A glimpse into our life as a VSA on Ambae, Vanuatu/2

This blog contains part 2 of the Christmas 2007 letter sent by my sister Gayle Bowler, from Ambae, Vanuatu, where she and Gary Bowler were doing VSA – Gary  as advisor/mentor to a new school principal, and Gayle as a health educator – and it also contains a letter sent by Gary in early 2008. Gayle's letter first: 

“I love the way the hours seem longer, and often by late morning we feel as if we have had a whole day. We are often asleep before lights are out. We wake early; the mornings are the coolest time.

We feel very happy with an orange glow to our skin which we are sure comes from all the pawpaw we eat and the seasonal pineapples and the biggest avocado imaginable. Sometimes we wonder what we will eat, but we quickly learned that there is food all around us in the jungle and we have had to adjust our diet accordingly.

After four or five weeks of each term we crave western food. This term we had no escape planned but an English couple (friends of friends) anchored in our bay and found us, not hard because apart from albinos you rarely see white people. They took us sailing and spoilt us for one whole day … then they continued their journey around the world.

Living here has heightened our appreciation of small things, like chocolate, wine, a cup of good coffee … cheese is a distant memory.

I have come to realise many things, most of all that I am immensely, inexplicably happy. We swim most days, walk often, read lots and are addicted to Sudoku.

We have discovered that it is true what they say – money doesn’t buy you happiness (though it does give you choice). These people are so happy and they own very little. They have taught us (some) patience and lots more. We love our other life in Coromandel, but this is so real; often I feel like crying with happiness. Students cry at the end of each year because they never know if they will see their friends again; which school they attend depends on their exam results; they have no security or stability and yet they are so accountable.

I have entered into a different mindset, a place where I am satisfied with simple things, yet they are not simple, as they involve trust and love and friendships. It makes me feel empowered and appreciated. We are doing things for others that brings them joy. Feel very happy with simple things: hearing the rain, watching someone climb up and pick us a pawpaw or a coconut and then make us fresh coconut cream. All the happy smiling faces. Being acknowledged by everyone, even if it is ‘Hello Mrs Gary.’

On balance this is one of the most enriching experiences we have ever had and we are looking forward to returning next year, not sure for how long – nothing is for certain here."

*

Gary Bowler with school Deputy Principal, Ambae, Vanuatu, 2007   Photo: Bowler Family collection

 And a letter from Gary Bowler to friends and family, written 3 April, 2008, near the beginning of their second year in Ambae:

"It looked for a while as if our Ambae experience would be quite short this year. At the start of our second week, due to local politics, the old Principal announced that he was back and the excellent new Principal was suddenly returned to being Deputy Principal. There was much confusion.

We seriously considered returning home but have now ‘got over ourselves’ and are trying to be as effective as possible in the environment/situation in which we find ourselves rather than trying to change that situation. We got great encouragement from VSA regarding any decision we made re whether we should stay or go, but no encouragement to try and change the political situation. (Fair enough!).

The school has settled down well this year. There are lots of encouraging signs of improvement, including, it has to be said, in the performance of the Principal. So, we will almost certainly be here until at least the August break, by which time we think we will have done what we set out to do at the start of the year.

Gayle is very happy and fulfilled in her health teaching role. She is working with years 8, 9 and 10 as part of the science programme and making cameo appearances in senior classes starting with my year 13. She has started a women’s group which meets on Wednesday afternoons and is a support person for the nurse but has much less involvement in the clinic. Both of us are getting involved in initiating and running a student counselling programme.

I am teaching year 13 history again this year. My students last year did amazingly well. I am mentoring the Deputy Principal to prepare him for when his time comes, and gradually getting his working relationship with the Principal restored. The senior management meetings are back underway. The library modernisation and staff room modernisation project has just started, with initial planning meetings with relevant staff. The new computing teacher is preparing plans for us. We hope to start the quotation process next week. This will keep me occupied for a while. Nothing happens quickly here and most of the work will need to be done in the holidays.

Gayle, that indomitable and never sick person, has been laid low by a bad back. Really struggles to get out of bed some days, and once or twice just could not get up. Had to be helped out of the water by a student a few days ago. She has flown to Vila for assessment and treatment. This came on top of a really nasty dog bite two and half weeks ago. Four dogs were put down, and one was eaten by the boys.

Weather here this year is much cooler, windier and wetter, although not today which is very still and stinking hot. El Nino effect, we think. Surprisingly, not too many mozzies either and no malaria yet in the school. Since the cyclone in January, there are far fewer bananas and pawpaw. Again, very few vegetables. Our current staples are great bread (baked by Gayle), avocado, and dried foods that Gayle brought from New Zealand. Tons of green coconuts to drink, which boys bring us, but the gin is running out!

I had an interesting experience two days ago. The school has an emergency plan with a signal of continuous intermittent bells and drum rolls. This sounded at 5.30 am, the usual getup time. I heard lots of yahooing from the students and thought they were rushing to the assembly point. Off I went, and on arrival found that I was the only person who turned up. April Fools' Day is alive and well on Ambae.

Yesterday, Nik and the grandkids departed for three days in Vila after quite a memorable time with us here. We met in Santo last Thursday for the Easter break; were a day late getting there as our island was cut off by a storm. We then had five days at Aore Island resort, and five days here. Nik was blown away by his experiences, and said that some of those days were the best of his life. Really special family times, and with luck, something all will treasure forever. "

*

When I was discussing this blog with Gayle in November 2018, she mentioned that our father, educator Charles M. Herbert, had said to her when she and Gary were considering the Vanuatu posting, “Are you sure you want to commit yourselves for 18-24 months? It’s a big chunk out of your lives?” Gayle said to me, “But I learned so much from our Vanuatu experience – to calm down, to be more engaged, to be present in the moment (even though we didn’t speak in that kind of language back then – and this has stayed with me.”

A glimpse into our life as VSA on Ambae, Vanuatu

My two January blogs are extracts from the Christmas 2007 letter sent to family and friends by my sister, Gayle Bowler, from Ambae, Vanuatu, where she and her husband Gary were doing VSA – Gary as advisor/mentor to a new school principal, and Gayle as a health educator.

Gayle and Gary Bowler       Photo: Bowler family collection

"Such a crazy place but we love it. The people make it special – their beautiful smiles, the way they care for each other and us, the constant supply of bananas, green coconuts and pawpaw brought to our door by the students. When they sing in Chapel it brings tears to our eyes; they seem to open themselves up and sing with their whole being, and the four-part harmonies when Chaplain joins in are spine-tingling.

When we first arrived on the grass runway in the jungle we were amazed at the isolation, the primitive villages and the dreadful state of the roads. A real effort had been made to paint our house; we were given a new bed, and hours after our arrival a new fridge-freezer was delivered; but we had very little power in those first few days, the house was infested with cockroaches, rats and other creepy crawlies, and our unaccompanied luggage, which was supposed to be here before us, was delayed, so we had only our small backpacks, no mosquito nets, food or our carefully-planned necessities, nothing – and we were just dropped here and left. Our baggage arrived five days later. A test of our resilience! We cleaned the house, sprayed for cockroaches and put out rat bait, ate a few nuts that we had in our pack, and lay on the bed wondering what on earth we were doing here.

We seemed to lurch from one disaster to another. Early in the year the whole school evacuated when there was a tsunami warning. Fortunately, the tsunami, caused by the big Solomon Islands earthquake, never amounted to much, but because we often have no phone connection, the school did not hear about this until later. Since then, Gary has prepared an Emergency Disaster Plan for the school.

When the water pump broke we had to wait for a spare part to be flown in from Australia. A couple of days later, most houses had only a little rain water in their outside tanks and we were all asked to bathe in the sea, then it rained all day and we showered outside; it was especially relaxing when we discovered the lovely massage to be received from the heavy flow of water from the overflow pipe from the water tank. Since it was too wet for anyone to stand and watch us, and hearing laughter and shouts of joy, I imagine most of the students were doing the same as us outside the dorms. It beats a wash in the sea or a bucket of water.

Rats ate through the cables and for four weeks the school had no internet or fax connection and only one weak and sporadic phone line. We felt very isolated.

Often we run out of diesel, or the generator breaks down, and we are without power.

It is the people who make this such a beautiful experience, but they can be frustrating. Nothing starts on time and we always arrive way too early – the locals call us 'the white men' and they talk about  'white man time'. Often we miss out on events because we’re not told; the locals have a bush telephone, which we're not tuned into – they signal each other and communicate with whistling and other sounds from vast distances.

Students often come to our door wanting help with their school work, trusting us to discuss issues of concern to themselves, or bringing us fruit. In the weekends they often use our bush kitchen and later reappear with a plate of food for us. They look after us well and seem concerned for us. When the All Blacks lost we were surrounded by a sympathetic silence and lots of sad eyes staring at us.

Gary has had several accidents, once cutting his leg badly when he was climbing from a lighter boat to a bigger cargo boat in rough seas, and another time he slipped and tumbled down the rocks and received a black eye and many cuts and bangs. On both occasions the students were very caring. He always heals well. I think the pawpaw we eat so much has good healing properties.

In his usual way, Gary has worked hard from Day 1 and has established a senior management team that has introduced many changes. The school looks and feels a better place. The staff and students are more positive and quite a bit happier. Gary organised for the dorms to be painted inside and organised a long term maintenance plan for the school including dorms and staff houses. Nothing happens quickly, but we have made a lot of progress and it is encouraging to get positive feedback.

There has been no forward planning here or preventive maintenance until now. I have introduced reproductive health education, which I teach, and we have both been involved in some counselling and plan to expand on this next year.

These people are resourceful. Once when I was walking round the boys’ dorms, they complained to me about the state of their rooms, the hygiene in the dining room, and the monotony of the food they get every day. When I shared their complaints with Gary I can remember saying that I wouldn’t be surprised if they went on strike. Instead they rebuilt their bush kitchens – boys from each island have their own kitchens in the jungle – and they have created outdoor furniture. These are beautiful places where the boys spend much of their spare time and often prepare feasts, roasting whole pigs on the ground – or foal, fish, anything that moves they try to catch; and they grow corn and island cabbages and are very creative. We often hear them returning, and they sing and sound so happy. This is a wonderful environment for students. Whenever they are hungry they go into the jungle and they have the sea for swimming and spearing fish.

We have felt honoured to be invited to many end-of-year feasts; each dorm has a feast and often boys from each island also feast. The students prepare all the food.  

Trekking through the cloud rainforest on steep and slippery tracks carved through misty jungle to the stunning crater lake on Mt Manaro – Ambae’s volcano which last erupted in 2005 – with my brother, Paul, and his partner, was an amazing experience. Four and a half hours up, and five and a half hours down in torrential rain. (Paul walked up in sandals, but walked back down in bare feet due to the mud, and discovered he'd got leeches on his feet.) We were amazed how few locals have ever completed the journey.

The overnight sea voyage on a cargo boat with a badly-injured Gary and 500 others; sitting on deck with no shelter, except for our umbrellas, in a storm with huge waves and sea spray and heavy rain; the sound of people vomiting and moaning, or just curled up in a ball trying to shut it all out, unable to risk moving because another body would edge into your space. As the boat lurched in heavy swells, I realised we would not survive if we capsized – we had no jackets or life rafts. Then the realisation that this often happens to these students when they travel home for their holidays, and I felt humble rather than afraid, and I felt an unreal sense of adventure. Since then we have much more sympathy for students who arrive weeks late for the start of term. Their arrival and departure depends on the boats, as do our supplies; consequently, we often go weeks without eggs. Knowing how we rely on eggs for our popular banana bread which we share with any students, several boys have gone hunting for eggs. There are so many chooks around – apart from the generator, the loudest noise is the roosters outside our window. Three lots of students have come proudly to us with their pockets full of nine or ten eggs – sadly, they were all either rotten or fertilised. Once I was delighted to find eight fresh eggs in our pineapple patch."  To be continued ...

Blog Ann Barrie