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Who’d live on an island like this?

Back in Fiji. Back on Vorovoro. Back to a routine I know so well.  But who makes up this little island community these days and what have they been up to whilst the rest of the world has been watching football, tennis & oil spills?

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From Vorovoro to John Obey. How did that happen?

“So where next?” It was September 1st 2006. We’d just welcomed the ‘first footers’ onto Vorovoro’s golden sands and Tui Mali had accepted our offer of the tabua (whales tooth) as our social contract with his community. We had begun.

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The Project: Building a new kind of community in Sierra Leone

In October 2010, a new group of visitors will arrive on Sierra Leone’s John Obey Beach, 20 miles south of the capital, Freetown, and begin to build a new life alongside the local fishing community.

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Tequila, Dia Cuatro

NOTES FROM THE FIELD: Today really is Thursday. I’m not confused anymore. I am now acclimatised to the Mexican way of life (including what day it is). This morning was the start of something that we soon learned would unfortunately continue for the rest of the week.

Vorovoro Iron Maiden 2009

Some tribe members this year have seen me swim to the headland whilst the sun’s rising and scamper across the sand when the sun’s setting (whilst having coconuts thrown at me from the President of the Hammock Society!)

Why am I doing this?

I have been planning to complete the Iron Maiden for a while and now the rainy season is over, the route has finally been detangled and cleared and the sea’s calmed down. I am now ready for the challenge!

You might have heard through the Coconut wireless about the first ‘Vorovoro Iron Man’ challenge which Ben Keene and Giles Dawnay completed back in August 2008 and they both raised an amazing amount for Survival International. As Vorovoro has been my home for the last year, I decided to be the first Vorovoro Iron maiden as well as do something beneficial and raise money for the same charity Survival, helping indigenous tribes all around the world.

So what is the Iron Maiden?

The Iron Maiden consists of two challenges on Vorovoro:

1. Firstly, running (well, jogging!) across and over the 4 peaks, including the scramble up to the recently completed dam; then following the mangroves, back on to the beach and finally along to the Tribewanted village to the Volley ball court.
2. A quick slurp on a coconut before grabbing a snorkel and mask, jumping into the sea and swimming the outline of the whole island; around the headland, across to Nakawaqa, along the coastline past the old jetty and Tanoa Park, around the rocks at secret beach, past the waterfall before the final stretch back to the village…phew!

To make the second part even more of a challenge, I am going to leave my fins behind and just use arm actions and leg power to get myself around.

Although I am no professional, I am aiming to do the Iron maiden in less than 2 hours 45 minutes.  I have clambered across the peaks before and swum around the island on various occasions, I won’t have achieved both these challenges together, straight after each other until this day.

When is the Iron Maiden?

I am aiming to complete the challenge on the 2nd July, but in true Fiji style fashion, this is weather and tide dependent. The tide in particular is crucial to get right as it needs to be out enough whilst I am running over and along the island but in enough when I start the swim.
It will definitely be completed in the first week of July and I will keep you all posted.

Further information:

• Check out Survival International.
  
• Sponsor me and support Survival.
  

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Plans change & Vorovoro gets a solar-powered desalinator

Team Fusion look for parts in Labasa / Photo by Vivek Datta

We finally arrive in Labasa, the town from which we will be making our way by boat to Vorovoro. After almost a week of travelling we are nearly there. Lassitude, hunger, and insouciance have set in. The sweltering heat propels us into a delirium. Where are we again? Why are we here? The endless journey has thus far obscured the raison d’être of the expedition: to build a solar-powered refrigeration system.

Labasa proves to be low on parts

We are coming to end of the journey and the start of the project. Unfortunately we hit a major snag. We meet with some of the Tribewanted guys who tell us that they have had difficulty in sourcing the materials we needed in Labasa. We are not surprised. For some reason, we had thought that Labasa was a big town. We were wrong. As such, it seems unlikely that high-pressure pipes or large volumes of ammonia would be up for grabs in the local stores. Nevertheless we plod along through the town to visit the hardware stores. It’s Easter Monday and the stores are closed. But at least we can familiarise ourselves with where everything is for when we return to the town on Wednesday. This means that it is no longer possible for us to make the solar-powered icemaker.

“Wait a minute? Isn’t that a bit deafeatist?” we hear you say.  “So they don’t have the exact material you have, can’t you use something else? Can’t you be a bit creative? Can you not just work with that they have in Labasa? I mean, surely they must have something?”. Well, technically we could use something else, but to forgo using high-pressure pipes is to court disaster. We need to make something that not only works, but is safe too. If the pipes we use cannot withstand the high pressures generated within, then the whole thing could blow to pieces. If we were going to do this, it was going to be properly and safely or not at all. We make no apologies for that.

