Challenges of modern day ecological thinking

A few years back I came to a blunt realisation that I was no longer interested in further pursuing an interest in ornithology that had been such a focus for me till that point. My work and general fields of interest were mainly in ornithology, but increasingly ecological restoration seemed a more comfortable fit. I moved from ornithology partially due to the rigid nature of how ornithology was conceptualised. This often was displayed by the approach of ‘If it hadn’t already been written about, then it can’t possibly have happened’. Even at that time it seemed to me that nature wasn’t dependent on the next paper to be written about it, nature was going to share itself in unexpected ways to whomever may be present and watching, you simply needed to be ready and observant.

Although the environmental and ecological circles I currently move in are substantially different from those early ornithological days, there is a worryingly similar rigidity emerging with increasingly impenetrable worldviews. It seems that while the climate is changing rapidly, much of our ecological leadership is flailing, stuck perpetuating ecological concepts that may have been appropriate in a more stable climate but are less useful now. What is more worrying is that while local knowledge is seen as critical to resolving problems, much effort goes towards dismissing opposing forms of knowledge or perspectives, particularly local knowledge that has similarities with traditional ecological knowledge and also the input from women.

                           

While strong personalities resilient to altering their worldviews are great when it comes to reductionist tasks or challenging much larger scale environmentally destructive systems, limited self reflection represents a barrier to the challenges of a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world that faces pandemics (covid-19), climate change, declining resources (oil, soil, water), the decline of the neoliberal order, global biodiversity loss, nuclear proliferation and militarisation and a bewilderment of other issues burdening a weary populace.

Closer to home ecologically minded individuals are championing projects such as a cycleway/walkway through the middle of a nationally important wildlife refuge and climate change adaptation with little regard to local ecological contexts. Proponents no doubt think they are working for a greater social and ecological good but they share one common denominator, which is constructive critique of these respective proposals is ignored.

When any individual or institution involved in fields such as ecology, ecological restoration, climate change adaptation and mitigation believe their worldview is beyond reproach, that they have already conceived and resolved critiques to their own ecological doctrine, then ecology is no longer about the environment.  At is point it is about individual or organisational prestige and identity.

The curse of the common 

I will provide an example of this tendency towards a narrower perspective of the environment.

The past 5-10 years has seen a noticeable shift towards a cultural blindness of different ecological paradigms than those we have become familiar in conservation discourse over that same period. This discourse perpetuates certain cultural myths we accept as the only viable pathway to a flourishing endemic flora and fauna. A good working example of this is that of a predator proof sanctuary proposed for earthquake damaged land in eastern Christchurch. An underlying assumption of this project is that nature has to be secured inside a predator proof fence and protected from everything harmful outside, which perpetuates the belief that indigenous nature has little resilience. I don’t dispute the science that shows that many indigenous species are declining due to many pressures. What I do struggle with is that this repeatedly leads to neglect of alternative perspectives, many which are supported by robust data. 

The debate of a fenced protective areas leads to species exceptionalism, between species within a fenced area being intrinsically more valuable than anything outside of it, which are clearly less valuable. Truly valuable species become those that are the rarest of the rare, with those species which are already in the landscape and are flourishing becoming cursed by being abundant. In an age where resilience has been The fact that species are flourishing within a landscape that continues to be heavily impacted by human behaviour and introduced predators fails to provide a counter narrative. This narrative would be that these species through their shear resilience may have something to teach us. So oddly resilience is important to individual people or organisations, but much less so when it comes to an abundant native species and certainly not anything that’s an abundant introduced species. Species that are resilient are also species that are common. Being common is seen as a curse rather than strength. Which underlies one key weakness of New Zealand’s ecological restoration, we often work from areas of vulnerability rather than strength, and this is on many layers. We certainly don’t give much credit for species that are successful or learn from these examples.                                                                                

Observations on Climate Change ‘Development’ - Part 1

After a few months working away in the Solomon Islands for the UNDP I arrived back in New Zealand. It wasn’t how I anticipated to come back, but due to various stuff ups, mostly not of my own making, I ended back here sooner than expected.

It was a rapid fire six months. Sometimes in the Solomon Islands it’s hard to know what has been achieved after you step away from the environment you have been working in. Progress is certainly hard won. I know from an earlier volunteer role lasting two years in which tangible outputs were hard to identify, I couldn’t claim I assisted with developing new roads or help design new wharves. Sadly this is how success is measured. It’s about how many kilometres of road had you developed, how many people had had been at the receiving end of power point presentations. Given my understanding of development practice and the context I had been working in of the Solomon Islands, these quantitative measures based on simply sheer numbers, more of something being better now seems like a quaint measures of development. We should have care about qualitative rather than quantitative measures of success. What was the quality of what was done, did it result in meaningful change for those involved should be asked, when quality is used as a measure it often has no basis in the actually realties of quality outcomes for that cultural context. What I found is that quality was determined by what others thought was quality based on worldviews formed from experience in other countries or the country in which they resided (Australia, Europe or United States of America).             

What I did achieve in my recent work and my earlier volunteer assignment was engaging people in discussions, demonstrating new skills, exposing them to new literature and concepts and helping to develop critical thinking. What I was sought to do was build the capacity of individuals so they had the confidence to be effective public servants and if needed, confront the culture they live and work in.    

Clearly we are using the wrong measure for successful development. We need measure the capacity of individuals. It is these individuals that will create the change in their own country. A friend and I discuss this a lot, both of us agree that in the Solomon Islands the approach of donors is often wrong, often by significant margins. Climate Change is an area where donors are still exploring what it is they should be doing. Observing this first hand in the Solomon Islands has been an eye opener in many ways.       

With Climate Change programmes a phenomenal amount of money is being spent on what are commonly called Climate Change and Disaster Risk (CCDRM) related projects. What was formally sustainable land management is now called ecosystem based adaptation, water and sanitation projects are now Climate Change adaptation. Construction of infrastructure has variously been called service delivery and now appears in many cases also claims to be Climate Change adaptation. As a friend once said to me service delivery is when the actual quality of services improve, meaning when the capacity of individuals to personally contribute to the delivery of high quality services improves, built infrastructure is only a part of this, the individual is the larger part.  

