The Last Week

Thank you to the many people who have supported both Peter and myself over our volunteer placements at KPC . It has been the most wonderful experience; learning from the local people as well as passing on our skills as best we can.

The people we met will remain in my heart forever, their patience and kindness as they guided us through some challenging times especially the staff of the Women's Centre... the amazing team pictured below.

May you continue the good work you are doing to empower the women of Kiribati.

Above, RAK Women's Centre Staff farewell photo and left Tabaina and me with farewell dress and gifts.

 Thanks to Tabaina and Teburenga for their support during my time at KPC, such good work they are doing along with staff in catering and sewing departments.



Below, staff farewell on Saturday evening, lots of good food, singing and speeches

Just a note to those who were impressed with the healthy eating and weight loss programme initiated at  KPC. Pete smugly thought he had lost some weight and eagerly jumped on the suitcase scales at the Bairiki airport and reeled off them at a staggering 108kg in shorts and Tshirt... a total of 5kg up from the start of the weight loss programme (though he grasped at straws saying maybe 2kg could be the shorts and T shirt!).
Hence he will now be placed on a frugal diet while in Fiji...in my dreams!

The Gender in Local Government three day workshop participants; a learning time about the problems and suggested solutions to equality issues in Kiribati.

Work

Maneaba in Temeiku Village

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Temeiku village health talk followed by a talk in Betio the next day; before we leave. Both sessions about three hours with interested
women listening and occasionally asking questions.

Pre School teacher training in 'healthy diet and nutrition for children' included a gift of a tooth brush and paste. Thank you to Hamilton Wesley Church for donations.
New volunteer Kim, assistant to the Pre School Co-ordinator, will continue the work of teaching children to brush teeth with the left over resources.


Last Trauma Teddy given to Kim, pictured below right, who will be taken to entertain pre school children as part of her health education talks

                  

Thanks to the Victorian Quit Program for information and pamphlets. This is the outside of our office window right where many visitors smokers enter the board room.
20 smokers working for KPC signed up to help cut down or stop smoking. Very difficult to do with no access to nicotine patches and counsellors.
Two local people have the opportunity to do the training to be Quit Counsellors. I hope this happens soon to keep the momentum up.

Health Screening Day at Antebuka

                                                        
A request to help the first year student nurses learn about primary health care in the community led to their involvement in our Health Screening Day at KPC.
About 50 community and staff members attended the session.

Previously I had arranged two other health screening days with 22 and then 25 people attending so this one was very successful both as a training exercise for the nurses and also identifying potential health problems for those who attended. Thank you to the nurses who happily helped out so willingly. Great to see nurses doing preventative work in the community, something which I am passionate about, we can often prevent ill health by screening, information and advice which is so important.

Farewell to all our Friends

Thank you to all our church friends for the warm welcome and ongoing support throughout our stay. The services and singing in the chapel have been inspiring and uplifting.

A big thank you to the wonderful ladies in my Thursday bible study group. What an amazing and memorable farewell afternoon tea. Such fun and fellowship. I hope we will meet again.

Happy healthy smiles

Thank you to Hamilton Wesley Uniting Church for donation of tooth brushes and paste for the Sunday School children.

This particular place in South Tarawa (pictured below) is lovingly called Mount Kiribati. I was told tonight at the Hash Harriers Walking Club meeting that the I-Kiribati people suffer from "tsunami burn out" so warnings are never really taken seriously and life goes on oblivious. Where would you go anyway?

Teirio Island

Teirio Island is about an hour and a half boat ride from Betio wharf. The following scenes show, to the right, breakfast in the maneaba and on the left the sunrise from our bure.

Eight guests, several staff and three local fishermen staying there.

 Travel to Teirio Island for the weekend was by speed boat; the one on the right hand side.
We all found the ride bumpy but exciting with sprays of warm water as we tore through an aquamarine sea scape across the lagoon, reef and coral. Unbelievably beautiful as we arrived at this uninhabited island (except for a caretaker when everyone has gone home).

The maneaba to the left was used as dining room and relaxation communal area. While each couple or single had their own above ground bure facing the sea as bedroom. Such lovely cool breezes and starry, starry, balmy nights

Farewell and Birthday Party

Friend Avira, pictured on the right, invited us to the farewell party of her relatives returning home after a holiday.

Lots of food, traditional dance and singing.

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Below, cutting the cake to celebrate the birthdays of Avira's husband and sister in law. Everyone presented with garlands. A perfect balmy evening with the sea just a short distance away from where the food is lined up ready for when the speeches have finished.

Pete is getting quite a following for his Kiribati dress style so here is one for his fans. Another pose with the famous woven bible bag and the garland look that is becoming so popular!!!

Betio Wharf and Bonriki Village Health Education

Local Betio fishermen heading out to sea below the jetty. This is typical of the many fishing village households where fish is captured and sold fresh on the sides of the road by the women. With no refrigeration they have eskies or wave branches across the lined up fish and keep them wet until purchased.

