sv evi

After landing the dinghy, during the approach to the main village, every house(mostly small, modest, tin shacks) would empty and entire families came out to smile, wave and say Bulaaaaa.  The hanging on the last letter aaaa was as if saying “helloooooo”.  Quite endearing.  We had unknowingly had a couple of escorts to lead us to the specific tent where we would sit for most of the day.

Today is the annual school fundraiser and we were lucky to be anchored at Qamea for this event.  The school of about 160 students was divided into 4 groups (homerooms) designated by color.  Red, yellow, green and our hosts Bua or blue.  Each group had a main open tent where the elders sat, the women in one section and the men in another.  It appeared somewhat informal and the loose circle of men was headed by a kava bowl and a distributor, tho he was responding to the nods of an elder to give the cups of kava.  

In one corner the band of a couple of guitars, Casio keyboard, ukelele and 2 vocalists that played Fijian ‘island music’ similar to that typical of Polynesia, Melanesia and Hawaii.  The beautiful voices blended perfectly with the instruments and one guitarist had some lilting leads that made me envious of his style and skill.  Between songs they would put a cell phone up to the mic and play old American classics of which Kenny Rogers seemed to be a favorite.

In attendance with Dave and Caroline on Riada II and the crew from Veladare, our expectations had been to arrive, make a donation and have lunch.  Surprisingly the party lasted all day and well into the evening.  After attending the Bua kava circle for many rounds al the groups met in the field in front of the chief’s tent and the kids performed traditional dances and songs.  The boys, bare chested and in grass skirts swung ‘war clubs’ during their chants and dance while simultaneously the girls with handmade palm frond fans sang and danced.  

Back to the tent for many rounds of kava, music, conversation and food.  As guests and donators we were served first with a juice and sweet breads, cakes, tarts.  No locals were presented with this and it is the custom.  We made a small dent in the plates that were piled high with the treats and I was happy to see that the remainder were passed around to the kids and locals.  Later came the local fare of curried chicken, kasava and taro, as well as other dishes.  Great meal and hospitality.

During the day there were many rounds of donations and the protocol was somewhat confusing as it was explained by Chonny seated next to me in the circle.  By the last round the music was wildly playing, singing, dancing, laughing, shouting as people were tossing there coins and bills into the pot that was surrounded by the village matriarchs.  In the end our pockets were empty of all monies and the school managed to make a good haul which will go towards buildings, book and supplies.