Rabi - First Contact

Our first trip ashore at Albert Cove (the settlement of Motawi) was a short one and we met the people who lived in two palm-thatched houses just off the beach. We took some tea and noodles as gifts and chatted for awhile. The patriarch of the larger family, Samuel, was visiting the couple who lived on their own, close to where we beached the dinghy. Samuel spoke good English and welcomed us to visit anytime.

What's for dinner honey? This Octopus. caught on the nearby reef has been preserved by smoking over a fire.

The couple who lived in the first home, Panea and Rara, had a clean two level home made from woven palm leaves. Three of the walls were open off the ground, allowing good air flow. Set back about 8 feet from the front wall at waist-level was a sleeping platform. There were several mosquito nets hanging from the ceiling over the platform, one sewn from an old magenta sari. Chickens appeared to roost below this platform;  I guess this makes it easy to gather eggs for breakfast!

Rara and Panea

Attached to the main building was a large cooking shelter with two fireplaces. A wood fire glowed in the corner and a puppy slept happily in the warm ashes. Chickens and a rooster pecked around the yard outside the kitchen at discarded coconut shells and a fair-sized pig grunted on a long leash under a tree close-by.

Before we left to visit the other family, Samuel showed us a ukulele which had had its neck broken and put back together with packing tape. Chris offered to try to glue it back together and bring it when we returned to visit the next day.

Chris repairs a ukulele that had been broken during a kava drinking session

 A few hundred yards down the beach is the home of Samuel's son Bill and his extended family - 4 generations in total. Their house was chaotic and rudimentary compared to the first house, with a simple outdoor cooking area on the ground over which a cast-iron rack was placed for holding pots. A shelf at shoulder level held dishes and sundry items.

One of the huge trees along the beach at Albert Cove 

Bill's son-in-law was drying copra over a barrel stove fire in a small shack closer to the beach. The humid tropical climate here must not be conducive to solar drying. Copra is a cash crop and the family had come over to their plantation to work on their harvest. They reminded me of the Mexican fishermen who spend weeks away from their homes catching fish and other seafood on the isolated islands off the Baja coast.

Recently cut pandanus trees. Bill's wife was cutting this to make mats when we arrived.

Bill's youngest daughter, Pauline, was breastfeeding her six month old baby when we first walked by the house. Being Westerners, we averted our eyes but she invited us to sit with her and chat. Her mum was busy cutting leaves from a pandanus stand a little way down the beach and her two brothers hung about watching us. The baby's nappies were drying on a line and Pauline explained that she did not have laundry soap. Her husband asked if we had any sugar to take with the tea we had given them. We told them we would bring some when we returned the next day.

Before rowing back out to Ladybug, we enjoyed a walk along the beach which is lined by picturesque trees of great age and girth, their tired old limbs leaning on the sand. These reminded Chris of an ancient white oak he had seen in England whose massive sagging branches had to be propped up off the ground to stop them from breaking. These trees are more supple and do not seem to mind even resting their elbows in salt water.

Rabi Island Background

The following are some notes on the history of the Banabans on Rabi Island, mostly taken from the excellent "Moon Guide to Fiji".

The people on Rabi island are originally from a 6 square kilometer atoll called Ocean Island, later named Banaba and now part of Kiribati. Ocean Island was exploited by the British for it's rich phosphate mines between 1902 and 1979. The naive islanders agreed to lease their land for 50 pounds per year for 999 years! In the face of a Japanese invasion, the British blew up the mining infrastructure in 1941 and almost all the company employees were evacuated in February 1942. When the Japanese landed in August that year they deported all but 150 of the 2,413 of the local mine labourers and their families to Tarawa, Nauru and Kosrae.

After peace was declared, the British returned to Ocean Island in 1945 and found only the surrendering Japanese troops. Two months later an island native emerged from hiding and told how his people were marched to the edge of a cliff after peace was declared, blindfolded and their hands tied. The Japanese then shot them and the dead tumbled into the sea. The lone survivor was still alive when he hit the water and managed to kick his way ashore and lived on coconuts until the British arrived.

