First trip to Vanua Levu

Last week I was very lucky to go with WCS to Daria village in Vanua Levu for a 3-day workshop with people from 4 different districts (like counties), to try and set up some plans for how they manage their environment. However, it was not an auspicious start. Firstly I was sick at work from some dodgy food from the roti lady. Then our truck from Labasa airport to the village maimed a dog. Finally I frightened some naked children by leaping from the truck to take photos of an interesting bridge beside which they were swimming.

Things improved when we got to the village, and had a warm welcome from our host families, and an early night deafened by heavy rain (it rains even more in Wainunu district than Suva!). I gave 2 presentations on the first day of the workshop, with the assistance of translators who made everything I said sound very wise (and very much longer). The next day and a half was spent in smaller discussion groups, pouring over maps and discussing threats and solutions to the problems faced by the districts. It was a really interesting experience, good for my Fijian too.

The workshop ended promptly on Saturday lunchtime, ready for a long grog-drinking session - just what you don't need before a 3am wake-up call on Sunday morning! Normally the grog (kava) has to stop at 6pm on a Saturday, but our presence was a convenient excuse to continue well into the night. Unfortunately no-one warned us so we were rather gung-ho in the early stages, expecting an early finish. Hey ho.