Not quite a knock out blow, but a small victory all the same.
We embarked last Wednesday down to Ogho Village for an environmental awareness programme. Initially I was just going to be going along for the ride, but at the last minute things changed. J's wife was going into labor and there I was in the hot seat now it was up to me to give the main presentation. J had prepared it and knew it inside out. I had a few minutes in the morning to quickly look over it before jumping in the boat to leave.
We all leave quite a bit later than I expected and it was early afternoon before we were underway. The boat is very heavy and as is often the way, we stopped and picked up a few people on the way out. All up we had nine people and a very heavy boat plowing rather low through the water. Boats are the buses here.
On arrival at Ogho it was clear they were very happy to see us. They had made a request some months ago to get some more information about conservation and what they could do to protect their reefs and forests.
Then we kai kai, which is the custom way for a community to welcome new visitors to a village. Before dinner there are the usual pre-dinner prayers and during dinner a number of Chiefs and elders speak and express how gratefull they are that we had come. It had become abundantly clear to me that the expectations for our talks were high.
As we set up the projector, computer and makeshift screen the audience pour in. By the time that we had finished setting up there were many many children, with the adults gathering at the back and at the very back are the women.
Mike did the introduction for the three of us in language so I had no idea what he was really saying although I asked him earlier to make sure that he describes what I do as capacity building as it's kind of broad and doesn't just give the impression that I'm just a good source of grant funding.
Then I was up. I had been thinking for some time since the morning that this talk could have some significant influence on the conservation direction this community takes, its me versus the loggers in this very talk. If I communicate well, then maybe the community will pursue more sustainable options for their natural resources, if I don't then maybe the option of logging becomes more attractive. This is one of those very rare moments where the rubber hits the road. I'm pumped, my pijin is good enough to get me by and if I use it to the best of my ability then I should be flying.
As I go along I am quickly going slide by slide and trying to tie it altogether into some coherent message. Its going well and I am feeling good about it. The pijin is flowing and the adults are looking attentive (the kids just want to see the movie 'Home for Hawkesbill' that we had brought along). Its nice to be speaking to this group, its big, probably 150 people and quite a number of Chiefs from neighbouring villages. All in all it flows well and I wind up, buggered but on a high at the same time. I sit down feeling very relaxed knowing that I gave it my all.
Then we show the movie 'Home for Hawkesbill', the kids love it as the message is told in a simple story and it flows well. Then Solo is up, he does his talk on Climate Change, again it goes down very well and there are some good questions from the crowd. There are also a number of people in the audience that are starting to hold the Chiefs accountable by asking some very direct questions to those same Chiefs. Its good to see village democracy in action.
It's close to 11.00pm and we ask if anyone wants to see one more movie. The last one is about Mortlock Island and it show how sea level rise is impacting it. I am not too surprised that about 50-60 people remaining are keen to see it. There is no tv, no Internet and very few books in these communities and out here they love these opportunities to see and learn new things. In the end we end at about 12.30pm and after packing up and then heading back and talking with the Chiefs in our leaf house, I end up in bed at about 2.30am. Its been a great night and I still relatively energised by the time I get to sleep in the nice and cool leaf house to the sounds of the frogs in the near by coconut plantation.
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