Tribewanted: Walk like a Fijian

Before I left the island, we had an interesting discussion in the sustainability forum about what Tribewanted means to us. The project has been running for two and a half years now, but what have we achieved? Do we feel it's been successful so far? How can we explain to people that have never been here how life is in Fiji, on Vorovoro? In short: what do we think Tribewanted is really about?

Yes. Try and write a blog about that. As the on-island blogaddict, I promised to give it a go, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. The blog never made it online. In the meanwhile I have been to New Zealand, Australia, and back to New Zealand, but the things that were said in the forum stayed on my mind

So here is the blog that never was and never really will be finished. Because there is no way to explain what Tribewanted is in just a couple of words. It's so very personal what you get out of your experience, but I tried to bring everything that was said together. To make a little bottle of Vorovoro for you to take home and look at. To think about and maybe to help you share your thoughts with other people. Tribewanted really needs the word of mouth, so if you've been on the island, tell the world! Comments on this blog are very much appreciated

Vina'a Va'a Levu!

What it is that we do

Each person that visits Vorovoro arrives with a different view on the project. About how they want to get involved, how much they want to get into the Fijian culture and what kind of projects they want to help out with. Some people arrive without knowing much - or even anything at all about Tribewanted and develop their views during their on-island time. Most people end up extending or make plans for coming back some day. But what is it exactly that we're trying do here? In short, we are a sustainable project and a cultural exchange in both ways. We are trying to keep (and pass on) the knowledge that has been kept in tribes for years and years. We're bringing Fiji back to Fiji. But there is so much more to that. In our discussion, we came to the following summarisation of what we felt the project is all about (and I added some more). TribeWanted can be seen as:

a way of showing the outside world that you can live (mostly) of local resources and you don't need very much to get around; a place to realize that we have so much technology in the West, but are nowhere near as happy as the people living here with almost 'nothing'; a chance to share knowledge with the local community and help out with projects like building houses, water storage solutions and the latest hype: wind turbines! (although for that last one, you do need someone special like Alan Kelly to drop by), but also by bringing materials for the local school and giving small donations at village visits or festivals; a cultural exchange in both ways and a portal for tribemembers to share their knowledge with each other; a place to learn how to respect the environment again; a place to talk about sustainability and the changes we can make in this world; a different way of travelling, with reduced carbon footprint; a place to learn more about alternative / herbal medicine, homeopathy; a place to get creative in every way possible; an opportunity for better understanding of each other, learning how to really care for others by living together with so many different people in the same community; a chance to experience shared responsibility for the land you live on, the shelter you sleep under, the water you drink and the food you eat; a time to relax (live life by the day and enjoy every moment); a personal journey, a good time to reflect and a chance to get to know yourself a little better;

And this list can go on and on and on. What message do you care about the most???

Why things go the way they go

We all agreed on the fact that Vorovoro may hardens the feet, but softens the heart and that there are not enough places like this left in the world. But what do we want this project to really be? Is it enough to just be 'a happy place'? Where do we want to go and how fast do we need to get there?

As a reaction on one of the previous Forum meetings, someone from the online community wrote that with changing the date to 2007, all the things we discussed could have already been done by now.

We agreed with that on some points. The project has been running two and a half years now, and we are for example still working on a good way to store water for the dry season.

As Ben (the sustainability manager) said: 'We have enough signs now, but we still don't have water. So are we really that successful?'. Another point raised was the fact that still most of our food comes from outside the island, we still aren't 100% self-sufficient at the moment.

Shouldn't we be that by now?

The conversation turned to the issue of working on projects on Vorovoro. We feel that one of the reasons that a lot of the projects take such a lot of time to finish, is the fact that most tribe members are here only for one/two weeks. In the little time they have, they want to get the most out of their stay (and they should!). They go on school visits, reef trips, take part in culture classes, go snorkelling, etc. etc. There is so much going on, that they cannot stick with a project from start to finish. Every big project is pretty much carried by the Team and Team Fiji.

One example of how even 'simple' projects take a much longer time to finish than planned, is the firewood shed one of the Tribe members has been working over the last weeks.