The sustainability objective

Team Fusion & James discuss how to proceed / Photo by Vivek Datta

Perhaps some of the obsessive-compulsive neurotics amongst you will say, “Shouldn’t you have thought of this beforehand? Shouldn’t have you arranged to get the materials from elsewhere if you found out before they were not available in Labasa? Isn’t this just a case of shoddy planning foiling your project?”.  Well, we were told that it should be fine to source all the materials in Labasa. We didn’t know any better. And as for getting materials from elsewhere (e.g. UK, Australia etc.), yes we could have done that, but it is important that the system is both sustainable (i.e. it keeps on going long after we have gone) and replicable (i.e. that the locals can take the concept and design and reproduce it easily). If we used materials from abroad then it would mean that if something went wrong with the system or a part needed replacing, it would likewise have to be procured from abroad. It would also mean that it would be more difficult for it to be replicated easily. We also feel we have a duty to benefit to local economy and this means purchasing our materials in Fiji and not elsewhere.

Inspired to innovate

We take the boat over to Vorovoro, and whilst enjoying the stunning views and looking out for sharks, we entertain our musings and machinations of alternative plans. It is not until we get there that we can decide what it is that really needs to be done.

It is when we arrive on the island and our given a tour that inspiration hits. Despite being surrounded by it, water is limited and rationed during the dry season. It is reminiscent of the lines of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

“Water, water everywhere, And all the boards did shrink.
Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.”

Dinusha with Tui Mali / Photo by Vivek Datta

Thus we decide on building a solar-powered desalination system. Desalination is the process of removing salt and other impurities from sea water. Our system would not render the water drinkable, however it would provide water that was available for showers, washing up dishes, washing clothes, and watering plants, and put an end to the restrictions on use of water on the island during the dry season. Incidentally, it was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who first suggested the utility of desalination. It seems highly appropriate that thousands of years later two (and a half) Greeks should travel across the globe to implement this idea to benefit Vorovoro. Far from being a second-rate plan, we believe that this system will be an even more significant development than an icemaker.

Further information

• Read the full diary entry ‘Team Fusion: From sun-powered icemaker to sun-powered boiler‘ by Vivek Datta @ Tribewanted Blogs

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Solar-powered ice maker heads for Vorovoro, Fiji

Ben Keene with Team Fusion in London / Photo by Ben Keene

We can’t help but think that using the sun’s heat in this way is both beautiful and ironic. The beauty lies in its environmentally friendly design, harnessing the sustainable energy source of the sun’s rays. The seeming irony lies in the use of solar heat to freeze water.  Team Fusion are the four winning members of the Students in Free Enterprise Competition that was promoted at Kings College London earlier this year.

Preparations

Fiji is a far cry from the comfort and security of the environment provided by King’s College London where we are all currently studying. This design would be relatively easy to put together quickly and reliably in London (although the distinct lack of sun would not make it feasible!) but it’s a completely different story on Vorovoro. We’ve spent 3 weeks putting together the proposal and design for the project, thinking of all the materials we need, and everything that could potentially go wrong. But the reality is we won’t really know until we get there! In preparation we have made contact with James on the island to see if we would have any problems getting any of the material we need. But again, we won’t really know until we arrive, and have a few ideas of how to progress if we’re not able to get exactly what we need.

We have now booked all our flights, but not without problems.  One of us has managed to book the wrong flight from Labasa to Nadi! And unfortunately we won’t all be travelling together as Panos and John’s Greek passports prevent them flying through the US without a visa, so they will instead by flying via Sydney, adding an extra 2 days to their journey.

We have little idea what to expect when to arrive, but our imminent arrival has certainly generated a wide range of emotions: from excitement to hope to trepidation – excited to have the opportunity to get the tribewanted experience and contribute something meaningful and sustainable to the island, hopeful that the project will be successful and make a significant impact to the community, and trepidation that it could all go horribly wrong! It is a risk and a challenge to take on this project. There are no certainties. There are no guarantees.

Team Fusion

Dinusha Zbyszewski – Dinusha is a 2nd year PhD student in medical robotics, having done his first degree in mechanical engineering. He first heard about the opportunity to use his skills to benefit the Tribewanted community when he attended a talk by Engineers Without Borders. There he met King’s College London Student in Free Enterprise (KCL SIFE) Vice President Josh Kapp who told him about the competition. Dinusha has always been interesting in applying his knowledge and skills in practical and meaningful ways that will enhance the lives of people across the world.

Panagiotis Polygerinos – Panos is a 1st year PhD student in medical robotics, and similarly has a mechanical engineering background. Dinusha asked him to join the team because he is intelligent, reliable, hardworking, and the engineer Dinusha is least likely to strangle if he were stranded on a desert island with one!

