Tag: Makogai Island

Fiji, Fundraising, Makogai Island, September 2020

Spreading Happiness

As you all know due to Covid and border closings Dazzler chose to sit out this cruising season and stay in New Zealand until next June. Fortunately for us and many other cruisers the New Zealand government has been very gracious in providing blanket visa extensions to allow us to stay through cyclone season this year. So far, we are clear through February but we’ve also applied for a formal extension to get us through until June.

Not going up to Fiji this year meant we were not able to begin delivering any books to the children. You know, the 2000+ books we raised money to buy and that were donated from organizations like the Lions Club of New Zealand and Kokopu School? The biggest issue became what to do with all of them as we wait for next season to come along. Fortunately our dear friend Allan Gray who owns Wynn Fraser Paints here in Whangerie came to the rescue. He offered to keep them stored at his paint store. There are so many wonderful people who have played a role in this endeavor.

The good news is that we did find three crews that were planning to sail to Fiji this season in spite of not knowing whether or not they would be allowed to come back here or go to Australia during cyclone season. So, two months ago we made arrangements with the Captains of these yachts to drop off boxes of books to them. It was really exciting to know that at least some of the books would be making it to the kids this year. 

Last evening we received word from Richard & Michelle Marshall of SV Pogeyan that they have made their first delivery. They chose the island of Makogai. We visited Makogai last season and spent quite a bit of time with the people there. We donated some clothing and other items to them as well as a brand new volleyball. While I sat and chatted with the ladies Dan played volleyball and soccer with the kids so it was nice to know that some books have made their way to people that we know and love.

Here’s some comments from Michelle and Richard about their delivery…

“Makogai has a small primary school on the other side of the island so we made arrangements to take some of the books over in our dinghy.  But, the weather and seas were too rough the next day so we geared up with backpacks and hiking boots instead.  John (one of the islanders)  led us on the 5 kilometer hike across the island and I was so happy he carried my backpack.  It was heavy!  And he walked there and back in thin rubber dive boots!  He said it was no problem and that he does that hike every day.

As we approached the school I saw one of the students spot us then run over to a large brass bell and start ringing it.  I guess that’s how they announce visitors.  The rough trail we had been hiking emptied onto a large flat open field that was perfectly manicured.  The six or so school buildings lined the edge of the field and were brightly painted and very tidy.  We arrived right at the end of the school day and stood attention during a brief flag ceremony.

The headmaster gathered all the students together on the lawn and introduced us.  He then asked Rich to talk about how we arrived and where the books came from.  The books were then passed around so the kids could look them over. There are 31 students in the school broken into two classes, 1-4th grade and 5th -8th grade.  The kids were very attentive and they seemed to really like the new books.”

We can’t even begin to tell you how delighted we were to get the news. Our hearts were full and for me, tears streamed down my face. To see the smiles on the faces of these children is something I will never forget. I just can’t wait until next season when we will get to deliver books ourselves. For now, we are so grateful for people like Richard and Michelle who volunteered to assist us in this endeavor. They are a treasured part of our cruiser angels team and we look forward to seeing more of their adventures as they continue to spread joy and happiness around the islands of Fiji. 

As for our donors, we hope you enjoy these photographs and assure you that, as promised, we will provide you with continued updates, photos and videos as more books are delivered.

Cheers,

Jilly & Dan

P.S. Our fundraising effort made the news last month as our efforts were mentioned by Cindy Smith in an article she wrote for IslandCruising.nz. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

July 2019, Makogai Island, Sea Creatures, South Pacific, The South Pacific

Lepers & Giant Clams, Oh My!

The time has come to continue moving throughout this beautiful country. We’ve seen so much here at Vanua Levu that we feel we are ready to start making our way south and west. Today we said goodbye to the local friends we’ve made here in Savusavu and headed out. 

Just about 27 NM south of Savusavu is the small island of Koro. There are a couple of resorts on the west side of the island and there’s a nice little cove you can tuck into where they have mooring balls. We arrived late in the afternoon and picked up a mooring. We were the only boat there so we had the entire place to ourselves. NICE!

From what we understand a few years ago the Kepalangi (white people) began buying up property here to build their vacation and retirement homes. Let’s be clear. Non-Fijians can’t actually buy property here but you can purchase a 99-year lease. It’s pretty obvious when you see the homes dotting the shore and scattered across the hill that the people buying up the property were planning a very well to do resort like atmosphere. Apparently, however, their love of island living didn’t last as long as they expected and many of them have vacated their homes so there are many standing empty. Even one of the resorts is currently on the market so if you have an extra $2.5M lying around maybe you could get a good deal.

