We put up a shower curtain (using a tree limb for a rod) to help cover up the openings where the “curtain” (rice sack) the local people hung doesn’t quite meet the wall.
• I upacked and arranged our household items, made beds, set up my kitchen area and table for Kaela to do her school work next week (these took two whole days to complete!).
• We hung mosquito nets over the girl’s beds (not because there are a lot of mosquitoes, but to keep out spiders, cockroaches, and other bugs, and to keep the rats off their beds). Not that this is always a problem…but, still, a possibility.
• Aaron hung new clothesline from the coconut trees outside because the old clothesline was rusting and sagging.
• Aaron also set up his “office” (a table and small bookshelf in one corner of the kitchen-school room-sitting room-and now, office)
We are getting into some semblance of a morning routine. We’ve been sleeping in more than we thought – not because we are going to bed late, but because the rats are SO LOUD at night running around, trying to get into things, that Aaron and I haven’t slept well.
Anyway, when we get up, I start the teakettle to boil water for tea (Aaron), coffee (me), and hot cocoa (Kaela and Melia). I slice bread for breakfast to have with Peanut Butter and Jelly – this morning the bread was moldy so we ate breakfast crackers with PB&J instead. We won’t be able to get more bread until Friday, so I’ll try to bake a cake this afternoon to have in the morning. I haven’t yet been able to stomach the idea of eating cold kumala (sweet potato) or laplap for breakfast. The remainder of the hot water I use to wash my breakfast dishes.
After breakfast Aaron goes and fills two large buckets of water for the day for us to use in rinsing our dishes, cooking, extra bath water, and sometimes for washing clothes. I also fill a small bowl each morning for us to use for handwashing (along with my Bath and Body Works soap – Ha!). I know it isn’t as sanitary as “running water”, but it is better than nothing! He also fills our water filter bag to filter our water into our water jug for drinking. After breakfast, I wash the dishes, have the girls help me sweep the house. The girls also carry a bucket of our scrapfood from the day before down to feed a pig that lives nearby our house. The rest of our days have been filled with various other activities, visiting with the locals, preparing food, and trying to get ready for next week – when we hope to start our normal routine of Bible studies and trainging and teaching school. We are looking forward to it!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Welcome to Cindyville
Cindyville is Cindy's take on life in Lorakau Village, Tanna island.
Aaron is in Tanna right now for a total of four days. While there he has several tasks that he wants to complete. 1) Getting us a Post Office box, 2) Checking on our rent price for our house, 3) Buying a gas bottle for our stove, 4) Checking to see if our beds are finished being made.
Ideally the results of these items on his personal “To Do” list would go as follows:
1) P.O. Box – set up, number given and actual box located at the post office.
2) House – rent price remains as was set in April of last year at $50 a month.
3) Gas bottle – bought, loaded in the truck and delivered to Lorokau Village.
4) Beds – completed and waiting for payment and pick up.
Wouldn’t that be nice!?
Now for reality. Actual results are as follows:
1) P.O. Box – Personal P.O. box not to be had as the Post Office is short on boxes. Instead, our mail will be delivered to the Lorokau Village RTC Post Office box and we will hope and pray that our mail actually gets to us as intended.
2) House – Rural Training Center (RTC) committee decides that $50 might not be enough rent. We are awaiting the final decision. We think $50 (no more than $100) is fair. You might be thinking that we are sliding by awfully cheap on rent. But, keep in mind – you get what you pay for. $50 rents us a house with a cement floor, un-spackled and un-finished cement walls, one room in all (two if all goes as planned) – not bedroom, keep in mind…room. In addition, we get one light bulb for the whole house, a tin roof, and windows with no screens or glass. Considering the improvements we plan to make (screens, solar lights, etc.) out of our own pocket just to make it livable in the long-term, $50 seems quite reasonable.
3) Gas bottle – Aaron went to buy, but they are all out. Next shipment should be arriving on the island at the same time as our truck…we hope.
4) Beds – Mr. Bed Maker Man ran out of timber and didn’t even begin the beds we orderd in early December. New plan. Borrow the beds from the school until RTC school starts in 2 weeks, buy our own timber and Aaron will make our beds before the RTC needs the others back.
There is a song that one of the local string bands likes to play. It is called “Oh My Vanuatu” and talks about how beautiful Vanuatu is. A really lovely song and one of my favorites. Only, the title is so catchy we find ourselves saying it at various times. You can only imagine why sometimes we say it with a head-shaking sigh of exasperation…”Oh my Vanuatu”…
Aaron is in Tanna right now for a total of four days. While there he has several tasks that he wants to complete. 1) Getting us a Post Office box, 2) Checking on our rent price for our house, 3) Buying a gas bottle for our stove, 4) Checking to see if our beds are finished being made.
