We spent 4 peaceful days in Bavatu Harbour with our friends on Nautilus.
The kids really liked jumping off the rocks at the Royal Exploring Isles Yacht Squadron,
and we were really happy to get huge bags full of mandarins and limes from the plantation.
On our way to the village of Susui, we caught 4 fish between the 2 boats, but Hans caught the biggest, a giant trevally that fed all of us for days. The girls traveled on Nirvana and spent their time making a very colorful cake.
The village of Susui
We arrived Sunday afternoon at the village of Susui and they
immediately invited us to church. We quickly cleaned up the boats and fish, and
put on nice clothes and went in for church. We were introduced to many of the villagers
and they asked us a lot of questions, as it is exciting for them to have
visitors. They told us we were the first visitors they had for 8 months. The
church ceremony was done in Fijian, with a few introductory words in English
for us. There was a lot of wonderful singing and everyone wholeheartedly
participates. They asked us to come up and say something, so Gary did the
talking for all of us.
After church we were taken to the chief of the village to present
our sevusevu. He accepted the sevusevu (kava) and welcomed us into his village.
He even told us the children were welcome to attend school. When we left the chief's
house, the school age children we met before church really insisted that our
kids come to school the next day. So we went to meet the school teacher to make
sure that would be ok with her.
The school has about 24 students split into 2 classrooms, grades
1-4 and 5-8. Normally there are 2 teachers, but one of the teachers is in Suva
and can't find transport to the village, so he will come later. The teacher
said she would be delighted to have our children, so bright and early the next
day the children went to school. Our kids were excited to go to school and felt
a little brave since there were 4 of them. Gigi and Fien (both age 12) were put
in grade 7, and Axel (10) and Sepppe (8) were both put in grade 4. So they were
happy to have each other.
The first thing they did in school was the flag ceremony followed
by devotion. Lesi, a 12 year old boy that walked our children to school led the
flag ceremony. Go to this link and you can see a video of flag ceremony https://youtu.be/7_hzdSHFNIs
They use a drum instead of a bell to sound off the start and end
of school, recess, in the flag ceremony,… and there is another bigger drum next
to the church to let you know when church is starting.
At lunch both Gigi and Axel were bubbling over with excitement to
tell us all about what they did at school, and both begged us to let them go
back the next day. In the afternoon on Mondays they have physical education, so
the girls returned to school in shorts, normally they must wear skirts, and the
Fijian children have uniforms. They ran and played a lot, and were exhausted
when they came home that evening. By the end of the first day they had made
many friends and Axel had taught the entire school how to make really loud fart
sounds.
Here is the flag ceremony at the end of the day.
The second day of school was Fien's birthday, so she brought cupcakes with lollipops in each one. The kids were so excited, some of them were nervous about eating them, since they never get anything like that.
The first school morning was so tranquil.
The people of Susui have been incredibly generous to us and they
are not materially wealthy people. It makes you reflect on how giving a little
bit of your time to get to know everyone around you is so rewarding. We have
all gained so much in our hearts from this village, especially the children.
Moce,
Julie
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