From what I have learnt Climate Change will not be overcome in the Solomon Islands without institutions with the capacity to adequately respond. It sounds pretty straight forward right!

One of the biggest problems I encountered is that strengthening of governance processes is not cheap, certainly it’s not considered sexy. It’s far more appealing to invest money in infrastructure, agricultural extension programmes are also much easier for donors to market. A large Climate Change programme in Choiseul Province had a significant component that involved agricultural programmes but requests by the Provincial Government to support strengthening of governance processes and structures was dismissed early in the ‘consultation’ phase.

Donors are often more concerned ensuring brand distinction than they are with actual outcomes. I suggested over the course of my recent work that we work together with other donors, essentially pooling resources. The response back was somewhat stunning, apparently this couldn’t be, partly this was expressed that we had to maintain our own profile and distinctiveness of our activities, working in with others may have resulted in these being obscured. As a kiwi I still believe we need creative solutions for what appear insurmountable problems, we have to do things different; the recent past in Climate Change work in the Solomon Islands is littered with examples of programmes that did alright, nothing spectacular, just alright. I don’t accept mediocrity is adequate when significant resources are available to achieve inspirational outcomes. From what transpired working together only meant shared meetings or workshops, possibly a bit of sharing ideas (but not too much of course). What needs to happen is a completely open approach whereby funds are pooled and intellectual property built and owned collectively. We still have a lot of work to be done.     

 

March of Destruction

The pressure on finite resources in the Solomon Islands is unrelenting. Solomon Islands are succumbing to the pressure of the dominant economic development paradigm that all economic growth is good, that it must occur and that it is more important than social, environmental, cultural considerations. The Solomon Island story is really that of humanities relationship with the natural world spread over hundreds of kilometres and nine provinces. 
   
The lads (Phil, Andrew and Nial) arrived from New Zealand on the 24^th of February for our trip, which had initially been proposed in September 2014 in New Zealand, just before I departed for the current contract.

After a short pause on the first with a short visit to Betikama wetlands, our destination for the next day was Mount Austin due to its reputation as having good vegetation and good forest birds in close proximity to Honiara. Mount Austin is a good short introduction to bush birds in the area, although once you get to the end of the road at the Lunga River and have scoured the hillsides there isn’t much else to see. The next day was supposed to be an early start but weather dictated that we had to wait till late in the day before the boat could come safely across from Central Province. Once we reached Central Province what surprised me was the beauty of Central Province, I simply never expected it would be such an attractive place. The only things I knew previously was that it had strong links with world war two being one of the key bases for the Japanese, didn’t have much of its original vegetation and is generally by-passed by birders for that reason.

I was pleasantly surprised that the population is still not huge (although there seems a higher population than Temotu and Choiseul) and currently there are no signs of major developments such as mining. The shoreline of the passage that we passed through still had reasonably extensive fringing mangrove. Near the end of the passage close to Siota Provincial Secondary School just before the passage enters open sea, we approached our first destination for shorebirds, a section of rocky reef and low coral banks that have probably been created due to the fringing reefs and ocean currents working together to allow material to build up and form a slightly higher landmass. At this location we discovered a number of shorebirds roosting with scattered Grey plover, Pacific golden plover, Whimbrel, Turnstone, Grey tailed and Siberian tattler and the odd Common sandpiper.
The next day we went to a small site that on the map suggested an intertidal wetland. When we reached Lake Kolaoka we were all elated to find that the site was full with waders, there were Common Greenshank, Eastern Curlew, Terek Sandpiper, Lesser Sandplover, Greater Sandplover, Whimbrel, Pacific Golden Plover. As far as I could tell it had a fuller range of migratory shorebirds than has been recorded anywhere else in the Solomon Islands.

On the third day we visited a small Islands about 6-7km offshore. Approaching the Island was a bit tricky as the swell was coming from all directions and it required a bit of calculation to assess the best way to approach the Island. Once we were onshore at the Island it was clear that it had been well visited and there were some camps from people who had stopped over after fishing trips. A significant amount of understory vegetation had been removed, it was because people had cleared the vegetation by hand as well as the occasional uncontrolled cooking fire burning more than it should have. Jerry our host also mentioned that children often will disturb nesting seagulls (terns) and take chicks and eggs when they are nesting. Thankfully it does not appear that there are dogs or cats on the Islands.   

    

All of these sites, although each a fantastic location with either a lot of birdlife present or used regularly by birdlife at different times of the year, are faced with pressures that will see them alter significantly in a very short time if there is no active management.

The reef at the entrance to the passage is close to a large school site which will be faced with increasing disturbance as people walk out to the reef to look for shellfish or fish. Sea level rise will also impact how often the site is exposed and available to be used.
     

Lake Kolaoka, which brought such enjoyment and is probably one of the more important shorebird sites in the Solomon Islands is close to an area local people told us prospecting for Bauxite is taking place. The edges of the site are used for gardens so there is also a disturbance element and sediment from gardens entering the wetland.

The offshore island is a story in itself. It is shared by two communities, which makes the possibility of it becoming a successful marine protected area pretty slim, but with it being used as a nesting site for terns means that it’s important as there are few sites recognised as breeding areas for seabirds in the Solomon Islands. If disturbance increases then the nesting terns are likely to desert the Island for a better spot. The only issue being is that there are fewer and fewer places that terns can nest without being disturbed.
 
Another story highlighted to me the plight of wildlife here as the population expands. According to Jerry a Solomon Sea Eagle had nested on a remote point not far from his village. Apparently some children saw the nest with a chick and decided they wanted it as a pet. Linking their arms they made a human chain to the nest. The chick was secured by the children and then taken away. I could picture the mother being pretty stressed, calling out and even the defence of the nest must have been pretty vigorous. I have heard Solomon Sea Eagles being kept as pets elsewhere and remember a situation where a bird was being kept in a small cage in western province. In that Instance the bird had apparently caught a fish and was struggling to fly, either it was a young bird or the weight of the fish impeded its flight, either way it ended up in a cage with an uncertain future.

