August 28 entry
Trip Start
May 12, 2006
1
8
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Salelologa,
Samoa Western
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
We are officially volunteers now. On Wednesday the 23rd we went back to Vaie'e for our swearing in. It was in a nice fale behind the church. The ladies had decorated it with branches and flowers. It was attended by members of our host families and others in the village, the Member of Parliament responsible for the ministry we work for, the American Charge de Faire and PC staff and volunteers. After the ceremony we had a light lunch and were back on the bus for Apia. We had to make a couple of stops along the way to procure appropriate beverages and had a fun ride with lots of bad singing.
That evening the old volunteers had a pizza party for us new uns at the hotel. It was really fun.
The next morning we were all dispersed to our sites. The 6 of us going to Savaii were transported to our villages, with our huge piles of belongings, by the PC staff. I had had a sore throat for 4 days and had talked too much at the party so I couldn't speak above a whisper. With no-one able to hear me it seemed like a good opportunity to spend the rest of the day sleeping. Friday morning found us having breakfast with 2 of our PC committee. They are very dedicated and want to be sure that things move smoothly and as quickly as possible. Thus, we spent several hours gathering information and finding out more about the village. Next we went to a meeting of the Matais (chiefs) where Ray and Tulipe (the head of the committee) presented our 90 day work plan (done at an earlier PC meeting). While at the meeting a van of volunteers showed up to kidnap us for a tour of the island and a visit to the homes of the other volunteers. They went off to eat lunch while we packed a few things for an overnight stay. Eventually we had 15 people, their things and the appropriate beverages and snacks in a stripped down minivan. We ended up at a really nice beach for the night. We had a bonfire, hotdogs, singing, dancing and fire jumping. A grand time was had by all.
Ray and I abandoned the van early Saturday morning and opted for a faster, more direct bus ride home. Ray was starting to feel sick. We made it back to Vailoa about 8:30 and slept until noon. Then I tried my hand at washing clothes the old fashion way. I think I did pretty well. At least everything will smell soapy fresh instead of sweaty. The set-up here is pretty good with a chair and a table in the shower to make it easier. After doing laundry Fonise (our new mother) helped me sew curtains.
Our room currently has two beds in it, neither of them big enough for both of us, a wardrobe and windows on the two exterior walls. Ray is going to add electrical outlets, there are none right now, and shelves for the books. Then we might paint. We are exploring the sleeping options and hope to have a better bed soon. Monday we are going to start interviewing people to gather information about the individual families in the village and go to Salelologa (town) to buy the supplies we need. As you can see, we are very busy and somewhat overwhelmed by everything.
Everyone is very nice and welcoming. Toluono (our new dad) told the carpenter, who is building the new Women's committee house (falekomiti) in the village, and the untitled men to build us a kitchen cupboard for our plates and things. It is really nice and is the first thing that we have for the kitchen other than a two burner gas stove.
W e were told by PC that mail would be brought from the office in Apia to Salelologa every Friday. The volunteers say it is more like every couple of months. The computer in the Salelologa office was broken when we arrived on Thursday and the IT guy took it away with him. He said he would have it back on Saturday, but the volunteers say the last time it broke down it was gone for 3 months. In other words, I am not sure what communications are going to be like for a little while. There is supposed to be internet in the new falekomiti when it is finished. We shall see.