Ioannis (John) Vardakis – John is a mechanical engineering student who is currently applying for PhDs. He has a special knowledge of fluid systems and thermodynamics, an understanding of which are integral to the success of this project.

Vivek Datta – Vivek is a final year medical student with longstanding interests in photography and film. He will be responsible for documenting every step of the project through photographs, film and the blog.

We are grateful to Ben Keene and the Tribewanted team and KCL SIFE for providing us with this fantastic opportunity, and anticipate a successful outcome.

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Kokoda Recipe From Vorovoro, Fiji

Francis with the finished dish / Photo by Amy Briden

Kokoda has a unique taste which has been proven to make your lips zing and your mouth water, it consists of marinated raw fish, a dash of lemon, a hint of chilli, creamy coconut milk and a few other simple ingredients to add to the zesty flavour. Kokoda is quite a delicacy in the South Pacific as it can only be made with a certain type of fish, most often with Walu which is also known as Spanish Mackerel.

It takes a skilled fisherman to catch a Walu as they are super fast in the water and their silvery skin reflects the light, making it difficult to spot.  On Tuesday, it was Joni, our Boat Captain’s turn to catch fish for the tribe and with his streamlined moves and gracious physique, he was lucky enough to spear a 2kg Walu just off Vorovoro’s shoreline and bring it home to our Chef, Vale ni Kuro.  He explained that a 2kg Walu would normally be enough to make kokoda as a main meal for a small Fijian family.  This tasty treat is also made for special occasions and Fijian festivities, you just have to have a lot of the right kind of fish.

As soon as Joni came back with the Walu, Francis clapped her hands, shouted ‘wana navu!’ (very good!) and got stuck in to preparing the fancy Fijian meal. Kokoda is quite a rarity on our menu and has only been made a select few times on the island, so all the tribe (minus the veggies!) were extremely excited to sample the scrumptious sea food side dish.

So, if you are back home dreaming of blue skies, palm fringed beaches and want to remember the refreshing taste of Fiji; set your ipod playlist to Vorovoro Sessions; grab your apron and start preparing Kokada.

Kokada

Ingrdients:

• 1 Walu
• 5 Lemons
• 1 Lime
• 2 Coconuts/ tin of Coconut milk
• 7 Small Tomatoes
• 1 Chilli
• 1 Onion
• A sprinkling of Salt and Pepper

(You can also make Kokoda using certain types of tuna or monk fish but just ask your local fish monger for a white ‘fleshy’ fish which can be eaten raw and doesn’t have any bones.)

Method:

Preparing the fish is a little bit messy but very simple.  In true island style, you can make the most of all of it by frying or boiling the head and tail and eating them for breakfast.

• Use a butcher’s knife to remove the head and tail.
• Tuck a knife under the silvery skin and peel it back. Take the skin off both sides of the fish and remove the fins.
• Cut the meat away from the backbone.
• Dice the flesh into small cubes and put into a bowl.
• Squeeze 3 of the Lemons over the fish, cover and leave for a good 30 minutes.

Whilst the fish is soaking up the citrus juice goodness:

• Chop up the Onion into small chunks.
• Slice the Tomatoes into quarters.
• Cut the Chilli into tiny pieces.
• If you have a Coconut handy or are desperate to relive the Vorovoro experience; first husk, then grate and follow by squeezing the coconut through a clean cloth again and again to produce the irrisistably smooth, creamy milk.  If you haven’t a coconut readily available or would like to go for the easier option, a tin of Coconut milk will also do the trick.
• After 30 minutes is up, rinse the fish off in fresh water.
• Throw the chopped ingredients into a bowl with the raw fish.
• Pour over the coconut milk.
• Squeeze the Lime and the remaining Lemons into the mix.
• Finally add Salt and Pepper to taste.

You can also add grated carrot or cool cucumber cubes to the dish to add some extra freshness.

“Kokoda always nice with cassava, yes. Oh, not everyone can have cassava. Dalo in England?! No. Ok, the potato or with rice. Very good….or you people like the chip. Yes, try the chip! Today we have Kokoda with bread fruit fritters and baked fish. Works very well”

- Head Chef, Vale ni Kuro

Vinaka Francis and of course to Joni too for the spear fishing! So any root vegetable is ideal to serve with Kokoda but just as tasty served with a crisp, garden salad, freshly picked herbs or a wholemeal roll with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Tribewanted: The Andina Diares – You Too Can Climb A Mountain

Just for the benefit of those who don’t listen to BBC Radio 1 breakfast show, Chris Moyles is the loud, arrogant, large and opinion dividing presenter (on whether he’s actually a nice bloke) of the show. Over the last few months he and some of his A-list celebrity mates have been preparing to climb Africa’s highest mountain (almost 6000m) as part of a fund raiser for comic relief. So last week along with such luminaries as Cheryl Cole, Ronan Keating and Garry Barlow he set off to climb it whilst sending regular reports back to the BBC so we could follow their progress.