Relentlessly there is growing pressure on wildlife and habitats and it seems to be at an accelerated rate, eventually this pressure will become so great that productivity of these environments will decline and species begin to disappear, in fact this has already happened in many places. What is important now is communities start implementing ways to address these issues. It will require a level of management of these resources that currently isn’t widely practiced and isn’t sustainably supported by donors or the government. It will also mean addressing the issue of the growing population through better access to birth control and reproductive education.                                     

Paradise Lost

In Choiseul paradise has been lost.

While people have been talking; the place that captivated me in 2010 has been given up for dead. The caretakers have been too busy naval gazing to see that there isn’t an indefinite time available   in which to save the place that many hold in such high regard, the traditional name Lauru is often used to highlight its uniqueness. These so called caretakers to act to challenge the culture. The burden is on those that are meant to be elders and considered community leaders or chiefs. The burden is on the Lauru Land Conference to actually do something rather than just be a retirement home for former political leaders and identities who once had ideas of relevance. The burden is on those with good educations to leave the false luxury of Honiara and move to the provinces and do something rather than continue endless banter on social media. The burden is on the donors and NGOs to start realising that the most well intentioned efforts are failing as they have no link to address with economic needs of the province of its people. The burden is on people at the village level to stand up, have a voice and critique the mistakes being made, in a culture that does not encourage speaking out. To speak out before it’s too late if it isn’t already.

I keep getting told about culture, but a culture that turns a blind eye to the raping of its resources is a culture that is in trouble both spiritually and economically.  Equally no one can actually tell you what culture is in Choiseul.

People often say that logging is required for development, but you only need to look as far as Poroporo village to see the fallacy of this argument.  It’s a village that looks reasonably impoverished even though there has been a fair amount of money from logging and the income from the sale of land for the new Choiseul Bay township (SBD$10 million).  From what I could see Pororporo village had a high reproduction rate, pathways that turned muddy as soon as the slightest rain falls, houses that are in desperate need of completion or repair, limited water supply and poor sanitation. How can this village not have ‘developed’ with such a large amount of money available? 

So when people use the argument that they need the economic development that logging brings. I will continue to promote sustainable development and ask that they show me the evidence that they have moved ahead equivalent to the degradation that has occurred. Choiseul has many conditions that would suggest sustainable economic development is possible (good soils, adequate rainfall, beautiful standing forests, clean rivers, many strong healthy people to work in the jobs created, a number of people with higher degrees) to be the most sustainable and well-developed area in the pacific. It’s past time for concerned people to stand up to the ignorance and arrogance of people (and a few organisations) who pretend to be competent and effective. The vast majority of so called leaders are achieving only one thing and that’s the systematic tearing apart of this once beautiful and abundant province. 
 
I look at the tee shirts people are still wearing around pororporo  that were made for the Buturuturu Island Emerald Oil fuel depot that was opened in about 2012/2013and which now sits rusting away and returning back to nature as there wasn’t enough money to pay for the fuel to fill the large fuel tanks after the project was completed.  The tee shirt reads “Our people, Our environment, Our energy” Basically saying we choose this project, even though we know it’s not innovative or sustainable, so mind your own business. I think that the tee shirt should have included a fourth line the read “Our lost opportunity” for developing a project on an island that had massive eco-tourism potential.

One contributing factor to the reactionary development that has been occurring Choiseul is that there is absolutely no planning at a community level; no critiquing of development to determine what is suitable for the Province with a relatively small and sensitive land area. One way a solution can attained is through good planning, good planning for the future in which people think in advance of what they want to achieve, how they will get there and what it will require. It all comes down to good planning. I was told by a former colleague who I worked with in the Lauru Land Conference that it’s more important to have money to implement projects, planning is nothing without money to implement. While this is true I would argue that before you even make the decision on what business option of the various options available that is going to be pursued is a planning decision in itself. It’s an example that shows the difficulty of building the most fundamental understanding of planning in Choiseul Province              

Half way through my stay we went out to a logging ship ‘Sea Hero’ to drop off the pilot who would pilot the ship as close as possible to the log point so the ship could fill up from a logging barge. The person that was to pilot the ship in was also a land holder and chief, according to him though he had opposed the logging but it ‘was hard’ to go against others who wanted it, although the question has to be asked if he opposed it so much why was he guiding the ship in, assisting the process of destruction. With Choiseul you often never know can follow the logic why certain decisions are made.

We approached the ship and it was immense, four high cranes, and already a deck half full of logs from other logging sites. Dead sentinels, testimony to a future the ‘leaders’ here are helping to create, in which future adults will probably look back and ask ‘why’?; ‘Why did you leave us with nothing’  
 
I felt a sense of shock, of being overwhelmed. How can any society combat this well resourced mechanised machine of destruction, of certain death. How can the few true leaders who are  educated, smart and interested in what the future may involve, actually fight this onslaught. It was nothing but a cold, calculating machine of death, not just of the trees themselves but death of hope for the future. Death of hope in the human spirit.   
 
When we approached the logging camp, I was blown away with the area that had been cleared for the siting of the camp. It was large and will remain a scar for a long long time. The amount of dust and disturbance that has been created will no doubt become sediment in that smothers the reef. How many animals that may have been nesting or living in the logs that have been felled is unknown, but it would have been significant habitat. The bordering coastal vegetation that has been removed would have been diverse as well and now there is only an exposed eroding shoreline. I hadn’t felt this despondent about the future of the planet for a long time.   

The only solution may come in the form of sustainable development. This development needs to be far more co-ordinated and far more aggressively pushed, so that there is a sure fire way of saying to people that there are alternatives. These options need to consist of eco-tourism, eco-timber and sustainable agriculture that produces high value products such as Cocoa and sold to directly to chocolate manufacturers for the highest returns.     

But another is committing my own time, energy, skills directly to the frontline. This would mean living in Choiseul and providing working examples that show sustainable solutions to the dominant global direction towards imminent natural capital degradation. This holiday has been an experience.  It may just have changed my direction for 2015 and the path I now need to follow. Maybe I need to be here, the fight is never over until the white flag has gone up and declaration of submission has been given. I am still some way from that. Stupidity and greed need to be fought, even if there is possible personal risk. It could be that the leaf house currently being built on Mamaleana becomes the basis for a new challenge and a new chapter.                 