Back home, that would have taken him probably a day, maybe two. Here it took two weeks to complete the job. How come? He needed help from Team Fiji for some chainsaw action; help from the tribemembers for bamboo bashing and weaving the walls; nobody really wants to take over somebody else's personal project, so when he was gone, the working stopped; there were a number of other projects going on that needed many hands, there were trips, a lot of meke practise for a performance we did, and most of all: the weather is becoming an absolute killer. It seems to get hotter and hotter every day now, which really drains you from energy, it wipes you out. All these things together make work slow, or nicely put: make you work on Fiji Time.

The shed is there now, the wood is dry and it looks great, so in the end we got what we wanted, it just took a little longer than we consider 'normal'. Working here can't be compared to home. There is no office, no schedules, no airco, no coffee machine There is burning sun, mosquito's, lot's of naps in between and a little more sand. The Fijians just work different than in the UK, or anywhere else in Europe. Working isn't something you do from 9 to 5 and after which you go home. Working happens at (or very close to) home, with friends and family, all day, every day, and not always in the speed we are used to.

Take the time you're used to back home and multiply it by 3, then you have an idea what 'Fiji Time' is, I'd say. But my question is then: 'Does time really matter?'. Being in harmony with nature, ourselves and each other is - for me - so much more worth than having a building finished in a week rather than a month. I really believe that being successful in happiness is the key to being successful in your work and that we cannot finish great projects unless we are truly happy about where and who we are at this moment. The inside comes first, then you can make a change.

Someone mentioned in the on-island discussion that if you look into the past, you'd see that excessive growth only leads to destruction. That complete ancient civilizations have disappeared due to growth. We can live quite comfortable now on Vorovoro, still have things to improve for the future, but it comes as it comes. And for me, I think that is fast enough.

How do you strengthen the relationship between happiness, sustainability and growth?

Why we do what we do

One of the tribe members took us back to the 'real world' for a bit, to bring up the issue of money. Being romantic about this place is very easy, but we all know that everything has a prize, even in Fiji. That money has to come from somewhere. At the moment of the forum, we had 9 tribe members on the island. To not lose money, we need 20. The people that work within Tribewanted need to be paid, the land needs to be paid. The materials we use, the food we eat and the boats we drive cost money. If we don't make enough money out of people coming here, what will be the next step? He thought that maybe the prize of staying on the island would raise. Not saying that it would, but he asked the rest of the tribe: 'how much are you willing to pay to stay on Vorovoro?', or even more important: 'What is paying (more) money to stay here worth to people that have never been here before?'. In short: how do we explain to people what the project is really about?

We had a talk about ways to promote the island more. It seems that the word of mouth is the best way to give people a good inside about the project. Personal stories make Vorovoro go around. It seems that the blogs on the website are well read and that the Tribewanted Live Events and Tribewanted On Tour are little big successes on their own.

What else can we do?

Someone suggested that we'd make a CD with - let's say - a PowerPoint presentation with photos and videos for people to take off the island. They could be Tribewanted representatives and use the material to inform friends, relatives or local communities in a workshop/seminar. If anyone has any ideas on how to make this happen, we're all ears!

Our brainstorm session wasn't finished, but at this point we had to stop and welcome the new arrivals that just came in. But how much more could we have talked about it? I still believe that the true Voro-feeling isn't something you can ever explain fully. But the experience itself is something you can share a great deal with others in pictures, videos and a lot of wonderful stories.

I'll leave you with a little story that for me personally is the example of my life on Vorovoro. I think everyone has a moment when they truly enjoyed being on the island. A moment that doesn't seem like much, but every time you think of it, you start smiling. I guess that's when you know that Vorovoro is in your heart.

Here is mine:

One day, I was strolling with Jenni (Dec. Chief) to the Fijian village. We were in sulu's, barefoot and during our walk we just talked and laughed, not much on our mind. It was a really hot day and we walked in a slow pace, loosely kicking the sand from under our feet. We didn't have the energy to go any faster. It was eleven in the morning. At one point we stopped, looked at each other and just laughed out loud. 'Why are we so slow?', Jenni asked. 'Because we've been here a long time', I answered. 'It's not slow, we're just in no hurry, how great is that? We walk like Fijians now'

What's your favourite Vorovoro moment? ??

Thanks for reading,

x Nienke

About Tribewanted:

Tribewanted is a unique community tourism project based on Vorovoro Island, Fiji. Tribe members join online before spending upwards of one week on Vorovoro living as part of a Fijian and global community. You can do as much as you like on Vorovoro from collecting firewood to spearfishing to learning the local dance. "If there's one thing you do in life, make sure its Tribewanted" Lisa Niari