Electrification and Oyster Update

ELECTRICITY

The official quotation to extend the electricity grid to our village arrived in my mailbox this week!

This is how it breaks down:

Total cost:                                                             $696,295.00
The government will cover 95% of the cost:       $661,480.00
The community contribution will be 5%:            $  34,815.00
Divide by 129 households:                                   $      266.00/house

This includes overhead power lines and internal wiring in 129 households.

The fundraising will be discussed in the February village meeting. It will be a major committment by community members to raise the money. The quotation expires at the end of the year. The quicker we can raise the money, the quicker the project can happen. (Especially crucial since there are elections for the first time in ages this year).


PEARL OYSTERS

We went out to check the pearl oyster lines this week. They are suspended about 5 meters below the surface. The lines were in good shape with no buoys missing. There was an awful lot of algae though, so we're waiting for feedback from Department of Fisheries as to whether or not we need to clean the line. Cleaning will either require the use of SCUBA or a lot of strong lunged free-divers.

We're Getting Hitched!

Solo courted me with coconuts, bananas, and play dates in the sea. He took the time to explain the intricacies of village tradition and helped me feel at home. He taught me the Fijian word for the Milky Way and that the moon has a wife. He told me a three hour bedtime story about the history of his clan, including the name of every single third cousin, and how they came to be here. He has a big heart and a certain disregard for the rules. A perfect combination! Together we just have so much damn fun!

It wasn’t until one day when we were riding bareback on his horse down the beach at low tide when I felt the butterflies deep in the pit of my stomach. I had begun to fall for this young man who I was supposed to call “brother”, this coconut cowboy who blatantly defied the tabu placed on my head. I tried so hard to suppress it because I knew there’d be trouble. Alas, I failed, and so we became partners in crime in a pseudo-incestuous, pseudo-secret affair.

Our decision to get married was one initially prompted by Solo looking over at me as we sat together months later on that same beach and him saying out of the blue like it wasn’t a big deal, "I don’t know about you, but I know I could spend my whole life with you."

Deep inside me I tangibly felt a changing of the tides. It was a really big deal! The wall built up around my heart was washing out to sea. I was letting love happen to me.

Later I told Solo that it didn’t feel official, that I wanted him to ask me to marry him. He said, "Like in the movies?!" So I hunted for a local pearl and a local jeweler, and the rest he planned… kinda like in the movies ;)

When we rented a house in Savusavu for Christmas, Solo worked with the caretaker to prepare a romantic dinner on the beach. He hid my ring in a bouquet of flowers he picked and wrapped in tin foil. He was so sweetly nervous as he told me how much he cared about me and asked me to marry him (in English).

Of course I said "Io"! (Yes!) And bawled like a baby.

After dinner I asked him what he'd say in Fijian, and it made it that much more special to hear it in his native tongue. 

I never thought I would get proposed to by a man in a skirt, but I couldn't be happier and can't wait for what's to come in 2014!

2013 Recap!

Life in "island time" can sometimes move a little slowly and as a Peace Corps Volunteer it is sometimes hard to see how all the little things we do add up. So here's a look back at 2013's highlights to help me gain some perspective.

From the work-related category:

• The Bua Yaubula Management and Support Team (BYMST), a newly formed provincial environmental management network, had a series of planning workshops to help build their capacity to support sustainable resource management in Bua. They also submitted a grant proposal in hopes to be able to implement their mission. The district representative is a man from our village.
• The village women  took full reins of their vegetable gardening project we started, and also built a chicken coop with support of the Ministry of Agriculture. They are now selling eggs and hope to expand their business.
• As a result of attending district-wide natural resource management planning workshops, members of the village took the initiative to form a village Yaubula, or environment, Committee. We working to build their capacity and confidence to successfully continue projects when I leave. They have been raising awareness about environmental issues in our village meetings and working with our traditional leaders to set up some local protected areas.
• We continued to plant mangroves and restock the nursery.
• We stocked a few giant clams and sea cucumbers in our tabu fishing area. We submitted requests to receive some breeding stock from the Department of Fisheries.
• We continued to try and get the support of Department of Forestry to train village members in setting up tree nurseries, especially focusing on sandalwood as an income generating species. (No luck yet!)
• A request for Good Leadership and Governance Training for traditional leaders and committee members was submitted to the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs and it looks like it might come through soon!
• We were able to report and stop some illegal sand extraction happening at the local beach. The sand was being used for the new Labasa-Nabouwalu highway.
• The team at Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) allowed me to team up with them for my Master's research. We will be doing social network analysis (SNA) as a way to better understand and hopefully improve collaboration and communication around natural resource management in our province. 
• Department of Fisheries came and set up two oyster spat collection lines in our Tabu Area. These lines will be left for one year to collect and grow baby oysters to sell to pearl farmers.
• We submitted a request for an extension of the electricity grid to our village and they came to survey. We have not yet received the quotation for the 5% we will have to contribute.
•  Water Authority Fiji helped build a new dam and water storage tank for the village's drinking water. It's experiencing a few glitches, but we're hoping to work them out soon.

I'm thankful for all the support from the community members and our stakeholder friends in helping make all these little and big things happen.

From the personal side of things:

• I extended my service for a 3rd year.
• I started giving my report at village meetings in Fijian. (Preparing it ahead of time, of course!)
• Two of my very best girlfriends visited and we had such a lovely time!
• I survived being assaulted on a run in Suva! 
• I ran my second half marathon and improved my time!
• I learned how to stove-top bake, make jam, and "brew" hooch. 
• I spent a month in the US and realized I miss my friends and family, but am so happy here in Fiji. 
• And the best thing of all: Solo and I decided to get married!