       

                       

                                  

Thoughts on Dad

Saturday the 18^th of October was a significant day although in practice it was much like any other day in Honiara. A year ago to the day Dad passed away from a brain tumour that took him away from us in a way I can only describe as cruel. I will remember that day forever, when we all said a last final word to dad in order, mum, me and mark. It was our final send off to a guy that had no plans to depart and we had no expectation that of all of us he would be the first to go. The effects of that day have put everything into perspective although sometimes the changes that you believe the death of a loved one will have seem hardly noticeable as we rush about in our day-to-day lives.

What it changes is everything and what it changes is nothing. It changes everything in that I approach every day with Dad in mind. When it comes to dealing with inter personal dynamics I think to myself what would dad do in this situation, how would he deal with it? One of the many things he taught me was that you should treat everyone as an individual and with empathy. The Dalai Lama may say compassion rather than empathy, but the point is the same. Everyone has a personal worth and the smartest thing we can do for the human spirit is to notice it. Occasionally while talking to people they may show disinterest in a conversation in any of a number of ways. It makes me think, what of the small cost we incur for giving our time to others, but what of the significant benefits?

Dad would probably scratch his head in wonderment and would move on with a funny sideways comment. His course always seemed heading forward, looking out for those that need support and those who shined with life, letting those drift away who were destined to orbit in their own universes.

Three memories come to mind when I think about Dads impact on people.

One situation was with a guy named Bill who was slightly impaired mentally. Dad worked with Bill at the Market, a part time job he had outside the fire service. Bill was a long time employee who assisted Dad washing the crates that fruit and vegies came in before they were sent out again. While working at this organisation he supported Bill with guidance and empathy. After Dad finished working at the Market he visiting Bill at his house in Linwood and would often ring him. On a number of occasions he would supply him with clothes and they would also go out for short trips. I distinctly remember the regret that Dad expressed that he had spent more time and supported him more after Bill was pronounced dead, apparently in the bath of a heart attack.

Dad also got involved with teaching fire safety to recent refugees to New Zealand. One thing I remember about this is how it made him think about the differences between us being much less than the similarities binding us together. Its work he enjoyed and I think its work that he would have done a lot more of in time. It was also one of the catalysts that made him read and read about the world around us. The recent development in world media about the Muslim world or another ethnic minority (refugees in Australia) being the root of all evil ones something Dad didn’t buy into. I think he accepted more than anyone that for our current unsustainable economic system to survive, there need to be winners and losers.  There needs to someone always trying to steal our prosperity or who was less than us so we can exploit resources they may have.  He understood this better than most and he understood it to the point that he started to realise that we needed better government around the world and I think his personal contribution to this was voting, which in the end was for both Labour and the Green Party. 

Thirdly was Dads biggest act of compassion and it may have been what eventually lead to his demise. On the 22 February 2011, Dad arrived at the CTV building site after it had collapsed in the earthquakes that hit Christchurch that day. I remember him saying that they arrived and were at the site for one and a half hours before received any support by other fire crews. When he retold the story what was clear was how deeply this event had influenced him. I think more than anything he couldn’t accept that at the end of the day there didn’t appear much support to those who went through those events. He couldn’t understand how he could perform at his best and be questioned about his performance at a coronial enquiry. Every day he had gone to work as a firefighter he had given his all and questions were being asked about his personal integrity, “how could these people think that I had given anything less than my best”? He must have continually asked himself that question.  One day when I went to pick him up from the fire station he exited out the back door looking tired and haggard, the tumour must have already started growing and was taking its toll, but there was another element of self-doubt there as well.

That final heroic gesture was what eventually led to his demise; I believe it was the trigger that set off a chain of events that resulted in his death. He had accumulated toxins through his work that only needed a trigger of stress that ignited a cancerous glioblastoma tumour eventually leading to this magnificent man’s death. What lessons more could have been learnt from him I will never know. But what I have learnt is invaluable and what I can teach to others will be Dads legacy.                                                      

                            

                

            

         

Three Weeks Left

It’s as though endings are never meant to be a neat cut off. Due to the end of the contract being close to Christmas it means by nature it’s going to be a rushed and chaotic finish, many people are away on workshops and trainings, other will be heading off for holidays before or at the time I end. It would be nice to say that everyone who has been part of the experience will be there at the finish, but I suspect the final bash will be a mix of those stragglers who still haven't headed home and those that need to be on Taro for work reasons. It has that end of year feel to things right now; I can almost see the last two years roll out before me when I stop to think about it, it’s a mix of satisfaction at the scale of the experience and sadness at it finishing.    

Three weeks out I am still in the dark as to what I will do next year there has been talk about various things; a position we developed to support the Provincial Government has been sent out to many NGO’s and agencies, oddly one group has come back offering to support a senior planner and another a town planner, both of which were never requested and I guess it also shows how much these groups are really paying attention to the needs of the Provincial Government. We are still wondering if the position will get eventually get supported....we will see. Another agency has mentioned coming back for a few weeks work as a consultant in January and early February to help with some planning work in Choiseul, It would be as a consultant and it would look good on the CV, but still needs to be confirmed. Thirdly, there is masters degree option. This may be a good option as it would assist me in working overseas and I have developed quite an interest in strengthening community planning as a way to improve environmental management. 

So for the next three weeks until I fly away it’s going to be busy old time. I have a number of reports my volunteer agency wants me to complete and I have a few small jobs to finish as part of my assignment, including some reporting templates so that the technical Planning Unit can better monitor implementation of the Medium Term Development Plan. I’m at a stage where I know I need to get really organised and get things done, for some reason I’m not in that headspace yet and I needed to be at least a couple of weeks ago.

      

        

         

The Countdown

Opening a diary that I bought earlier in the year with an advertisement in it with the heading Hello or Goodbye, has some resonance with where I find myself at the moment. I’m in some sort of transition limbo asking myself will it be goodbye to the Solomon’s for ever or will I be back. I don’t currently have the answer either way and the meter is running. Today is the 6^th of November and I am due to fly from Choiseul (possibly my last flight out for a while, possibly ever) to Honiara on the 10^th of December.