The British government purchased Rabi Island (off Vanua Levu in Fiji) to permanently resettle the Ocean Islanders at the end of 1945. Fijians living on the island were relocated to nearby Taveuni. The nearly 5000 Rabi islanders have their own local government in the form of Rabi Island Council and their own police but are also citizens of Fiji and answer to Fijian authorities. To make things even more confusing, the council also administers their ancestral homeland, the island of Banaba, which is now part of Kiribati. 

Escape to Rabi Island

We have been out of range of the internet for a week now. The next few posts will catch up with our time on Rabi Island.

When we dropped the anchor at Kennedy Cove off northwest Kioa, we knew it would be a temporary shelter as there were no houses (for social interaction) or beach to keep us happy for a week.

Gato Go motors past us heading south for Viani Bay as we approach Rabi

So, on Sunday morning We set sail for Albert Cove on Rabi (pronounced Rambi) Island. We had the jib out in 10-12 Knots from the SSW and were soon enjoying a very pleasant passage, guided by Google aerial maps and eyeball navigation, up the Georgia Channel. Craig off s/v Gato Go hailed us on the VHS and reported 25-30 Knots gusting off Rabi; they were on a reciprocal course. Chris had just raised the main but took it down again to be cautious. The wind changed as predicted to the SE and we were into gusts of up to 30 Knots coming off the island. This was fine for running up the channel but we were not sure if we could enter the pass as the wind would be on the nose and Ladybug has a small  engine. We decided to overshoot the entrance for a better angle. Thankfully the seas were calmer here and we were able to navigate the two reef passes into the inner harbour without undue stress.

Chris repairs the sail cover for our dinghy sail on our first day at Albert Cove

Cocoa seeds when ripe have a  tasty white covering and can be sucked like a candy. We will dry the seeds themselves for roasting and grinding to make cocoa.

Overripe cocoa seeds have begun to sprout

There were two catamarans to the north and a monohull to the south and we found a nice spot in the middle to drop the hook in 50 feet. Little did we know that this would be the beginning of an incredible week!

Northwest end of Kioa

We left our anchorage at the south end of Kioa, off Salia village around 1:30 pm yesterday. The wind was driving a 2-3 foot chop into the bay, which is wide open to the southeast. The forecast was calling for several days of stronger southeast winds, so we will head north and return when the weather is more settled. Our initial destination of Buca Bay was shrouded in rain, so we bypassed this and set sail for the northern end of Kioa.

We ran down a wide channel between Kioa and Vanua Levu under full jib, using a small scale Google Earth satellite image for a guide. I climbed the ratlines to watch for coral heads, while Rani steered, referencing the satellite photo. The photo showed only one small coral head, but large areas were obscured by cloud and we saw a post sticking out of the water well out into the center of the passage where no reef was visible on the photo. The grey light and light drizzle made it very hard to see anything and to crown it all (pun intended) one of my teeth broke and a part fell off while I was eating lunch.

We had been told that the bay at the northwest end of Kioa was supposed to have a good anchorage, sand beaches, and snorkeling. Well - 2 out of 3 ain't bad, but we did not find a really good anchorage here - at least not protected in a south or southeast wind. The head of the bay appeared to be deep and uninteresting, being lined with mangroves, so we tried to anchor on both the north and south sides of the bay off the innermost beaches. On the north side, we were unable to set the anchor due to rock and coral despite two attempts and 160 feet of chain. We finally set in about 45 feet in sand on the south side, just off a coral reef. I let out 170 feet and buoyed the chain at 130 feet to stop it rumbling.

Before anchoring, I swam around the reef wearing my mask to find a suitable patch of sand on which to anchor, while Rani drifted in Ladybug. It was an interesting exercise to guide Rani to the exact spot to anchor as I floated in the water, watching Ladybug bearing down on me with Rani obscured by Ladybug's high bows. Rani was worried she would run me over, but managed to stop in about the right place. I climbed back on board and lowered the hook as Rani backed down. Rani caught her finger in the windlass the last time she tried to drop the anchor, so she is a bit wary of doing this job.

Anyway - we slept well and the promised high winds are nowhere in sight this morning. We will probably stay here for a day and then, if the weather permits, head north for Rabi.

