Eleven Months Done

The other weekend Denise was extremely impressed with the neighbours (sarcasm).  She had done the washing and hung it on the line before we went out for lunch.  On our return several hours later we were greeted with smoke being blown over the washing and through the house.  The house looked like Lang Park for the last Reds game, but instead of fog we had smoke everywhere.

The smoke was the result of the neighbours burning their rubbish - leaves and branches and probably other household rubbish as well.

We brought the washing in and closed the house, but it was too late as everything now smelt of smoke.  It didn't help that some of the washing was our sheets.  They stank of smoke but there was no time to rewash everything.

Normally the smoke would have blown towards the west, but we had a southerly instead.

Independence "Week"

As I said in the last blog, Independence is celebrated in Kiribati with a week of celebrations, both cultural and sporting.  The culmination is a big parade on the Wednesday morning that begins at 06:30, yes that's a.m., and was scheduled to run until 11:00.

Now this was the biggest surprise of all our experiences in developing countries.  From the time we arrived they were already ahead of schedule and at on stage they were 1.5hrs ahead of the program.  The end result was that they finished on time.  The program only had when the march past started, but luckily for everyone, that is when it ended.

I think every educational institution, including pre-schools, plus a few other organisations took the opportunity to show off their marching skills in front of the President.  Some had coordinated moves while one group did a commando crawl in the dirt.

This was to be followed by a State Dinner/Lunch with the Pres by invitation only.

We managed to jag an invitation to the State Dinner together with about 200 others, so along we went in our formal attire.  I wore my new runners and a black wrap around piece of material.  Denise insisted I wore shorts under it.

On entry we were welcomed by the President and his wife, and after the lunch he went around with his security detail to everyone to thank them personally.  Denise decided she needed a selfie with him and at one stage I thought she would be escorted out, but luckily no diplomatic incident ensued.  I was taking everyone else’s photo so it was only fair I had a photo!

For lunch I had lobster with a lamb shank and various other delicacies.  Although I took some raw fish I was reminded that it had just been sitting in the sun for several hours so decided to leave it on my plate.

This was all to celebrate the 38th National Independence Day.

As always, people overindulged and a few were subtly escorted out by security after having a few to many beverages.

Emails

I am surprised how many locals use their personal email accounts for work.  It's not as if they don't have a work email, they just refuse to use it, and nobody cares - must be a first world problem.

When I leave an organisation I definitely don't want their emails following me.

The IT Manager sent out an email to all staff to ask them to stop sending All Staff emails unless they were relevant to all staff.  In response there were many Reply All responses.  I was so tempted to put on my grumpy hat and respond to the individual senders, but resisted the urge.

Another Politician

Volunteers must be a novelty item.  We had another two politicians in town who wanted to have dinner with us and the High Commissioner.  As a volunteer you never turn down free - it's like being a Uni student all over again without the late nights.

They don't seem to bother to plan ahead too far, and instead expect us to drop everything and cancel any other plans we may have.  They believe they are important and popular, when in reality they are just people like you and me.  The only difference is that they are on a taxpayer funded junket.  Lucky I don't pay tax.  I, as the supporting independent, sat on a different table to the Volunteers, as I can’t be seen as knowing too much.

The following afternoon we received an invitation for dinner that evening with the Senators and the President, so off we went for another free feed at the Presidents place.  I must say I forgot to think about the implications of such a dinner - politicians’ speeches.  Is this just a game of one upmanship? Again I was lucky to have a photo with the President and the visiting Senator, at the President’s request

I must point out that I have met some politicians who act like normal people, so it can be done.

Come to think of it, after the first lot of politicians visited I sent one an email, but so far no response - no surprise there.

Basketball

Before getting the invitation to the President’s luncheon I had committed to going to basketball to assist with games, but I told them I would be leaving before 9pm to watch State of Origin.  As l had a few drinks at lunch I gave basketball a miss.

On the Friday I went along to the Grand Finals while Denise went to dinner.  It was both Div 1 finals and I was pleasantly surprised with the Men's game as some of them could actually play.  They might get a game in reserve grade in Brisbane.

I ended up refereeing the Men's game and everything ran smoothly and there were no incidents I had to deal with so that made me happy.

Swimming

As part of Independence celebrations there was a swimming race in the lagoon.  I figured I had a chance, if nothing else, in my age category.  A long story short, after they rescheduled it, and Denise and I had waited for over 4hrs, I didn't enter it and we just walked away.  I doubt they even knew or cared that we weren't happy.

Denise's Bit/Rant

On one of my many trips around the country side, my name sake and I witnessed a man (pedestrian) being hit by a motorbike.  What we think happened was, the man on foot was running across the road to get on the work truck.  He didn’t look and was hit by the motorbike, the man on the motorbike came off and hit a 10-year-old boy who was riding his push bike.  The man on the truck dusted himself off and got on the truck, the man with the motorbike looked at the damage that he had, which was more than he could afford to fix and the young boy seemed to recover.  Name sake and I just looked at each other.

I have had a busy week trying to get the insurance sorted for the car.  It has been a series of visits to mechanics, to see if they can get parts for the car.  I have been told that the model of car is discontinued and parts are difficult to come by.  Let’s see how much longer this will take.