Walking around in the bush last week in south Choiseul got me thinking that there is still so much that I could do here and want to do here. Rolling through my mind was a quote that David Suzuki the Canadian environmentalist refers to in a documentary about his life, the person he quotes once said the two most powerful words a person can say are “I’m staying”, meaning once you decide to stay in a place it means that you have committed to that community and the people in it.

There are Internet forums which where people discuss the issues faced by the Province (to the point of being pretty repetitive), but corresponding action by people involved in these discussions moving with any real urgency out get out to the Province and their hands dirty seems to be somewhat non-existent. Somewhat oddly there are a number of trained lawyers and doctors from Choiseul, none of which appear to have any interest in working in Choiseul, yet there is a dire need for both of these. It appears these people are working in Honiara or overseas where I guess they consider the grass is greener. It’s a situation that’s pretty similar to what kiwis know of with continual migration of skilled people from New Zealand to Australia and other places overseas, in Choiseul though it’s substantially worse.

I guess this is where I feel that I have something more to offer, I want to stay, to help out and do what I can and yet there is no clear option to make the that decision myself. Staying or at least having the opportunity to return to Choiseul and the Solomon’s is what I would like to be able to do, but with NGO’s and donors moving glacially slow to provide any clear support for a proposed position put to them to support the Provincial Government and also no obvious leads on other jobs; knowing that I will be finishing as a volunteer at the end of this year is about the only certainty I have right now.

                     

On the Home Straight

April came went and it was all a bit of a blur really. There were trips to Simbo Island in Western Province as well as Gorabara and Sepa, both in South Choiseul.

There also seems to be a bit of a pattern happening to my visits to villages in Choiseul  I have started to notice. It’s based around a three day cycle and goes like this; Day 1 travel early from Taro, arrive and spend time with the people that are hosting you in village and then go fishing.  Day 2 is usually a full day of the activity that you actually came down for either a workshop/training event or walkabout in the bush and then in the evening its fishing some more. Day 3 is either finishing up with a workshop/training or just chatting with people who want your input on something, then it’s time to head back; more often  than not it’s with a whole lot of extra people as well as bundled up sago palm, cassava, taro or sweet potato, green coconuts for drinking and maybe the odd chicken. Once we have dropped off all the passengers with their various cargoes, I like to do a nice detour out into the ocean chasing schools of fish by following were the seabirds are going.

Cruising up and down Choiseul in an open boat is a privilege that few ex-pats have and I still even now just in awe of how beautiful this place is. There is nothing like coming up from the villages from along the coast of South or North Choiseul and approaching Taro as the sun is setting over the Shortland Islands and Bougainville, those sunsets are well and truly etched into my brain.      

Getting out into the communities and away from Taro (often referred to as Taro Station) is to experience the real Choiseul. The issues that come up in communities are generally universal for most communities around Choiseul; its sanitation, water supply issues, sea level rise, population growth, finding sustainable opportunities for using natural resources, infrastructure etc etc, but there is always a local twist on how these issues are related or prioritised.

After what feels like so long here you start to see very clear patterns in all things, especially with the work that I have been doing which is essentially trying to help out organisations strengthen their internal structure. You start to see why some organisations are clearly failing, while other NGO’s who are doing similar work are succeeding. You start to see where the aid industry and donors are creating dependency and where they are creating innovation. As I approach the end of my tenure here I feel that it’s important to communicate what I have witnessed in the hope that someone or some organisation will use it to improve things for the better of the people here. I think it’s reasonable enough to say that there are issues around people not directly confronting organisations and individuals head on that need to be held accountable if change is too occur within a short timeframe (I would argue that with Climate Change, time is short) . As time goes on and I come nearer to the end of my contract I feel it’s more and more appropriate to communicate these things. There is a quote from a book that covers stories of three UN volunteers working through various countries in the 90s that I keep coming back from the book Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures;

“Who has the authority to resolve the dilemma, to place it on the moral spectrum? Who makes the conscious decision to bear witness, to tell the story? We need a volunteer”

Although this comment was in relation to UN volunteers in vastly more dangerous situations than I find myself in here, I think the principle is the same for any volunteer.

I often wonder that with all the big statements from organisations and governments about helping those who need help such as the Solomon Islands, I think about what is really being committed to this province and realise that in many ways I’m it as far as help on the ground is concerned, when I make this connection, I’m blown away. Millions get pumped into supporting the Solomon’s and most goes through government agencies or NGO’s, a great deal of resources probably never make it out of Honiara, actual people helping out on the ground from other countries, basically me, priceless. 

      

      

                         

2012 - A Time for Change

The movie hypothesis of  ‘2012-time for change’ is that 2012 is when a 5000 year Mayan calendar cycle comes to an end and as a result global change will occur, while I don’t necessarily agree with what are often considered apocalyptic predictions.  I think that the concept of 2012 as a time for change or reflection as suggested in the movie is at least a good point for discussion, this trip to Australia has re-affirmed that there needs to be a consciousness change and that society can’t just continue to just immerse itself in consumerism in the hope that the problems with the state of the world will go away. 

This trip to Australia for Christmas holidays has shown me that change is already being forced upon people and there is little possibility that a continuation of existing ways of living and thinking can continue. It’s been surprising the level of financial pressure and job insecurity in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The shear pressure of urban living at this time in Australia appears to be increasingly untenable, exorbitant rents in Sydney and increasingly unaffordable house prices were a frequent of discussion. Friends told me how they would have to sacrifice an entire salary for mortgage repayments and live of the other spouses salary meaning this couple would both need to work full time which would require putting their young son into day care. While I am aware this is not at all new, it’s the first time that I have really connected with just how the world that we have created for ourselves is not at all sympathetic towards young families trying to survive and create some sort of quality of life for themselves.  

In other situations people were either out of work or struggling to find new work, quality jobs look far more difficult to obtain now than they would have been say four or five years ago when I first arrived in Australia looking for work myself. Being out of work or and unable to find means a number of people are trying to reassess their personal identity post-employment. 

Food prices also seem to be pretty high from what I remember and there looks to be a lot of poor quality food available and quite a lot of food wastage.  

What is pushed by mainstream commercial magazines and also mainstream Australian TV is still encouraging people to buy a certain product or look a certain way once you purchase a certain product or look a certain way as a fast track to happiness. It’s a message that seems to be avoiding the real issues of this particular time in history, but it’s so pervasive and widespread here with nothing much to counter or challenge it.      