A simple library system for the Salia Community Library

Rani has mentioned that we have been helping out with the library at Salia. Initially we found a simple commercial library management package that would allow them to catalogue and lend out books. However, because there is no budget for the library, I decided it would be better if I came up with something free. It was so rough in the anchorage, that I was awake at 5 am, so I did a search on free database software (thanks to a suggestion from our friend, Jeanne, who is a librarian). I found a product called FileAmigo that supports creation of very simple databases and reports.

In less than an hour I had a Books database and Overdue report created. The system we came up with for managing the books is of necessity very simple. There is only one volunteer part time librarian (one of the teachers). In case anyone is interested in making something like this, the Books database table contains the following fields: Number, Title, Author (surname, firstname), Subject1, Subject2, Subject3, Borrower, and Due Date. The Number is an automatically incremented number and the Due Date is a date field. All other fields are text. Only the Number, Title, and Author are mandatory fields. The Subject fields are optional and can be used to put in tags for searching by topic.

Rather than add all the books in advance to the catalogue (they have thousands of volumes), we suggested that they add a book when it is checked out. At this time the librarian will write the automatically generated number on an inside page of the book and enter the borrower name and due date in the system. The librarian would then write the borrowed book numbers and due date on a slip of paper that would be given to the borrower for reference. The system has a simple report that will list all overdue books for a given date. When a borrower returns a book, the librarian can find it by its Number and simply remove the borrower name and due date from the system.

Of course such a simple system has disadvantages. It does not keep a history of lent books, for example. However it is a step beyond using a spreadsheet, since it is less exposed to accidental deletion of data. The database files can be backed up to an external hard drive and we recommended they do this each week to avoid losing too much work in the event of a crash.

The biggest problem the library has is to physically organize their books. None of the teachers has training as a librarian and Lepa (the volunteer librarian) told me she was at a loss as to how to proceed. Rani and I did some research and came up with a simple organization scheme that divides the library into Young Child (<5), Child and Youth Fiction, Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Reference. We also proposed a list of high level categories for the non-fiction and reference books (e.g., Geography, Art and Crafts, and History). Most of the donated books fall into the first two categories and finding shelf space for these is also a problem. I spent an hour or two with Lepa going through the shelves and books, sorting adult fiction from youth and child fiction, and putting up temporary labels. Rani and I wrote out instructions on how to accomplish this organization. Lepa will ask some of the older students to help nd the head teacher plans to have some more shelving built, so hopefully by the time we return we will see some progress!

It felt good to give something something to this lovely community where we have been made to feel so welcome.

Library Day on Kioa Island

Thursday was "Library Day" in Salia and we were invited as guests to attend the festivities in the long house. The library is for the whole community, not just the school.

Young ladies placed crowns of sweet scented flowers, Fo's, on our heads, and the head teacher, Fiafia, welcomed everyone. The Chief Guest, health nurse Andi, was asked to speak about the importance of the library to the school and community. Then representative students of each class from kindergarten to primary presented their speeches. I was impressed with their confidence, elocution and recall. Everyone spoke good English and emphasized the importance of reading and improving one's knowledge. Bob from s/v Bright Angel spoke on behalf of the cruisers and expressed our positive impresssions of this friendly community.

Speeches were followed by entertainment by the students. The kindergarten kids sang popular nursery rhymes, like "Ba ba black sheep" while the primary students had arranged a character parade and dances. The characters ranged from superheroes and movie stars to trees and washing machines. Each dressed up character danced down the centre aisle of the long house ( to the same tune!) and then stood to answer an appropriate question from the teacher or one of the guests. For example, Chris asked Snow White "Where are your dwarves?"

The whole village enjoyed a hearty laugh when some of the boys pranced on stage dressed up as girls. They did such a great job of portraying the opposite sex that the head of council brought up the subject of gay marriages in his closing speech!

We broke up for a lunch of curried fish, rice and hot cocoa at the council house. Then everyone attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at the library. Hundreds of books have been donated by overseas visitors and organizations. One of the teachers, Lepa, will be in charge of setting up the library system on a part-time basis with the help of volunteers from the community. One of the first volunteers was Chris. He is working on a computer program to catalogue the books and set up the lending records. A job like this takes a lot of hours and he has spent the best part of two days looking for a free program which will be easy to set up and maintain.

