I have a cold. It’s an “island flu”. I know
that if I go to the island nurse I will be handed a packet of amoxicillin (cure
all antibiotic and one of about 3 things they hold supplies of out here). I
soldier on the first two days on Panadol, strepsils and multivitamins. I sleep
sitting propped upright against the wall so I don’t cough all night. I am on
the hunt for limes which I’m told someone grows here. I become sleep deprived,
grumpy, and lethargic and by the third day I’ve lost my voice altogether and
now people have a legitimate excuse for ignoring me – they can’t actually hear
me. It’s time for a rest day. And as chance would have it, there isn’t much we
can do onsite anyway until our missing hardware arrives (story to follow). I
find limes, finally cave in and start taking antibiotics, get my first nights
sleep in 4 days and wake up able to speak again (even if I sound like a 13-year
old boy).
Health and wellbeing are pretty critical
topics out here. On our minds even if we don’t speak about it all the time.
More than we would ever be back home, we are watchful of each other’s health –
whether it’s a scratch that’s turning into a gangrenous flesh wound or a cough
which turns into a short fuse. Living in such close quarters and being so reliant
on each other to complete this project makes this unavoidable and
simultaneously difficult to accept. Everyone has their own theory on how wounds
need to be treated, when drugs should be considered, and lots of (barely
tolerated) advice. On top of stress about food supplies, drinking water,
community liaison, paying bills and forward schedules, I’m kind of proud that
we’re all still laughing together at the end of each day.
At three weeks into the Nanumea install,
we’ve achieved a lot but have had a few spanners thrown into the works along
the way. Back in March during the delivery of all our freight to Nanumea, a
hardware crate was mysteriously lost at sea (presumed dropped as it was being
lifted from ships crane to lighter). On our way through Funafuti 4 weeks ago we
located and “borrowed” the Niutao crate on basis that there would be time to
ship a replacement crate to Niutao before solar installation works start there
in November. But, sadly the Niutao crate didn’t have all the equivalent parts
needed and our threaded rod, which is essentially the foot for the array
framing, was not there.
Alex was quickly dispatched from New
Zealand to Funafuti as our logistics support officer – tasked with breaking
into gear stored at Funafuti wharf to “borrow” threaded rod (and some washers
which were also missing) from Niutao or Nanumaga.
In the meantime, the team has soldiered on
with emphasis on completing the battery and inverter rooms. Good news is that
both were completed last week, all inverters finally turned on, and the system
was turned on yesterday. Even better news is that the generator was used last
night to successfully charge the batteries from midnight to 6am. From today
onwards we will be trying to use the batteries to meet load throughout the night
so that the village has 24 hour power. The generator will still run throughout
the day to feed the village and top up the batteries. All signs look good. And
I’m doing a little dance because it means the fans will be on all night and I
might get some uninterrupted sleep!
The somewhat interrupted installation
schedule has created other opportunities for the team to get a bit more
involved with the very active Nanumea community.
When we first arrived in Nanumea, it was
evident that the civil team who’d been here before us had not made great
efforts to build positive or respectful relationships with their local workers
or the local Kaupule. While disappointing for us, it also presented an
opportunity for us to change their minds about having us here, and about helping
us bring this project to completion.
Nanumea, like most of Tuvalu, has a
thriving community culture, centred largely around the Church. July 16th
was the 84th anniversary of the Church and the celebrations had
obviously been in preparation for months.
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| Nanumea Church |
Festivities kicked off at 4:30am. We were
still in bed. But we did hear the 102 bell rings at 3:30am waking everyone up
for the first service.
Activities continued throughout the day and
we were impressed to find everyone still looking bright-eyed when we joined
them in the community hall at 6:50pm. We felt chuffed to be invited and
overwhelmed to be offered a seat in the inner circle at the left hand of the Pastor!
I have to assume that everyone had had an afternoon nap as we were informed
that the dancing and singing would continue until 4am (yes, it’s a 24hour
celebration!).
After prayers and a couple of speeches, we
were invited to eat first and led to the most enormous table of food stretching
from one end of the hall to the other. There were coconut shoots, grilled fish,
smoked fish, crabs, rice, pork, barbequed chicken, breadfruit, taro, pulaka,
paw paw, fern shoots, donuts, cakes and twisties. Even after the rest of the
village had mounded their plates and broken off into their little groups to eat
and talk the table looked almost untouched. It was a reminder that no-one is
hungry out here. While Tuvalu may be considered poor in technology and
employment prospects, no-one is hungry or malnourished or homeless. It is a
country rich in local resources and community.
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| Banquet table for an army |
Once food plates had been set aside, north
(green) and south (red) Nanumea set themselves up at opposite ends of the hall
with a large wooden box positioned in their midst. The drumming (box beating)
started. And then the singing. And then the dancers jumped up. Each team would
try their best to out-drum, out-sing, and out-dance the other. The rounds just
kept going, the drummers and singers getting louder, the dancers getting wilder
and sweatier. By 10pm when they finally called it a tie, we were exhausted just
watching.
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| One of our workers Andrew, trying to encourage Marty to join the green team |
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| All dressed up for the Anniversary celebrations |
But now our short reprieve has come to an end
with the arrival Friday of the Nivaga II and our missing threaded rod and
washers. We spent Saturday drilling and setting rods and will be back on site
Monday with our local workers to complete the array. By Friday, Nanumea will be
the first Tuvalu system to go fully operational – only about 5 months behind
schedule.