Another thing that I have observed and maybe I have only noticed this because I have lived in a place where people are pretty laid back is that there is an underlying tension and irritability in a large number of people in the places I have visited, I’m not sure if this is more a perception coming from one way of living and interacting to another that’s vastly more stressful and complex, but it doesn’t seem healthy or balanced and ultimately socially sustainable.        

           

So the systems broken but people haven’t got time to fix the system as they are too busy caught in it trying to survive.

Maybe 2012 will start to see an awaking or consciousness that the system needs to change and that people have the ability to create that change. Maybe we will start to see a transition away from employment that doesn’t allow for time to strengthen community and family to employment that allows for flexibility, maybe people will be supported to address the increasing rises of living costs through urban agriculture and more comprehensive public transport, maybe the economy also needs a complete revamp to be more sympathetic to nature and community in a time of drastic change.             

Big Happenings - It's the annual Premiers Conference

It’s been over two months since I last wrote anything and it’s about time I put something down as life is moving along here.

The work here and I guess my purpose for being here has been given a new lease of life through the redefining of my assignment and directing most of my efforts towards the Provincial Government, this actually suits me well as most of my conservation and environmental work has been directed through roles in local governance of some sort, so it’s good to be in a similar role although how local governance works here is reasonably different to either Australia or New Zealand due to the political and cultural context it operates in.

The organisation is fantastic with many great staff,  these staff face a daily David and Goliath struggle to represent the people of Choiseul /Lauru in the face of overwhelming issues related to climate change, logging, mining, social, health, communication, information accessibility and storage, asset renewal and maintenance, centralised governance and the list goes on. From what I can tell so far ensuring good staff come out here and are happy enough to stay for a long time is going to be one of the biggest issues for the future of the Province and ensuring that they can tackle the big issues.           

The Premiers Conference that took place in late October was probably the biggest party Taro has seen in a long while. The Premiers Conference is basically a meeting of all the Premiers representing all the Provinces of the Solomon Islands and is held on annual basis with the location being a different Province every year. While listening in on the presentations given, it became very clear that the concern about the condition of the environment is shared by many of the Premiers. There were also concerns raised about financial resource allocation and the smaller Provinces expressed concern about how remoteness is a real hindrance to development that the other more centralised Provinces experience. In hindsight it’s that same remoteness that has probably contributed to Choiseul/Lauru being less environmentally degraded than it could be as most of the more accessible Provinces look to have lost most of their Primary Rainforest cover already.           

I had a brief but informative discussion (well I’m hoping it was for him) with the Premier of Makira Province and told him about the importance of Makira for the 12 or so endemic bird species that the Island is home too, if anything he was only mildly interested in learning this, as you would expect a non-birder to be but at least now he knows. 

The event itself represented a great free feed at both lunch and dinner time, which was great as it saved me cooking and being a volunteer you are forced to be fiscally conservative. Now technically it could be argued that I wasn’t actually part of the Conference as I was not officially a Provincial representative or ancillary staff, but through my partly self-proclaimed role as Provincial Government photographer and real role as a planning advisor, I considered myself eligible.

The food was unbelievable and it really went to show the quality of the food available from the natural environment; Mangrove crab, Taro, Crayfish, Fin fish of all kinds, shellfish and one or two green things thrown in for good measure. Mistakenly I even ended up eating Turtle as I mistook it for chicken, don't worry it won’t happen again as I’m not inclined to consume endangered species.     

Just before the Premiers Conference began an event to select the theme song for the Premiers Conference was held. It was a chance for the five groups to present their original songs to a public audience, the performances were all vocal performances performed to pre-recorded tracks and it would have been great to see and hear people play instruments live, even so it was just really good to see people have the opportunity to perform and show there community what they’ve got. The entertainment that was part of the Premiers Conference itself included live performances from a number of groups, the one that I was impressed with was the group that used plastic pipes as a percussion instrument that they hit with slippers (SI), Jandals (NZ), thong s(Aus).  The only down side was that these pipes were originally supplied for the purposes of water supply projects and then converted into these instruments, bugger!          

The entire Premiers Conference had such a positive upbeat feel that made most for those few days feel upbeat. It’s really the only occasion where I have seen a really good party atmosphere and people really let loose in public and just get up and dance. Maybe this is another reason why Kiwis and Solomon Islanders get along so well as we share a similar level of public reservation.        

The one blight on the landscape for this event was the shortage of flights to and from Taro and access to banking facilities. I let both companies know what I thought of their service provision for this period, but it seems that in this instance both companies took advantage of peoples reluctance to complain openly and also used the remoteness and difficulties in communication to their advantage, here we are ‘out of sight and out of mind’ to many in Honiara.            

Its hardcore living

Living in New Zealand or Australia there are so many aspects of life that are already taken care of by technology, washing machines, power tools, ovens; basically all the things that you don’t find here rule. Mainly because there is no mains power and even if there was many of those things would be so expensive due to high taxes put on imported goods that most would struggle to pay for them. How much we take for granted the time savings that technology gives us is always noticeable here, when I have to hand wash my clothing under the water tank or even just the simple act of cooking over an open fire as I have had to do this last week due to all the gas supplies on Taro running out and the next shipment a week away.

But there is something rewarding about doing simple tasks such as washing or cooking in such a situation. It slows time down a bit, the task itself takes on far more importance, it’s always rewarding to look at the clothes on the line that you have just spent the last hour washing or sitting around the fire chatting about small daily issues, what was on sale at the market, what people have planned to do tomorrow and maybe hear what’s wrong with one of the kids after they went to the doctors that morning. 