We plan to leave Kioa for Buca Bay today as higher southeast winds are forecast for the next 3-4 days and we are open to that direction in this bay. That's if Chris ever returns from the school!

Here are some photos from the Library Day:

The posts in the long house are assigned for the two chiefs, the council members and village elders. The rest of the villagers sit  around the outside of the posts.

Kindergarten class holds up words and pictures

Lepa, one of the school teachers, peaks out to ensure everyone is in position

Boys and girls file into the centre to sing nursery rhymes

Batman dances into action!

Cinderella looks like an Indian actress!

One of the orators tells why libraries are important to the community

Polynesian dancers

"Daniel" from the bible story

A  traditional Tuvaluan dress

Britney Spears causes an uproar!

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra struts on the stage

" Snow White" waiting for her debut

Bob from s/v Bright Angel speaks for the cruisers

One of the best posters on display

The prefect on the right is the artist who drew the above poster

Three pretty dancers

Suzanne with her grand-daughter

Guests and teachers

Rani and Lepa

Andi cuts the pink ribbon

Council members tour the library

Boys beat the drum to call the tooth-brushing hour - this is done three times per day!

Children form lines to go to class

Kindergarten class takes out their toothbrushes and water 

Day 3 and 4 at Kioa Island

Yesterday, we had a very nice walk around the village, guided by Agelu and his 7 year old cousin, Kaisami. We had tea at one house with a couple who had recently moved back here from the big city of Nadi (Gok and Keli). We visited a basket maker and a lady who was brewing Kava. We also attended a dance ceremony put on for some tourists from a dive resort across the water. All in all - a fun sociable day. And as a bonus, I came away with some baskets, a tapa cloth, and a few shells purchased at a craft show that followed the dancing.

  

Agelu and Kaisami in a dugout canoe made by Agelu's grandfather.

Local kids fooling around in a fisherman's canoe.

Toddlers at the beach.

Roasting coca beans

A cocoa bean pod

Making kava or grog as the locals call it.

Rani, Evotia, and granddaughter. Rani bought two of Evotia's lovely baskets

Little piggy goes to market

View of Ladybug from one of the concrete walkways that run through the village.

When I admired a lei worn at the dance ceremony, the lady gave me her lovely garland 

Today we had another visit from Agelu who cam with his little cousing John. I had made fudge so we had tea together before we went ashore to visit again with Gok and Keli. Chris and I both had a chance to take Agelu's canoe for a paddle. I had difficulty keeping it going straight, but Chris found it similar to paddling a Canadian canoe.

When we went ashore, I brought some yogurt starter for Keli and Chris some freshly made fudge, which we gave out to some of the people we knew as we walked through the village. One woman, whose child was suffering from pink eye told us that her child was much better after she took my advice (picked up from Pat on 'The Rose') that she should squirt breast milk in the eye to cure the infection. It was amazing to see that in one day the baby's eyes were significantly improved. Breast milk has anti-bacterial properties.

We had a lovely visit with Gok and Keli and later rowed Gok out to Ladybug for a visit (Keli had to attend a woman's committee meeting to organize some sort of large event scheduled for August). Gok liked our boat but after we told him about the dangers of travelling by sea, he told us we should sell Ladybug and move to Fiji. He invited us to stay with him when we come here.

Chris paddles Agelu's canoe

Rani takes a turn. Note the lovely calm conditions.

Keli and Gok pose beside their outdoor kitchen

Gok was making rotis on a tava over an open fire when we arrived. It turns out that he is the only Indian on this island. They had also made a breadfruit curry for us and we had a delicious lunch on their deck by the outdoor kitchen.

Sepola and grand-daughter. Sepola is Keli's cousin. She lives down by the beach where she makes toddy from the coconut palm.

Collecting 'toddy' from the new shoots of a coconut palm. The sap is then boiled down to make a sweet syrup and can also be fermented to make a powerful alcoholic drink.