Anyway, we only stayed for the night and no one ever came out to collect any money for the mooring. Quite frankly the place looked all but deserted. We saw a small fishing boat out fishing the reef and a couple of kayaks but that’s it. There were no people walking the beach nor was there any noise from generators for that matter. 

The following morning we set out for Makogai Island. (prounonced Mako’nai) I was so excited to get to this place. This place is known for their giant clams. Yes, clams as big as people! It’s the stuff movies are made of and I couldn’t wait to get there to see these things. But, there is a lot more to Makogai Island than giant clams. 

Approaching Makogai.

Makogai actually has a very interesting past. From 1911 to 1969 it was a Leper Colony. They brought Lepers here from all over the world. As we entered the bay I had to kind of chuckle as I remember my Daddy always saying, “Well, it could be worse you could be living in a leper colony.” My guess is that Daddy never saw one because this is one amazing and beautiful island! 😄

After arriving and partaking in some anchor down libations we put the dinghy in the water and prepared to head to shore. No longer a leper colony, Makogai is now a government island with a marine research station and even though this is a government village and not a traditional one, sevusevu is still expected. Once again I donned my layers of clothes to cover my knees and shoulders. Within seconds every inch of my skin began to glisten as all of my sweetness started oozing out from every pore. But, it’s a tradition and we must do the right thing. So, onward Christian soldiers…onward!

It was a bit tricky to get to shore as the tide was low and coral surrounds the beaches. After a bit of searching we found a very narrow channel through the coral next to the concrete pier. Dan pulled the anchor onto the coral sand beach and we made our way up the beach. We started to look for someone to lead us to the man who runs the village. There was a young man in his late 20’s or early 30’s mowing the grass. He stopped and came over to introduce himself.

The man’s name is Seru. He’s sort of like the Taraga Ni Koro for this village. I say sort of because as I mentioned, this is a government island. The village where we anchored is full of government workers and Seru is one of them. These people are part of the marine research station here. Only some live here full time. Most, like Seru, come in for two weeks each month. Here they are cultivating giant clams, coral and they even have a sea turtle hatchery. They are very devoted to protecting the marine environment.

Us with Seru.

Seru led us across the lawn to some plastic chairs that sat under a tin roofed structure. After presenting our kava, Seru offered to give us a tour of the island. First up was the marine facility. Now, when I say facility you’re probably thinking of a place with large tanks and things like that. Well, that’s not really what we saw. There are several long concrete wells and a couple of round tanks too. Only a few of these tanks/wells had water in them.

One of the round tanks had about a dozen baby sea turtles in it. Another tank had a dozen or so juvenile clams that were about a four or five inches long. Each one had a different colored mantel (lips). Also inside this tank was a really odd looking blue spotted stingray. Neither of us had ever seen on before so that was a bit of a treat in itself.

Blue spotted stingray

Since the marine facility is rather small the tour only took about fifteen minutes. Afterward Seru took us through the jungle to see the Leper Stones. These are the gravesites of many of the Lepers who died here. Along the way we saw remnants of buildings that were once part of the hospital including part of a movie theater. The jungle, however, is an unrelenting beast that takes over every stationary object in its path so very little of the buildings are still visible. Even so, it was a wonderful and FLAT walk through the village and jungle.

When we returned from our hike we were treated to our very first kava ceremony. This is typically a part of the sevusevu but we’ve found at many of the villages they they don’t seem to want to share the kava we bring to them. Here it was much different. They invited us to sit on a large woven mat in the grass. Here one man had a large bowl sitting on the ground, he poured water out of a bucket into the bowl. Then he had a muslin bag about 5” x 10” that had the ground kava inside. He soaked the bag in the water then squeezed it. Similar to what happens when you squeeze a tea bag, the muddy colored water would ooze out of the bag. It looked like muddy water from a dirty river. He did this for quite some time as we chatted. Then it was time to drink. He filled a half of a coconut shell with the liquid and handed it to Dan. Dan was told to to clap once, say “Bula” then drink the entire contents of the shell in one gulp. Then he was told to clap three times, as do we all, and he handed the cup back to the guy mixing the kava. Next it was served to the Taraga Ni Koro with the same things occurring. Then it came to me. Each time everyone clapped and followed the ceremonial tradition.

The kava looks awful and doesn’t really taste great but it’s not that bad either. It makes your tongue and lips feel numb. We had many cups of kava with them over the course of an hour and a half or so. Eventually we started to feel uber relaxed and kind of jelly like. That’s when we decided it was time to return to Dazzler. Of course before standing it’s tradition to ask permission. With permission granted we knelt before the men, shook their hands and said our goodbyes. All in all it was a very cool afternoon with some amazing people. They treated us just like family and just until you hear about our next trip ashore with these fabulous people!

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan