Mangaliliu and Roi Mata

Today we visited the home of the legendary Roi Mata. (Photos will be added later as we forgot our camera and we are relying on Jacqui and Paul Birch to allow us to use theirs!)

Roi Mata was a great chief who lived about 400 years ago on the island of Efate. He was a peacemaker. The villagers of the island were all fighting for the resources offered by the land. Roi Mata gathered the people together for a great feast and invited everyone to come along from many villages around the area.

There were those that brought coconuts and those that brought yam. Many people brought many different items. Roi Mata said at this feast if you and your family brought taro, then taro would be your totem. Similarly for fish, yam, coconut and so on. Each family was assigned a different totem by Roi Mata at the great feast. Each village ended up with families of many different totems.

The people were instructed that if they belonged to a particular totem and wanted to visit another village, then the people of the same totem from that village would welcome them and treat them as family during their stay. They would receive the protection of the host family and this would be reciprocated when the host family came to their village to trade and discuss issues of concern.

The people respected Roi Mata and followed this idea. Roi Mata became a popular and honoured chief. He designated sacred places that could be used for particular ceremonies and instituted many rituals to support the development of a peaceful tribal system.

Included in this was the notion of ‘magic stones’. The stones had been thrown out from the volcano and he designated them as places of wisdom and sacrifice of pigs. From the stories told by our guide Jenny, and her apprentice Hilton, the system brought order and peace to the region.

On the island of Lelepa, just off the coast from Mangaliliu, the chief was not pleased by the system introduced by Roi Mata. He invited Roi Mata to a feast on Lelepa and told him he had to come without his wise men and advisors. Roi Mata was poisoned at the feast and taken to a large cave on the edge of the island to “take his last breath”. The cave had been a special place for the people of Lelepa for many years. There are drawings and etchings in the cave that are dated back many years. We visited the cave which is a short but steep hike up from the beach – 10 metres above sea level. It is quite huge and imprssive – even for a claustrophobic like me!

After the death of Roi Mata he was taken in procession to all the villages so they could bid him farewell. He was eventually buried on the island of Eretoka (named Hat Island by Europeans because of its’ shape). Buried along with him were his wives, the chiefs of all the villages that were loyal to him and a couple from each village to pay homage to his greatness. Some of these people were buried alive after being drugged with kava. I reckon this was a really successful strategy by the disgruntled chiefs to rid themselves of Roi Mata’s influence………however the legend lives on ….and so do the totem systems and Poor old Roi Mata is still revered as the most significant chief in Vanuatu history.

And the Mama’s at Mangaliliu cooked us up a big feast for lunch and we then got the bus back to rainy Port Vila. It had not rained a drop at Mangaliliu which is only 30 minutes away by bus – a bit like the catchment area for the water supply on the Central Coast - It never rains where you want it to!

International Youth Day in Port Vila

Saturday 12th August we celebrated International Youth Day in a Vanuatu way! The Vanuatu Military Forces brass band led a parade through the main street of Port Vila commencing at the Anchor Inn and passing through town to Independence Park. A string band provided entertainment interspersed by speeches from the Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, a young woman from Youth Challenge and a song from another young woman to commemorate the day.

The theme was ‘Tackling Poverty’ and this theme is very relevant for youth in Vanuatu. There is over 40% youth unemployment and very few opportunities for young people in Vanuatu to earn money. Urban youth are particularly affected by poverty because the environment in which they live demands that they have access to money to survive.

Vanuatu is a developing country. Education is valued, employment is sought after and the gentle, wonderful people of Vanuatu are embracing commerce, tourism and economic development. They are proud of their new found reputation as the ‘happiest people on the planet’ and many I speak to look forward to the opportunities presented for future generations. At the same time there is a strong sense of the importance of traditional values and culture, and a pride in the uniqueness of their custom practices and lifestyle.

Ni-Vanuatu are an easy going people and this was demonstrated when the march reached the park. A cricket match was in full swing and yet space was made for the band and the parade to walk across the field and take up the stands. The match went blithely on while the ceremonies were happening on the edge of the out field. Tolerance and flexibility generously exhibited.

I haven’t had a banner in my hands for many years but I felt quite comfortable representing Youth Challenge International, standing amongst and beside youth from this lovely place, bringing attention to the need for ‘Tackling Poverty’

The weeks are flying by in Vanuatu

Well the time is just flying by here in Vanuatu. We have now been in Port Vila for a month. In one sense we are still very new and finding our way around and in another we have begun to think of ourselves as locals! We know where to shop, where to eat and a few places to play after work. We are getting to know many new faces both expat and Ni-Van and some of those faces will play a large part in our time here.

So how are we going with learning Bislama? Unfortunately Ron is teaching at a school that does not allow him to speak Bislama on campus, and all classes are in English, so he has limited opportunity to develop his skill. The bus drivers and storekeepers are Ron’s main opportunities for practice.

On the other hand I am ‘right in the thick of it!’ All meetings at Youth Challenge are conducted in a mixture of Bislama and English and the other staff there are quite adept at switching from one language to the other and back again in the same sentence and breath! Negaya (also new) and I are looking forward to the time when we can conduct and contribute to meetings in Bislama.

Our Youth Ambassador, Nic, seems to have a pretty good grasp of the language so we are in for a few mornings of intensive language lessons from Nic and lots of practice with the staff – Joel, Nelly, Barenda and Leisau. Everyone is really supportive and happy to put up with the inevitable mistakes. Sometimes the office just dissolves into fits of laughter at my attempts but mostly they are patient and happy to help.

We are slipping into the lifestyle easily and despite the earthquakes, threats of tsunamis and our unfortunate break in and robbery – we are feeling right at home.