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Once I had recovered from my illness, I soon became more orientated around camp, learning that the toilets (ceramic toilets over holes in the ground) were to be flushed with buckets of seawater. I learnt that 3 bells meant either 'put your plates out for dinner' or 'Be in the social area in 15 minutes' and that 5 bells meant 'Collect your plates' or 'Get here right now!'
There were about 22 volunteers on camp when we arrived - 6 MedForce and the rest GreenForce. GreenForce were there to monitor the reef systems that surrounded the island we lived on. The volunteers had to spend to the first few weeks learning to dive and learning the fish they would have to survey. They got started on this pretty quickly so they could get as much time surveying later on. MedForce were there to look after the volunteers and learn about expedition medicine. Our camp doctor had loads of experience teaching and doing expedition medicine so we started an ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) Course with her. This was basically like lectures and discussions once or twice a day while sat out on this section of decking overlooking the sea. Injuries most commonly faced by divers are coral cuts and ear infections, which are relatively easy to self-treat so we just advised most of the time.
That first week was only officially half a week as we had arrived into camp on a Wednesday, so it was Sunday before we knew it. Sundays are village days and we were all a bit apprehensive, as we would be meeting our host families that Sunday. Part of the project was that we would each have a family that would provide us with lunch and share their home so we could learn about Fijian life and have a fuller Fijian experience. We would be seeing our host families every other week during the phase and visit a different village the weeks in between.
Anyway, this first Sunday, in two boatfuls, we were taken to the village and assigned our families. I warily walked up to the house that had been pointed out to me and the girl that stood in the door welcomed me in and introduced to the family. My father and mother had 3 children living with them, two daughters and their grandson; apparently their eldest daughter lived on another island in Fiji with her husband. My Father, Nimi, directed me to sit on the floor where they had laid out a mug of lemon tea and an array of pancakes and cassava balls (a Fijian root crop that is sweetened, boiled and then fIt was really lovely food and as I ate (the rest of my family just watched), I chatted with my father about my travels and my family in England. He even got out a book of maps so I could point out where I lived in England.
It was then time for a rest before church and as part of their culture I was given the double bed. The 11-yr old girl sat with me and was fascinated by my camera, as were all the children in the villages, and so we spent some time looking through the photos I had of my time in Australia. She then moved on to playing with my hair, brushing it and styling it, telling me how nice it smelt. She went off to Sunday school and I rested on the bed until she came back to get me.
We walked up to church with all the other volunteers and their family's children. We took off our shoes and were directed to the left-hand side where we were all going to sit together while the rest of the congregation sat on the right. The children all sat together at the front in rows where the youngest and smallest were at the front and the older, taller children were the back. The service started with several hymns: one member of the congregation sang two lines of a song and then hit her Bible twice; this signaled the rest of the congregation to start singing. The harmonies were beautiful and although the songs were sang in Fijian, you got a real sense from the passion on their singing of their love of God. The rest of the service was also in Fijian and so made it difficult to concentrate but a few hours later we had finished.
I walked back home with my 'sister', Malika, and sat down to a wonderful spread. I did not know this then, but my family had only provided me with so much as it was my first day with them and it was to welcome me and honour me as their guest. I later found out that my family were vegetarian and had gone out and been able to get two fish tails for me from a neighbour, as they knew I liked fish. The traditional foods, apart from cassava, are taro leaves. These are usually cooked in coconut cream and bound with flour into 'burgers', which are then fried; this is delicious. Taro is also a root crop and as you would expect, the crop is eaten also and has an uncanny resemblance to bread. The Fijians also enjoy noodles, which they cook in all sorts of different ways and are very tasty.
I was the only one to have a full set of cutlery; the rest of my family ate with tablespoons or their fingers. While I ate all this incredible food, they all had cassava and dhal (a lentil soup). It felt awkward, but we had been forewarned and it was correct to accept their generosity. They also like to feed you up and tell you that 'in Fiji you must more' but thankfully I had at least been able to serve my own portion, other volunteers were given heaped plates they then felt obliged to finish so as to appear thankful for all the food. We soon learnt one of the most important Fijian phrases: 'mamau, vinaka' which means I'm full, thank you'.
Then it was nap time and again, was given the double bed to sleep on while my father had the single and my mother and children shared a mattress on the floor. Again, it was culturally correct to accept the honour of having the best bed in the house. At least I wasn't one of the other volunteers who had their 88-year old grandma sleeping on the floor and who suffered through the guilt. My family's house is all one room and so felt obliged to sleep when they all slept, but it didn't take me long to actually drift off - it must have been all the food and the heat of the day.
It was about 2pm when I woke and wandered outside to see the other volunteers where we compared our experiences and played with some of the village children. I said goodbye to my family then, and we all walked back to camp as the tide was out. So we came to the end of our first week in Fiji and we all looked forward to getting stuck in to more of the project work in the weeks ahead.
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