Latitude: S 15 59.499
Longitude: E 167 11.033
We've been at Malua Bay now for five days having arrived on Wednesday, August 3. We are the only boat in the anchorage of this nicely protected little bay on the northeastern tip of Malakula. For the most part we have been protected from the raging winds and large swells that have been passing through. Here is a recap of our week.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - Arrival
After our arrival after a pretty wild ride along the coast from Southwest Bay, we were tuckered out. We did have some visitors though late in the afternoon. When we had first arrived Chief Don came out to greet us in his dugout canoe. We told him that we had some school supplies and were hoping to make contact with Issac, a name of a teacher given to us by Claudia and Brian on Skylight.
Two men in a dug out approached the boat about 4:00 p.m. and introduced themselves as Issac and Gerry (headmaster) of the school. We introduced ourselves and told them we would like to visit the school the following day. We made arrangements to arrive at 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 - Meeting the School Leaders.
The school here in Malua Bay is a Seventh Day Adventist School. It is a cinderblock school with openings for window and doors, but with no windows or doors. It's very open. There are cement floors, rustic desks, and beatup old blackboards. Students do a considerable amount of copying from softbound curriculum books into their exercise books (small notebooks with staples).
The Adventists established a mission here and are the guardians of the Bay. Unlike other villages where we seek permission from the Chief to go ashore, snorkel on the reefs, hike their trails, etc., here in Malua one seeks permission from the school leaders.
We arrived at the school at 10:00 a.m. and met with the head master, deputy headmaster, and French teacher, Mr Issac. We delivered the school supplies we had brought from Port Vila. The school leaders were thrilled as this school like most of the island schools we have visited is in desperate need of materials, reading books, supplementary instructional materials (maps, globes, charts, number lines, alphabet posters, etc.
We made ourselves available to the school should they wish to take advantage of any of our teaching skills. We indicated that Russ had a background in engineering and optometry, and I had a background in teaching, administration and professional development. We could do our standard geography lesson and related earth science lesson or something of their choice. Well, that jumped at the chance to have us do some teaching, particularly in classes 7-8-9 which are comparable to grades 6, 7, 8. The school only has a total of 120 students, so classes are small.
They asked if I would teach some social studies on world governments and economics the following day. They asked Russ if he would teach some science and geography. Russ had mentioned that he had helped to fix some generators in Southwest Bay, and would the school want to organize a workshop for some of the local people to learn how to maintain their generators and troubleshoot electrical problems with solar panels?
Why yes! What a great idea. The school leaders decided to make Monday a half-day session for students and workshops for adults in the afternoon. They inquired if I could work with their teachers while Russ was in the workshop. They wanted to know if I could help the teachers with classroom management skills……right up my alley!
After our meeting, it was decided that I would return that same afternoon to observe teachers in their classrooms and get a feel for what help they might need. I observed lots of seatwork, teachers sitting at their desk, kids in the back of the room drawing and goofing off. In the primary grades, students would scream out answers, and the teacher often did not have much control of student behaviors as they jumped around on their seats and desks. I asked one teacher what his response was when a student consistently failed to follow the classroom rules. He said he took a switch to them. Ok, so my ideas about classroom management might be a tad different.
We returned to school after lunch to gather some curriculum supplies to plan our lessons for the next day and do some observations. Later in the afternoon, we visited Chief Don in his village so that Russ could take a look at a solar, electrical problem the chief was having.
We spent the rest of the evening working on our lessons. You know what they say about teachers. We never die, just lose our class!
Friday, August 5, 2011 - Back to School - Love em and leave em teaching....nice!
Since this is a Seventh Day Adventist School, Friday is a half day. Students and teachers return home to prepare for their Sabbath which is from dusk on Friday to Saturday night. This was an unusual weekend however, in that the teachers were heading off for a retreat in a village several miles away.
Russ and I taught our respective classes and exchanged students midway through the morning. It was a very interesting experience in that these students are very shy. Getting them to speak up, ask questions, or answer questions was next to impossible. Their usual curriculum is very structured and both Russ and I were giving them more experiential experience with hands on, mind mapping, etc. The kids seemed to enjoy it, as did the teachers who commented that they too had learned some new techniques of teaching. It was insightful for me in preparing for my workshop on Monday afternoon and made me realize how much I miss being in the classroom. It was fun preparing a lesson and teaching again. But glad I'm not doing it day in and day out. Love em and leave em is pretty nice.
Because the teachers were off to a retreat in the afternoon, they had made arrangements with the pastor for us to go to church the following morning. When the final bell (several hammers on the large welding cylinder) rang, everyone left leaving the beach and school area completely deserted.
I returned to the boat and baked some bread and an apple pie. Russ visited the Chief and did some laundry in the local stream. We spent the evening beginning to think about and plan for our Monday workshops.