So, as the lucky person to do all this running around, I had to go to a Toyota dealership.  I took 4 steps into the office, after I had already cleaned my shoes, and I slipped a little.  I immediately turned around to sit and take my shoes off but 2 steps later I was on the floor, in pain and tears.  No one came to my aid as I’m an Imatung (foreigner).  Culturally they don’t offer assistance as they are not able to touch a female.  When they finally decided I had done some damage they asked the questions.  It appears that I have ligament damage to my upper left arm and shoulder.  The initial prognosis was dislocated shoulder.  Off to the Imatung doctor up the island in Betio, for X-ray’s that showed I didn’t have a break, then down to Emergency to go and see an orthopaedic surgeon.  Yes, they have one.  So hours later I get to see him and he says I have soft tissue damage.  He prescribes pain killers and off I go home.  I must have known something was going to happen as I had made dinner in the morning.  Spinach and Ricotta cannelloni.  My home made Ricotta.  Very nice, could have done with some salt.

I am at present waiting on the nurse from the insurance mob to get back to me in regard to what is going on.  Look out for the next blog.  There has been mention of going back to Australia, but I have jobs that need to be finalised!

This week my name sake and I have been doing mock interviews.  These people have applied for jobs in Australia on two of the Barrier Reef big island resorts.  Since the last time we did these interviews we can see how some of the applicants have improved impressively while other are not quite getting it.  All in all, a good experience for both the applicants and ourselves.

Countdown Begins

Our car is now up for sale and we already have offers that are acceptable.  Before making any decision we just need to sort out the attempted break in damage with the insurance company.

The police finally satisfied the insurance company, so it's now waiting on a decision as to whether it is an insurance claim.  I doubt there is enough time to get the car repaired before we leave but we will wait and see what happens.

I'm unsure what the police have done in the way of investigations, apart from ask me if I knew who tried to break into the car.  From what I have heard, even if I had known who it was, that doesn't mean the police would actually do anything.

Parliamentarians

We had four federal parliamentarians from Oz out here recently and as part of their visit they wanted to meet up with the volunteers.  It was a little like being on display.  We must be a novelty item.  I was a little surprised to see the negativity of one of them, luckily not my candidate or I would have told him so.  The one who did impress me was from Oxley and he appeared genuinely interested in foreign aid and volunteering.

Denise had her say when asked if anybody had a question which had them all wanting to respond to disprove what she said.  I loved that part.  It was like throwing a fox into the hen house, without the casualties.  She wasn't impressed.

Navy

We missed a visit by the US Navy while we were in Australia.  It makes me wonder why the Australian Navy doesn't visit, particularly when they go straight past us on their way to / from Hawaii.  Does anyone know of somebody in the Navy to organise a quick visit before we leave?  I hear there are some ships doing sea trials so just steer them northeast for a few days.  I'm sure nobody will notice a missing Navy ship.

Independence Celebrations

We are currently getting three flights in a week from Fiji Airways.  I have heard this is because of the Independence celebrations next week.  During Independence week we get three public holidays from the Wednesday.  The good part is that the final State of Origin game is played then so we get a public holiday to celebrate a Blues win.  I thought that was good of the NRL to think of us in scheduling this deciding game. As usual he is having a moment! Let’s see what happens!  I’m sure Tommy will have something to say if they lose.  It will be worth reading his scathing words.

The Independence celebrations up until this year were a full week of public holidays.  The locals don't seem to have accepted that their politicians have reduced that by two days, so I'll be interested to see who turns up to work on those two days.  My guess, not many.

Special School

What an appropriate name that is - Special School.  This place holds a special place in both our hearts.  Seeing the students, teachers and administrators having so much fun is just infectious.

I was there for the opening of the carpentry section and at the end one of the senior students was presented with an electric wheelchair from the power company.  They have even offered to maintain it.

What a sight, seeing this boy propel himself around by using a joystick.  His face was radiant, while the rest of the students were in awe.  The founder then said this boy wanted to establish a small delivery business and required $200 as a startup.  I was about to offer it there and then, but couldn't attract attention.  Next thing I know there was a bowl on the ground for donations.  Whoops, I had no money with me.  They collected over $250, and afterwards I told them we would donate, but I didn't have any money with me.  At that I was told it mentioned it in the program.  That would have been great if I had actually read the program.  All I read was when it started and ended.

When we checked the program it was discovered that the donation part was written in Kiribati.  Just a small problem there...

Wrapping Up

It is now time to begin the handover process to ensure programs and processes continue after we depart.  Denise is finding that part particularly difficult, especially the bit about giving up control of things.  Is anybody shocked?

The good part of handing over is you actually realise how much you have been doing.  It is not just the role you took on, but all the little, and big projects on the side as well.

One that looks like it will die are my efforts to get scuba diving in Kiribati better organised.  You just have to let it go and say you tried your hardest.

Some of the projects we have taken on either individually or together include:

• ·        Days for Girls - a sensational effort by Denise with me begrudgingly giving up baggage allowance, but finally getting on board.

• ·         Creating an asset management system and a student register for the Special School.

• ·         Reading and talking English with school students and adults.

• ·         Running basketball rules sessions.

• ·         Assisting with interview preparations for people wanting jobs in Australia.

• ·         Providing information to people going to Australian universities through talks and Q&A.

• ·         Participating in interview and selection panels.

• ·         Participating in Rotary and eventually becoming Secretary and Treasurer, against Peter protests

News

I heard a comment the other day about the Kiribati people only looking internally for ideas and inspiration and not looking to see what the rest of the world is doing.  I do know that those in power definitely look outward, otherwise how would they know what conferences and workshops they could attend.  I'm not convinced it extends to anything else.

This was highlighted the other day when with about two minutes left on the bus trip to work the BBC World News came on and within first few seconds the news was turned off for music.  This could also be because it was in English and the driver was in control of the radio.

I have been on the bus when the local news comes on in eKiribati and they definitely listen to that, but that's news local things.

Now I think about it, there is no discussion about overseas matters in general with the exception of expats.

Testing Samples

As part of checking products for next year we have samples that are to be tested to see how they would handle real world use in Kiribati - potentially rough treatment, heat, humidity, sea spray, rough ground and no grass.

The testing includes dropping, throwing, bending and seeing where things break.  In effect, being rough with them, but not intentionally destructive.

There is myself and two others.  I knew they were enjoying themselves, but was surprised when we got to testing a table tennis ball.  Here they were throwing it against the cement block wall ten times (every test is at least ten times).  I must say I thought it a bit excessive, but the ball survived.

The other test they love is throwing a ball (soccer ball, basketball and volleyball) against a rough bit of coral.  It took them some time to work out the rebound could go anywhere.  That includes my laptop (I now shut it), a fluorescent light (luckily didn't break), a wooden window shutter and themselves to name a few.  Twice the ball rebounded into their face.  The solution, throw from a little further away and do so in an area without breakable items.

So far we have broken one ball and damaged a few others.  As for other products, we are having similar fun and surprisingly many items are surviving, although one we will have to retest as I think they might have been a little too aggressive.

I have never enjoyed an evaluation so much.  The only downside is all the testing is done in a non-air conditioned room so I end up in a lather of sweat.

I think I'll change my job title to Product Tester, you make it and I'll break it.

I think I lost that tag the next day when after recording all the findings for the day, I accidentally lost the file.  The amazing thing was that I didn't swear, well not out loud anyway.

People

I have now seen something I thought I would never see here.  There is a local bloke who walks around, and rides a motorbike wearing a thick red jacket and hood (he wears the hood as well) and long pants.  Not sure about why, but I would like to know how he controls his body temperature.  He actually looks like Leo Wanker, one of Paul Hogan's alter egos.

I have never worn long sleeves or long pants here.  In fact, I don't have any here, with the exception of a rash vest and my thin wetsuit.

Another surprise was seeing a group of young boys walking along with one covered in soap suds.  Now I must say it was a time when we had a big downpour that tested my umbrella on my way to the bus - it kept me dry.

When I got to the road there were six young men already there standing under the shop awning (my bus shelter).  I hadn't seen them waiting for a bus before, but that mystery was solved as soon as the rain stopped.  They climbed into a truck parked nearby and drove off.

Other locals just walked in the rain as normal.  It's not as if you get cold when you are wet here - it's +27c every day.

Back to the boy covered in soap suds.  By this time the rain had stopped so I was wondering how he would wash off.  Surprise, there was a community tap close by so while he negotiated under the tap the other boys were getting a drink of water.  The tap was only about 60cm off the ground so he had to show his flexibility but did quite well to remove most of the soap suds.

Back to the roads

The same morning of the showers, I discovered the bus drivers don't slow down.  Even though the road is reasonably straight, there are still all the usual obstacles to be negotiated and with a hotmix road surface, poorly maintained vehicles and rain, it is an accident waiting to happen.  Luckily we made it to work without incident and I didn't see any other incidents.

 

Weather

We are still getting the occasional rain in short bursts.  They seem to be rain squalls with high winds, well high for Kiribati.  I have noticed that a lot of the rain we get is like this and usually only lasts for a few minutes.  Then the sun comes out just to raise the humidity.  It even looks a little bit like the wet season is beginning.  We will wait a week or two to see.

We are also going through a cold snap at present - a little like Australia.  It only got up to 29 yesterday and next Tuesday the forecast is for a low of 26.  I wonder if the jumpers will come out.

The dips in our entry road are full of rain water so walking out the other day took a little time to negotiate in my runners.  Denise suggested my hiking boots, but I thought I would be OK - I was.  The boots are for if we get constant rain and the ground gets muddy - like Kokoda.  Otherwise they can stay in the cupboard.  Denise picked me up on the way home so I got to drive through the puddles.  That is fun, but I'm not game to see how the car goes through water at any speed as we have no motoring association to assist over here.

Today was Library day as usual!  My namesake and I must have missed the memo that the Library would be closed.  So we sat outside, read, coloured in and watched videos of my Fiji trip.  The ladies and their children were all pleased we were still there.  Quite a site!  The ladies are always happy to see us.