There is an older relative here, an uncle in his late 70’s that came in from a village to go to the main Hospital to check out a health issue. As I sit on the balcony of the office working on my computer I watch him walking around doing various odd jobs, cutting firewood, building a makeshift looking table/seat in the kitchen house, always endlessly busy. As he walks around rather stiffly I realise that at that age here your well and truly old, it’s so damn physical that by this age all the years of working on raising a family, gardening, fishing, making and repairing many leaf houses, have pretty much taken its toll. One of the kids told me that he was speaking to the ‘old man’ as they always call him and he said to me that "he wants to die now, but Gods not ready for him just yet". As I watch him I think that guy must have seen some amazing sights, he would have seen the end of the war, the Solomon Islands achieve independence from the British and must have stored in his head many of the customs of his people. But maybe most of all what he created was with his own two hands; supporting his family and his community through what he could make, grow and work.                                                            

Taro-Honiara-Brisbane-Christchurch and Back

It’s bizarre how you can step outside of a place you have been for a long time and all of a sudden the memory of living there and all the associations with the place disappear as if they were only a dream.  It’s hard to believe also that it’s been so long since I wrote my last blog; my priorities between then and until my arrival back became largely about more immediate concerns with my health and the state of my assignment.

Back in May I left Choiseul in a hell of a rush and not knowing when I would be back but hoping that it would be sooner rather than later to avoid breaks in continuity of the assignment, but also realising that there a number of road blocks that needed to be sorted by others before I could continue working.

So it was a hustle to get a seat on the plane at the time that I was trying to get out; the twin otter was out of action getting repairs and in its place was what looked to me like a tiny toy plane. At first the airline agent wasn’t buying my desperation to get out, so I was trapped, I needed a plan. After visiting the local Doctor I eventually got a letter backing my case, with a bit more pleading and attaching myself limpet like to the agents front desk , I was on the next flight to Honiara. I was very lucky as I was up against a number of others also trying to make a case for getting on the plane. In the end I was relieved to get a plane ride out as it the only other option to get off the Island would have been a four hour plus boat trip over some rough seas to Gizo.    

Arriving in Honiara I landed on my feet in the flashiest of all the hotels in town (thanks insurance) and then headed off to the Doctor who then sent me to Honiara hospital; previously I had been to the hospital but this time was surprised anew at just how run down it was, just outside the room where I was to get a blood test was a lovely deep open drain with soupy black polluted water, inside the facilities were well and truly falling apart; I was just hoping that the needle that would be stuck in my arm would be one that hadn’t been used before.  But here in the Solomon’s even though they don’t have the facilities and equipment like NZ or Australia, they do a pretty damn good job with what limited resources they have available. My concerns were as they so often are here, unwarrented, as they had a whole bag of clean ones.

Eventually the results came back showing nothing significant which was a good thing, but still didn’t resolve the issue of what was really wrong so the insurance company suggested a trip back to New Zealand for further tests to get to the bottom of what was really was going on, who was I to argue as I was languishing in Honiara.

Christchurch; it ain’t Choiseul

Getting back to Christchurch happened quickly and before I knew it was flying back over the Southern Alps and touching down in my home town.  I hadn’t been back after the big February quake and it wouldn’t be for some time till I really got my head around the full extent of the damage that had occurred, but it was nice to be home; the last 8 months out in the Solomon’s had been trying and at time very frustrating so it was nice to not have to worry about all that side of life for a while and just focus on getting better and hopefully issues with the assignment would be resolved in my absence.    

Over time it became clear what the earthquake meant to people in Christchurch.  It appeared that eastern Christchurch had been hit the hardest while areas on the west had suffered minimal damage or not even hit at all. As is so often the case those with the least resources get hit the hardest and this was the same with the Christchurch quake, the east of getting hammered while the wealthy on west could continue on almost as per usual. The quake I think reinforced the east west divide that has always existed in Christchurch more starkly than ever before.

The family home has been buggered essentially, lots of movement has created many cracks in the walls and the floor in parts of the house seems to run downhill and the roof of the garage has a big dip in the middle were the concrete foundation has dropped significantly. Years of investment and building up a family home have largely been destroyed; it was a very hard time to be there. What the future of the only home that I have known is unclear, but the suburbs and the area where I grew up will never be the same again and that was difficult to fully accept;  This house so full of memories. 

In crisis situations like this, aspects of both the best and worst of human nature are highlighted and it appeared that there were clearly two distinct groups. There were people that were constructively dealing with the situation and looking to the future and then there were those that were trying to gain as much from the situation as much as possible. A number of contractors fell into the latter category and sadly I heard of a number of stories where residents were doing the same. It was an even split from what I could tell, but those that are working to promote visions of a new city and working on building stronger sustainable communities have  the upper hand, the Avon  River Park proposal being an example of  one of the brilliant concepts to come out of post-quake Christchurch.      

Largely the time was nowhere near as productive as I would have liked it too be, but I did manage to spend time with a number of friends, many of them in the ‘green business’ restoring the Christchurch and Canterbury environments.  It’s always been a strange anomaly of New Zealand ecology scene; the ambitious and visionary work largely being done by local government staff and not for profit organisations in urban Christchurch. While most of New Zealanders praise efforts to clear pests and restore offshore Islands, development of predator proof sanctuaries in North Island bush, or captive breeding  of endangered native bird species; the work in Christchurch continues to deliver huge environmental dividends largely unrecognised by the wider environmental community in New Zealand.     

The work many friends have been doing in urban Christchurch will in time get the full recognition it deserves. But for me I am happy to count these people as friends and to be able to appreciate that even in uncertain times these people and their projects are positive examples of the good people can do if given the resources, time and opportunity.  

Eventually I started to find some solutions to my health and it was a lot simpler than I had expected. I worked with a physiotherapist who massaged a point at the top of my spine, eventually it became clear that all the knocks I have had to the head had created this issue of on-going headaches and thankfully it wasn’t some inoperable brain tumour.  Eventually after almost 2 full months it was time to head back. It was going to be a struggle to head back to uncertainty and leave mums cooking, cooler temperatures and a malaria free environment.          

But my assignment still had a lot of time left on the clock and I was hopeful that there would be some new projects to work on and a house to move into when I arrived back, so it was back on the plane with bags fully packed taking everything I could possibly need for myself and for friends in Choiseul (including soccer balls, soccer boots, fishing rod, muesli bars, books etc.) This time it needed to be Choiseul 2.0. 