Saturday, August 6, 2011 - Church, Lunch, and Lots of Visitors
It was our understanding that we were to come ashore at 11:30 for church. We saw activity starting around 8:30 and by 11:00 we decided to go in earlier than our understanding so that we could change into our going to church clothes…..i.e. Russ zipped the bottom part of the legs of his shorts on to make full trousers, and I pulled a skirt on over my shorts.
Properly attired, we entered through the back of the open air church and were immediately shown where to sit. It's a good thing we went earlier than asked or we would have gotten there just as it finished at 11:35 which may have been their intention. Our 15-20 minutes of the service was in Bislama. The men and boys sat on one side of the church and the ladies, girls, and small children on the other side. When we sat down where we were guided, the ladies side did a little giggling. I wasn't sure why, but I think it was because I was the only lady sitting on the men's side.
After a little preaching that we didn't understand, Bible reading, singing, and prayer, the service was over. The Minister and assistant leaders came down the center aisle from the pulpit and indicated that we should follow their procession outside where they set up a receiving line. All of the church members came out, said hello, shook our hands and headed home.
We sat with the church leaders and few curious parishioners answering questions about our voyage. One of the families invited us to lunch with them. We accepted their invitation and followed them down the road to their home a few hundred yards away. The family has a lovely little compound with several small houses/huts for their sons and families and an open shaded area covered with purple flowers and vines.
They had bench seating around the edges of the arbor. When it was time to eat, the ladies spread out pandanas woven mats and brought out on a large cloth, a bundle of charred taro leaves with the meal waiting inside to be eaten. The women had started the meal at 1:00 p.m. the preceding day, starting the fire, wrapping the foods in the leaves, waiting for the embers and hot rocks to be just right, then dropping the taro bundle on the coals and covering with hot rocks. By the time their Sabbath began, the meal was already cooked for the following day after church.
We enjoyed yams, a huge pumpkin with coconut cream, island cabbage and sweet potatoes, fresh pamplemoose, nuts, laplap (Kasava, banana and some chicken molded into dense slabs that is eaten like a pizza). Everyone ate with their hands and just dug into the bundle of unwrapped food. As their guests they had provided each of us with plates the size of serving platers filled with food and a large spoon. The food was delicious and incredibly filling. I felt bad for leaving nearly half on my plate, but honestly it was a gigantic portion. Because these folks work so hard in their gardens and walk everywhere, even with the huge portions they eat, few if any are really overweight.
Russ asked what they did after such a huge meal. They laughed and said they often just relaxed on their beds. I bet. I was ready for a nap! We thought this might be our cue to leave so they could get to their relaxing. Wanting to reciprocate for their hospitality, we asked if anyone would be interested in visiting the boat? We thought we might get a few takers. Turns out we got the whole family plus some. No nap today!
We spent the rest of the day ferrying the Joe Family of 12, mother, grandmother, father, sons, wives, children, aunties, and cousins out to the boat for a tour. They were fascinated with everything from the stuff we consider high tech to stuff we take for granted like running water in a sink, flushing toilets, cushions on seats, raised sleeping beds, refrigeration, cooking stove with gas, microwave, binoculars, mirrors, and hot water shower. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
Belden, the family elder, asked us to stop by the following afternoon. He wanted to give us some produce. We said we would come by.
Once we had the boat back to ourselves, we enjoyed a glass of wine, a green salad for dinner, a hot shower and a video.
Sunday, August 7, 2011 - Laundry and Workshop Prep
The wind was gusting up to 20 knots in our bay today. The direction had shifted just enough that it was coming directly through a saddle in the mountain range behind the bay. We had taken some laundry ashore and washed it in the river that flows to the sea. Once we got it back to the boat, the wind was blowing so hard it was a fight to get it pinned to the clothes lines. The sheets, we pinned on the jib lines. It took several attempts and we had to use almost a dozen clothespins per sheet. The sheets flapped, spun, and snapped at us. Russ commented that in 10 minutes the sheets would be dry or in Australia!
We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on materials for our adult workshops the following day. About 3:00 p.m., we went ashore for a walk and stopped by the Joe family's home. They were just returning from working in the garden all day. We had brought them an assortment of herbal teas and ginger snaps. They loaded us down with pamplemoose, limes, and fresh eggs.
On our way back to the boat, we stopped to visit a new neighbor in the bay. The boat Kakadu that we have seen in several anchorages in Anatom, Tanna, Port Vila, and Awei had anchored on the north side of Malua Bay. As many times as we had seen the boat, we had yet to meet the cruisers. We met Ann and Graham from Nelson, New Zealand. They are on their way to Southwest Bay.
So tomorrow, we plan to hike to the blue hole on the river and conduct our workshops. If the wind continues to calm down, we plan to leave for Santos on Tuesday or Wednesday. We've had a fine time here.
August 9, 2011 will be our 42 wedding anniversary. It hardly seems possible that two years have flown by since our retirement and bon voyage party at the Berkeley Yacht Club.
All is Well with the 2 Sail R's on Worrall Wind
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