Container ship at the wharf; hopefully bringing some cheese that we have run out of again (and craving for)

Tara, Health Promotion Officer, and Tabaina (Women's Centre Co-ordinator) were able to teach pelvic floor exercises with little help from me on this second last village talk. They were able to speak confidently in the local language; a much better option than women listening to my English and then a sentence by sentence translation. Two more people trained to give this talk after I go home!!

Village Life - August 2011

The two girls who live next door were seen doing traditional weaving last week. Usually the weaving material has been previously dried so maybe the girls were practising weaving. I wish I could speak the local I-Kiribati language to ask them.

Father and son. The usual mode of transport are the old "buses" which rattle and roll over the pot holes, and puddles at times, with loud music blaring away with the I-Kiribati "top of the pops" and up to twenty seven people (an all time record) crammed into a van meant to carry 17 people.

Due to sea erosion cement bags are used in many places to prevent further damage. These bags are holding back the sea away from the main road that traverses the length of South Tarawa.

The highest point on this atoll is marked with a notice by the side of the road which says  "Mount Kiribati, three metres above sea level"

Below is the local lady from the Seventh Day Adventist Cafe Sugar Blues where we are guaranteed good internet access if we buy dinner there. With nice meals that take ages to arrive (minimum  time of an hour) we know her very well as we tap away at the computer awaiting a nice meal.

Pete 'as proud as punch' for this little creation in our shower!. Don't laugh it works well; recycling a can is all good. We can now reduce the filling time for the washing machine from twenty minutes to five minutes

Not sure how the above became blue and underlined but can't get rid of it; still lots to learn here!!

Accepting nominations for 'Inventor of the Year' in Kiribati?

The Adventures of Meere and Tion.

Maareta and I are stood outside of the YCL building which is the Youth Centre, where the brass band practices daily and our accommodation is situated. We thought it a good spot to promote the book we have written and produced along with many others to help highlight the problem of the dangers to Kiribati children in the local community. It is written in the local language with subtitles in English so that parents can help their children with reading skills as well as alerting them to potential dangers. We are hoping to now get this published more professionally with donor monies from AusAid so that it can be provided free of cost to families and schools throughout Kiribati rather than just the KPC children that it was originally intended for. The other agenda is to highlight the lack of playgrounds and safe places for children to play in South Tarawa. Hence I have an appointment with the Minister for Education next week and hope to talk to the Minister for Health soon. It is our way to try to give a voice to the plight of the beautiful happy Kiribati children who live amongst many dangers in their local villages. Still a lot to do in the short time left here.

Work, Then Time For Relaxation.

Eita Village Health Talk

The younger women with children attended the morning sessions when I focused on diseases and disorders of child hood. This smaller group of Elders stayed for lunch.
We were provided with lunch and singing when we finished the three hours of work.
Topic included  what they had asked for - an overview of the menstrual cycles, reproduction, women's health problems, incontinence and pelvic floor exercises, diabetes and women's cancers etc.

  The women performed fun action songs while we had lunch, they enjoyed performing as much as we did watching them, it was full of laughter and teasing each other!

Looking out from Karea's Resort North Tarawa where we went for lunch on Sunday. When the tide is high water flows beneath the bure where guests can stay. Maybe we will hire this for our last weekend but our time is running out now.

I went swimming when the tide was up, before lunch, the water was amazingly warm but no tropical fish or coral, just lovely sand and clear blue water.

Life in South Tarawa

The yellow fin tuna was delivered to the KPC catering team to feed the guests at a meeting held by the Department of Foreign Affair in our Board Room that is hired out.

Every day fishermen are seen going out to see in the lagoon or deep sea fishing and they return late afternoon to sell fish at the street stalls or drive around to fill orders such as this KPC one.

A staff member brought her sick little girl to see me. She had been to the doctors and now on antibiotics for a sore throat.

The mothers of these boys were asked by them if they could have their photo's taken by me as we attended a meeting to arrange village talks at Eita Village

Two of the four women who do contract sewing in the RAK Women's Centre next to our office.
They work really hard each day and were the ladies who taught the sewing skills to the students in the Women's Skills Development Course recently.

Remains of Air Kiribati; RIP. Behind is the runway for the Tarawa International Airport.
We drove the truck down the runway this afternoon on our way back from Karea's Resort in North Tarawa, along with the locals, as a way of avoiding the pot holes in the road. There is an alarm that goes off when a plane is due, which wakes up the air traffic controller, and clears the runway of pedestrians and traffic I am told!

Assistance for the Finance Department

Peter arrived on Tuesday and is now working in the Finance Department teaching MYOB.

(He forgot to buy a new camera since mine broke in the second week but I've been reunited with my Iphone so poorer quality photos but convenient technology!)

Today he was given a traditional woven bag meant for bibles and the picture shows him in the transport that we used to go to church.


Sugar Blues Cafe is where we come to have a nice dinner and internet access all for $5.00 each.


The lagoon is opposite but unfortunately too polluted to swim in.