Coming back down to earth

Listening to their reports this week really reminded me what I love about climbing. As Moyles reported back to the BBC over the week the tone of his voice noticeably changed as they got higher and life became harder. He started out as a typical swaggering, cocky loudmouth but by the end you could hear a real sense of humility and modesty in his voice. Climbing mountains is a real challenge both physically and mentally (much more so that people who have never done it often realise) and by the end of the week the enormity of what he’d set himself was very clear. It was incredible to hear him sounding so honest and humble for a change about how challenging it all was, it almost made him likeable.

Inspiring & relective

This sense of a man really pushing himself and the sense of perspective that he was gaining was amazing to follow. What continues to attract so many people to climbing is the unique sense of perspective that it gives you. Suddenly from being potentially quite an ‘important’ person in your own environment you’re taken completely outside that into this vast and mighty, uncontrollable expanse. You suddenly find yourself feeling very small and insignificant surrounded by this immense beautiful wilderness. And that is what is so refreshing about the experience. It’s almost impossible to come away from such an experience without some real and deep life reflections on where you are in the world and where you going.

To top it off, Moyles and his group raised a staggering £1.4 million for Comic Relief as a result. Regardless what you think of him, that is quite something and deserves genuine congratulations.

This summer we too will be taking to the mountains. Tribewanted has organised 3 separate expedition dates where we will be taking a small group through their paces in the stunning Ancash area of Northern Peru before attempting a double summit on Pisco (5752 m’s) and Yanapaccha (5400 m’s).

Further Information:

• Tribewanted: The Andina Diaries – Mountain Guide Profile
• Tribewanted: The Andina Diaries – Cooking in the Andes
• Tribewanted: The Andina Diaries – Pastoruri Glacier
• Tribewanted: Climbing In The Andes

Departure Dates:

• Sat 27th June to Thursday 16th July 2009
• Sat 18th July to Thursday 6th August 2009
• Sat 15th August to Thursday 3rd September 2009

As part of your payment to Tribewanted you will receive a years membership to Survival who campaign for indigenous tribal rights across the developing world. On top of this a small donation of this of the amount will go to the charity called Puentes which aims to provide the street children of Peru with a safe and happy childhood which was set up by a amazing friend of mine who’s life was tragically cut short in Ecuador last year.

If you would like any more information regarding Tribewanted Andina then please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at giles@tribewanted.com

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Fiji Tourism Will Recover

Photo by Ben Keene

Watching Obama speak to congress today on CNN whilst waiting for my connection to London I was seriously impressed to hear the amount of investment the US will make into renewable energy in the coming years. The President referred to a new site that will track the gargantuan amount of spending: Recovery.gov is a brilliant example in web communication, and the fact that RSS feeds are being used to stream government spending plans is amazing considering how new the technology is.

Recovery for Fiji?

Before I left Fiji last night I shared a grog session with tribe and partners in the Skylodge, Nadi. Sara Jane, her beautiful baby Dylan and his Dad, Shane were there, as was Brad, Casey, Ana and Ruben from Feejee Experience, Cecil from Pacific Sun, Amy (having a few well earned days off island) and Ulai.  Also joining us on the matt was Jo Tuomoto, the new boss of Tourism Fiji. Jo shared with us the dismal state of Fijian Tourism with the combination of global downturn and recent flooding seeing a rapid drop in bookings.  I asked Jo about how, even without the kind of budget Obama has, Fiji might also plan for recovery within their most important source of revenue. Jo talked of looking for new ideas in creative and innovative online marketing that were strong on buzz and talanoa (story).

I’ve no doubt that Fijian tourism will recover – it seems that even with Vorovoro only half full, we’re ahead of most of the pack in terms of ‘occupancy’. Feejee Experience is also doing relatively well compared to the main operators.  So I think that shows something.  The kind of tourism that reflects Fiji as it really is – a collection of villages and communities living out their lives in a stunning environment, regardless of the drama and changes around the world and even in their own country – is the kind of tourism that attracts visitors and engages them.

Now that we’re established in Fiji and are extending our partnership on Vorovoro with Tui Mali, I look forward to more ways we can support the right kind of development for this beautiful and unchanged country that I (and I know I’m not the only non-Fijian to say this) love.

Sota Tale Viti.