DID YOU KNOW?????????

 Healthy cooking class with Karoi....

Our clinic

Buying cooked corn on the cob on the roadside.


"Bula"....  Hello
Minimum wage in Fiji is $2.97
A doctor working for the government makes $23,000.
Women need a written consent by husband to have a tubal ligation.
Cervical Cancer is the #1 cancer death for women in Fiji.
Mongooses eat the snakes....( I had one in our room the other night!)
Bats are HUGE and there is a restaurant in Vanuata serving only Bat. ( Bats eat fruits so the meat of
   bats are very sweet. )
Amputation is done every 12 hours due to diabetes.  Population of Fiji is 850,000.
Raymond Burr ( Perry Mason ) created an orchid farm of over 1500 different orchid varieties.
It is polite to keep you head at a lower level than your host in a village.  Fijians regard the head as
   sacred - never ever touch a person's head.
Hindu firewalking is part of a religious festival and the the culmination of a 10 day period of
     abstinence, meditation, and worship.
A bure is a traditional thatched Fijian home.
Veiseisei village, which according to local lore is the oldest settlement in Fiji.  We live in Veiseisei.
Fiji has the highest percentage of Hare Krishnas per capita in the world
Udreudre's Tomb is the resting place of Fiji's most notorious cannibal.  He ate 872 of his foes!
The International dateline twists its way around Fiji, but the 180 degree meridian cuts straight through
  Taveuni.
Meke - Traditonal dance
Lovo - Feasts cooked in a pit-oven

Outdoor classroom

 Shopping at the market

 Selling chickens and eggs at the market

 Selling seafood at the market

Clothing store in Lautoka



MOCE - Good Bye!

A BIT ABOUT KAVA...and Tabua......

KAVA, also called yaqona or grog, is very much a part of Fiji culture.  It is mildly narcotic, looks like muddy water and makes your tongue go furry.
   Yaqona is a type of pepper plant.  When visiting a village you will usually be welcomed with a short sevusevu ceremony during which you will be initiated into kava culture.
   There are certain protocols to be followed at a kava ceremony.  Sit cross-legged, facing the chief and the tanoa (large wooden bowl).  Women usually sit behind the men,  Never walk across the circle of participants, turn your back to or point your feet at the tanoa, or step over the cord that leads from the tanoa to a white cowrie shell, which represents a link with the spirits.
    The dried and powdered root, wrapped in a piece of cloth, is mixed with water in the tanoa and squeezed out; you will be offered a drink of the resulting concoction from a bilo (half a coconut shell).  Clap once, accept the bilo, say "bull" and drink it down in one go.  Clap three times in gratification.  The drink will be shared until the tanoa is empty.  After a few drink you may feel a slight numbness of the lips.  Long sessions with stronger mixes can make you very drowsy, and some heavy drinker develop kanikani (scaly skin).
   Having grog is used for welcoming and bonding with visitors, for storytelling sessions or merely for passing time.  Today kava is a part of daily life across the country and across the races.

 Joe is pounding the kava root....

 Our first sevusevu

 Mixing kava in the tanoa

Kava is sold in shops and markets.


A bit about TABUA....Tabua ( carefully polished and shaped whales' teeth) were believed to be shrines for the ancestor spirits.  They were and still are, highly valued items and essential to diplomacy.  The acceptance of a tabua which is a powerful sevusevu binds a chief to the gift-giver.  Traditionally, a chief's body was accompanied to the grave by a tabua.
 

PEACE CORPS FIJI

In 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy established Peace Corps to promote world peace and friendship.  Three goals of Peace Corps are:
   1.  Helping people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women
   2.  Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of people served
   3.  Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans
Total # of Volunteers to date are 210,000
Total # of countries Served are 139
Current Volunteers 8073 - 62% Female, 38% Male, 93% Single, 7% Married
Average Age:  28
Volunteers over age 50:  7%
Current Countries:  76
Work Areas:  Education 43%, Health 21%, Community and Economic Development 12%,
       Environment 12%, Agriculture 4%, Youth 6%
Where Peace Corps Serves:  Africa 43%, Latin America 21%, Eastern Europe/Central Asia 15%,
       Asia 10%, Caribbean 4%, North Africa/Middle East 4%, Pacific Islands 3%

Joe and I are happy to serve as a married couple, over the age of 50, in Health, in the Pacific Islands!

OLD DOG "TRAY"

Tray died Christmas morning 2012.  He was 13.   Thanks to Jeanne, Kevin, Daniel, Kevin Denner, Ian Denner  for burying him under the pine tree next to Buckwheat.  Thanks to Suzanne for loving him to the end.  He was a great dog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2013.....we miss and love you all.

 Our Reproductive Health Team....Karoi, Ben, Moseisei, George, Peci, Eta at our Christmas party.

Christmas Picnic Fiji 2012!

 Lollipop and Jingle Bells appeared at our door after the Cyclone.  Lollipop unfortunately died and Jingle Bells was adopted by a loving family.

Matt, Ashley and Kayla waiting for the bus after Christmas.

We had 11 Peace Corps volunteers stay with us for 3 nights without electricity.  It was hard keeping the beer cold!

Our First Cyclone!!!!!

Dear All,

 Playing chess during the first part of the storm....

   Well we survived our first cyclone and we didn't blow away!!!!  It was 18 hours of strong wind and rain. People lost roofs, homes, trees etc.  We are still doing clean up and have not had electricity for two weeks.  Needless to say I AM HOT!!!!!  And I hear Wellsville has 2 feet of snow!!!!!  Our clinic closed for two days but we are up and running now without lights or internet....Fiji style!!!

Our new "HOME".....

Hi Everyone.....We are busy and happy in our new little "HOME".  We have a bedroom (Thanks Betty and John for the comforter....love it!), kitchen, indoor bathroom and two fans!!!  We take the bus to Lautoka every week to shop at the open market....lots of great fruits and vegetables.  We burn all our paper, composte our edibles and bury our tin.  Our yard is full of beautiful native flowers and the Health Clinic maintains a vegetable garden.  Joe and I walk each morning over the hill and along the ocean.  We have both have lost a little weight and are staying healthy.
   Joe is working with Non-communicable disease and I am working with Reproductive Health at the Veiseisei Sai Health Clinic, in the villages and settlements.  We enjoy our work and love the people we are working with.  Dr. R. and Dr. S are fabulous people and very committed to health, wellness and the people of Fiji.  We like them very much and are learning so much from them.

 Our little bedroom.

We don't have TV which is good.  Joe and I read, play cribbage and go to bed early!

 Dr. S

 Our new "HOME".

We walk up this hill every morning and along  the water.  It is beautiful.

 This is our composite pile and burning area!

We are on our way to Suva.  Joe gave a talk at Tapoo City on NCDs and I gave a talk on Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer.....

Our days are very full but we look forward to discovering more of the island in time.  So life is good...  Please stay in touch with us as we miss you all very much.........