Ideally the results of these items on his personal “To Do” list would go as follows:
1) P.O. Box – set up, number given and actual box located at the post office.
2) House – rent price remains as was set in April of last year at $50 a month.
3) Gas bottle – bought, loaded in the truck and delivered to Lorokau Village.
4) Beds – completed and waiting for payment and pick up.
Wouldn’t that be nice!?
Now for reality. Actual results are as follows:
1) P.O. Box – Personal P.O. box not to be had as the Post Office is short on boxes. Instead, our mail will be delivered to the Lorokau Village RTC Post Office box and we will hope and pray that our mail actually gets to us as intended.
2) House – Rural Training Center (RTC) committee decides that $50 might not be enough rent. We are awaiting the final decision. We think $50 (no more than $100) is fair. You might be thinking that we are sliding by awfully cheap on rent. But, keep in mind – you get what you pay for. $50 rents us a house with a cement floor, un-spackled and un-finished cement walls, one room in all (two if all goes as planned) – not bedroom, keep in mind…room. In addition, we get one light bulb for the whole house, a tin roof, and windows with no screens or glass. Considering the improvements we plan to make (screens, solar lights, etc.) out of our own pocket just to make it livable in the long-term, $50 seems quite reasonable.
3) Gas bottle – Aaron went to buy, but they are all out. Next shipment should be arriving on the island at the same time as our truck…we hope.
4) Beds – Mr. Bed Maker Man ran out of timber and didn’t even begin the beds we orderd in early December. New plan. Borrow the beds from the school until RTC school starts in 2 weeks, buy our own timber and Aaron will make our beds before the RTC needs the others back.
There is a song that one of the local string bands likes to play. It is called “Oh My Vanuatu” and talks about how beautiful Vanuatu is. A really lovely song and one of my favorites. Only, the title is so catchy we find ourselves saying it at various times. You can only imagine why sometimes we say it with a head-shaking sigh of exasperation…”Oh my Vanuatu”…
Saturday, January 15, 2011
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...
No really, it was! On Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 a tropical depression within Vanuatu developed into a category 1 hurricane. Just missing the main island of Efate (where we live), the storm focused its fury on the islands of Erromango and Tanna, just south of Efate.
Looking out my window in the middle of the night, I saw the gail-force winds twisting and blowing the trees with a big gust to the East, then a stronger gust to the West. All throughout the night the wind wreaked havoc on the shrubs, trees and houses. Sheetmetal pieces on many local houses that were not nailed down (and even some that were) were sent flying through the surprisingly cool night air. I was left wondering if we were going to lose power during the night, but we never did.
Surveying the wreckage in the morning, our yard, trees and house fared pretty well. Out in the street, there were leaves and branches strewn everywhere. Several large limbs had fallen throughout the night and even in the morning the winds were still strong, but had decreased intensity.
15 minutes outside of Port Vila, in the village of Etas the church is experiencing troubled times. In the process of constructing a permanent church building to minister to the village and reach out to lost souls, the hurricane all but destroyed the basic structure the Christians had built.
The basic structure had the wooden timber walls and roof in place. Because the finished walls needed to be supported and finished inside and out, the structure itself was not yet usable. Christians in Etas hoped 2011 was the year they would complete their building and have a permanent place to meet. In fact, they had used all existing funds on hand to purchase the supplies to build the newly demolished structure. Now, the Christians will have to make plans for the future, which will probably not include rebuilding. Please pray for the church in Etas.
Damage to the outer islands and villages are yet to be reported. Still, many people have heard that cell phone towers, houses and gardens have all been knocked down by the storm. Winds were said to be strong enough to either batter down or uproot most of the crops on Tanna. Unable to reach Christians there, I cannot give an accurate report of the situation. I do know that the biggest difficulty will not arise in the days after the storm since people will go to their gardens and harvest any fallen fruits and crops, but in the next month or so when the demolished gardens are deplete of food. Granted, many will toil in rebuilding their houses, but their greatest concern will be for the gardens as that is the main source of food for many.
On another note, our family is blessed to weather the storm here in Vila. Had we moved to Tanna already, we may have decided that facing a hurricane in a village was not for us. However, our hearts go out to those who did face the hurricane in those conditions and we recognize our blessings in surviving the storm.
Until next time…
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