        

        

                 

                                 

      

        

   

Take that mining and logging companies

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.                  
                                             

     

          

 

              

My assignment hangs in the balance

Well my assignment is at a cross roads, essentially my original assignment was to do some quite obvious tasks. These included such things as assist the organisation to improve project management, financial management and generally improve systems where possible. It now seems that there are issues with doing these tasks and there is resistance by sections of the same organisation that I am meant to be assisting, whether this is from poor communication between parties who originally determined my position description or from people within the organisation who feel threatened by change, is difficult to tell. This is a situation that I did anticipate to some degree. The issue from now on will be how it’s resolved and what the outcome will be.

The most important point will be for all parties agreeing on new tasks for me to do that benefit the two key partners of who have placed me here. Another factor that’s critically important is that I need to be doing something that’s actually benefitting me and that’s providing me with some satisfaction. It’s a two way street everyone needs to be getting something from this gig.

As my very wise boss said, it’s a long haul to be out there for two years if you’re not doing something that’s not providing you with little satisfaction.    

   

There was a passing mention by him of being assigned to another province altogether, Makira is a long way from Choiseul but the birding there is damn good. Could be a great move.

Let’s see what up and coming discussions resolve, when all the main players converge on Taro.       

                            

6 months have flown by

The first six months of my assignment have flown by and I must admit that they have been a hell of a lot of fun. Doing things that I wouldn't ordinarily do. One of the things about getting out and living a bit more is that you end up putting yourself in situations that potentially could be risky. While diving in South Choiseul I was chomping through the oxygen so fast that I quickly ran out and on my way to the surface I had to buddy breath with my dive buddy, jumping of the riverbank and into the river at MBoe Boe just upstream of where the crocs live and while playing with kids in the sea close to home, the kids threw me backwards into the water which resulted in me landing on my head and which had me worried for a while that I may have been some spinal damage. All in all though, in this situation you just have to get out there and enjoy the experience and the accept that there are going to be risks associated with really living.

In regards to the work I am doing here, the end of the 6 month period has seen an end to the honeymoon period of the assignment. The real barriers to progress have now become extremely apparent and I can see that I am going to need to be careful to ensure that those potential barriers dont impede what can be achieved in an assignment such as mine. Even with the barriers taken into consideration, they are minor compared to other work environments that I have worked in and there is a lot of scope to do some really great work. There is a lot of support from the community at large for developing a protected area network throughout the province and thats something that I really want to focus my energy on.

So after six months the real assignment begins, I have been starting to look at this assignment in 6 month blocks and not thinking of it in terms of a two year assignment. Its more important to stay focused on the short term goals as things can be very fluid here and a short term focus with just an eye on the longer term allows flexibility but ensures a focus on the here and now.               

                       

The Big 34th

As I reach my 34^th birthday I have to ask myself; where the f**K have the last few years gone! It’s at points in life like this that you begin to wonder what have you have actually achieved and how the hell you have actually gotten to this particular point. I have been thinking recently about key crossroads in life, people I have met, places I have lived and jobs I’ve had. To get to this point in life and in a situation like this I am extremely lucky (or just extremely single minded), not many people follow their dreams and I often wonder about what’s motivated me, exactly what has driven me to be here? Why not just settle for the comfortable suburban life, drinking endless coffee and buying endless consumer goods I don’t really need?

My only answer is that in some small way I like to think that I can make a small but positive difference to the state of the world.

It’s abundantly clear that the planet’s not in a happy state, socially and environmentally. We humans have given the planet and each other a pretty hard time (recent events in Egypt and the continued oppression of Palestinians are two examples) and even though the evidence is clear that we need to change how we do things, that change is certainly not the overwhelming tide it needs to be to substantially improve humanities future prospects. So I guess being here at this point in time is my small gesture to do the best I can and although my background is environmental ‘management’ what I do is as much about people as it is about the environment, as without social equality there can never be environmental sustainability. I am simply working within my sphere of influence to the best of my ability.                      

 The actual path or process of getting to this point has been as interesting as the motivation and it’s been a long path. I guess the motivation to get here was set at an early age, but to arrive here has taken a number of ‘tours of duty’ in local government in both Australia and New Zealand, jobs in three main centres within these two countries and numerous other small contract and permanent positions, volunteering and independent research (sadly none of it published).

This role signifies a distinct and necessary change in the path I was taking. After a period of time of working through these various roles I began to notice that as time went on my ability to actually make calls to protect the environment based on any experience was diminishing rapidly; to the point where the actual process of working became far more important than actual tangible outcomes. It became obvious that organisations like the one I was most recently working for were not fulfilling their obligations to protect the environment for future generations and were more concerned with defending organisational process from criticism, irrespective of whether or not this process actually delivered good environmental outcomes.  At this realisation it became clear that a stark change was needed. At the time on offer was a position in Armidale doing urban environmental restoration which would have paid over AUD$70,000, so it would have been the highest paid position I have ever had and then also on the table I had the offer of a volunteer opportunity in the Solomon Islands that didn’t even pay the equivalent of the unemployment benefit in New Zealand. It was an easy choice to make!                         

Of course it’s not all plain sailing and the one thing that I have noticed quite starkly is how pursuing this dream has had significant implications on friendships. In the short time I’ve been here communication has steadily dropped away and I am not really too surprised at that as it was always going to happen. So as time ticks over it will be interesting to see who stays in touch and how do different friendships evolve. Do friendships become stronger or weaker from my time here? I am realising more and more just how significant proximity is to the maintenance of friendships and relationships. 

One thing is that I have really come to appreciate the efforts that people do make to stay in touch and there have been some great gestures, such as a great chat on Skype with friends in Christchurch who I don’t really catch up with much these days and an awesome parcel sent from a friend in Australia with a pocket sized survival kit. The thought that went into putting this together was quite evident and it so good to receive gifts like this. There have been a number of other very meaningful communications. Each email, Skype or phone chat takes on increased significance the longer I am here.   

Although the last few years became increasingly frustrating, the skills learnt in the past few years have allowed me this opportunity and this opportunity feels like being back on track, fighting the good fight. So here’s to being 34 and as one of guys I work with says ‘solid as bro’.     

P.S One of the features of this blog is that you can look at the stats on in which countries people view your blog from and so It’s with some satisfaction that I can say I am extremely popular in Guam, in the last month I have had 16 views from Guam with the United States some distance behind on 6 views. I love Guam.