I have been slack with my entries in the past due to work and other commitments. Last year my daughter and her husband had to evacuate from Japan because they lived 100 or so K’s from the nuclear plant that exploded. There was evidence of radiation in their water and soil. As she was 7 months pregnant and also had a 2 year old boy it was a no brainer that they should return to Australia. Her husband who is Japanese was torn between looking after his wife and children and his Mother who was in the hospital dying from cancer. It was decided that he would stay and my daughter would come home. His mother died before the need to leave so it all worked out in the end. They are happily living in Northern NSW where they have an opportunity to advance their work. He is a professional surfing/fashion photographer and she is a freelance journalist specialising in surfing. It has been a huge relief for me to have them safe here in Australia, and it is easier to travel to see my two grandsons. I was able to be there for the birth of her second son and help with the care of her eldest boy who is now nearly 3. I am planning on visiting once a year so that I get to see them. Once they are settled they too will visit us in Adelaide regularly.
This post is about my opportunity to travel to Kiribati (Island in the Pacific) for work. What an amazing experience. I travelled with a colleague who was also working there.
“Kiribati is for travellers - those who have a passion for exploring and discovering, people who like an adventure off the tourist trail to places where few have been before, and people who want to understand a country - not just see it. Kiribati will challenge your view of how life should be and show you a less complicated way of living where family and community come first.” www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki
Mauri – the word for hello and welcome
Where is it?
Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas) is an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, located in the central Pacific Ocean, about 4,000 km (about 2,500 mi) southwest of Hawaii. It is part of the division of the Pacific islands that is known as Micronesia. Kiribati consists of 33 coral islands divided among three island groups: the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands.
All of the islands are atolls (ring-shaped islands with central lagoons) except for the island of Banaba in the Gilbert Islands which is a raised limestone Island. Of the 33 islands of Kiribati, 21 are inhabited. Most of the population is concentrated in the Gilbert Islands and only one of the islands in Phoenix Group (Kanton Island) is inhabited and three of the Line Islands are permanently inhabited. The capital of Kiribati is Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Bairiki, an islet of Tarawa, serves as an administrative center.
The majority of the atolls are barely more than six metres above sea level and surrounded by barrier reefs creating picturesque lagoons for fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming and other water sports. Professional scuba diving guides are available on Christmas Island, Fanning Island and Tarawa.
Surfing is also popular on Kiritimati (Christmas) Island, Fanning (Tabuaeran) Island and Gilbert Islands.
Kiribati became the first nation to see in the Third Millennium during the year 2000.
Kiribati is 12 hours ahead of GMT - 2 hours ahead of Tokyo and 22 hours ahead of Honolulu, on the other side of the international dateline.
Population
Approx. 100,000
People
The main language is I-Kiribati - however English has been taught over many years and is widely understood, in particular the older generation. English is taught in schools.
The happiest and friendliest people I have met in a very long time. They know how to relax and not get too stressed.
The essence of community is common – people form community through sharing of objects, environments and spaces, and this is a lot in Kiribati. With many people in a small place, people share the natural resources that they live off. The I-Kiribati people often live in close quarters with their extended family, and living and working in harmony with neighbours and family is of high importance. Much of the traditions and beliefs of the people have remained the same.
At the centre of community life is the Maneaba – a rectangular structure used as a meeting place for the village community. This is where traditional meetings are held.
Celebration is something the Kiribati people certainly love. Any visitors to Kiribati in the Christian events of Easter or Christmas will see many celebrations, and as much traditional dancing and singing as one could ever wish for.
Traditional daily life in Kiribati revolves around living off the resources of the island – this might be taking the sailing canoe out to catch fish for the daily meal, cutting toddy to drink, harvesting coconuts or breadfruit, or weaving craft from the leave of the coconut tree. The island and surrounding sea provide everything, from food, shelter, clothing, furniture, or medicine.
Climate
Temperature varies between 25° and 33°C and they have 4135 hours of sunshine annually. The wet season extends from December to May and rainfall variation is high in most of the islands. A gentle breeze from the easterly quarter is predominant, and a sea breeze cools everyone down all year round.
They don’t seem to be affected by tsunamis or typhoons.
Money
Australian Dollar is used and there are a couple of ATM's which work very well.
Shopping
There are no supermarkets but I did find a large store called Moels Trading Store. They stock tim tams, weetbix, vegemite and of course all the other stuff. One thing that is hard to get is fresh fruit and vegetables as they have to get it in from Fiji.
