PAD Part 14

About 150 cows were loaded up on the ship in Santo, and ferried 7 hours to Ambae. They were not super excited about the boat ride, and some pushing happened. (Video here)

September 16th is PENAMA Day (day celebrating my province), so there were a lot of festivities. This was the dance party that happened after the hand off of the trophy for the youth soccer tournament. (Check out a video here)

The new cows being led off to their new homes!

Tim's last kakae (last meal at site). All of us Ambae vols got together at Tim's to celebrate his service, and mourn the fact that he's going home early. Tim's front and center, then from left to right behind are: Avery, Thomas, me, Kathleen, and Alison.

Impromptu typing class at my house! Left to right: my mom, Sue, Daniel, and Kwani

September 20 was a big celebration day for the Melanesian Brotherhood, which is about a 5 minute walk from my house. It was essentially a graduation ceremony and celebration for the novices becoming tasiu (full brothers), and the aspirings becoming novices. What it meant for us was a big party, custom dancing, good food, and kava! (Some videos of the festivities here, here, here, and here)

Bumbu blo mi (my grandmother) making simboro, a traditional island dish. You grate manioc so it comes out as a sort of paste, then spread that paste on a leaf, roll it up (like a burrito), and boil it in coconut milk.

Godfrey (left), Hilson (middle), and me showing off our new flas (fancy) Co-operative shirts!

The boys were having a hard time getting the tire off the wheel, so they improvised. The truck is on a board that they placed on top of the wheel, then when the truck drove up it and a small gap appeared, Lee would hit it with a breaker bar to try and dislodge it.

One of the new G28ers asked what we wear to work on a typical day, so Kathleen, Avery and I decided to show them! Here's a pretty standard outfit for a community health, education, and IT volunteer on Ambae.

Alison had a big fundraiser at her site, complete with kava and good food, so we decided to come show our support. To the right is the kava stand, and the left all the mamas.

Left to right, Mikey, Tony, and Jojo, my brothers. Tony was trying to shoot a pijin (bird), but wasn't steady enough, so he rested the gun on Mikey's head. Safe, right? (He missed the bird)

This is Frickson, a cousin of mine. Cool little dude!