Phone cards are sold here too but there are several other places, like the security office in the business area. Take your phone and buy a card and you can then ring home even though it is expensive. No texting available.
We found a couple of bakeries and the buns were delicious. Also ice cream, but beware evidently you can get sick from the ice cream. We bought ours from a large trading store that looked new.
Chatterbox cafe is the only place we found good souvenirs, make sure you have cash though as they don't take cards. They make great coffee there too and you can check in here for your flight instead of the airport.
My experience (February 2012)
Firstly we had to travel to Fiji and stay overnight before flying to Tarawa Kiribati. What did I expect to see on arrival? Having travelled extensively since the 70's to countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Africa, Burma, South America (just to name a few), I was surprised that it was as primitive as those countries back in the 70's. We flew in on an Asia Pacific plane, and on landing we could see that houses lined the strip and locals were on the edge of the tarmac waving. It is a novelty for the locals as there are two arrivals a week.
Who doesn't like to watch planes landing and especially when you can get so close to them?
The airport was a tin shed with handwritten signs. Luggage was carried off the plane and put on a bench and you had to find your own.
You are able to hire a car to get around. It is easy driving as there is only one road and you won't get lost. The widest part of the island is approx. 500metres so you would end up in the sea either side if you took a wrong turn. The maximum speed on the road is 60kph. You need to keep to it as there are a lot of speed humps and no warning of them. As the road is shaded by trees it is hard to see the humps until you are on them. There is also a toll to pay when crossing the main causeway. It will cost you 40cents one way. That poor man sits in his little hut collecting the toll 24 hours a day. No air-conditioning for him.
We were picked up from the airport and driven to our motel.
First impression of the island as we drove to our motel was it is not the most beautiful I have seen but it has a beauty of its own. As the locals describe it, “It is an island for travellers not tourists" and that is so true. If you are looking for modernity, then this is not the place to visit. If you are looking at experiencing the island life and its people then this is where you come.
"Mary's Motel" is run by George. Mary died in 2003 so George took over and his sisters and brothers help him. It is very clean but also very basic. The room did have an air conditioner and hot shower. They also had Wi-Fi internet access that wasn't very reliable. There is a restaurant which has a large choice of food which is very good. If you are into seafood (I am not) then lobster and very delicious fish is what you should try. The menu is a mixture of Asian and western food. They even had pancakes which were very nice. Prices were very good too and the serves were large. Drinks consisted of soft drink, water, beer and wine (not easy to get wine, white in particular, I found a Hardy’s though)
Why was I here? I am a lecturer at TAFESA and Kiribati and TAFE have an agreement with us training. I teach Certificate IV Training and Assessment. KIT (Kiribati Institute of Technology) needed their lecturing staff to gain their training qualifications. I spent 5 days training and will return to do 7 days training in June. The students’ quality of work was outstanding and they have had a lot of Professional Development to support them. At the Institute they deliver IT, Business Admin, Automotive, Construction, electro technology, TESOL, Accounting and others. Most are at a Cert. I - II level, but they are working on higher levels for the future. There are other TAFE lecturers there supporting the staff.
The reason they are doing all of this training is because of climate change. The ice is melting and as the highest point on the island is no more than 6 metres above sea level then they may only have 50 years or so left. They want to get the young ones qualified so that they can gain work if they need to leave. Many who have gained skills live and work abroad, sending money back to their families.
This is an exciting time for KIT as they work to becoming the best Training organisation in the Pacific. I think they may get there too.
We managed to get some sightseeing in on Sunday. We followed the road as far as it went and found the most beautiful island, which is a resort. Unfortunately we couldn't get to it because you have to get a boat across. Evidently there a many islands like this and you can only access them by boat. I met a volunteer who was going to one of these islands to teach boat building for 6 months. How exciting. They do have generators for power but everything is pretty basic.
My highlight was getting the opportunity to drive on the tarmac and also direct planes (not really). How many of you can say you have done that?????
One thing that is evident in Kiribati is they are religious. As we found out on our Sunday trip. There is pretty much every denomination there. Sunday service is very musical and we were able to hear some of the singing which was lovely. They all get dressed up in white and look so nice. Don't know how they get their stuff so white though. We saw schools and churches of the Mormons, 7th Day Adventist, Uniting, Catholic just to name a few.
No comments:
Post a Comment