END OF YEAR

It's been so long since we posted anything here I may have forgotten where we left off.  We have been getting some rain now.  It's not enough but it has relieved some of the pressure and hopefully the rain will keep coming.

One of the main attractions in Vanuatu is the Mele Cascade which is right next to Port Vila.  It's one of the things that has been on our to do list since we arrived here in February.  We finally took the time a couple of weeks ago to go there and even with the low water levels, it is still very beautiful and worth the hike.

It was supposed to be about a 20 minute hike to the top

It was a beautiful day and we made many stops along the way

So it took a while longer

When we did get to the top, we didn't want to leave

We have never experienced Christmas in the middle of the Summer before so it was a little strange.  

We did have a beautiful tree

Our Ward Christmas party here was a little different that the one they held in our home Ward in Wyoming.  It was certainly not a white Christmas

We played in the water

Of course VaLynne couldn't be left out

Some of the children didn't want to wait for the dinner so they gathered up a bunch of snails.  I had them give me one to try and it's a good thing.  There is only part of the snail that is good to eat and if I hadn't had their guidance I would have probably eaten the bad part too.  It wasn't too bad but not something I would go out of my way for.

We were asked by President Granger if we along with Elder and Sister Stevens would go to New Caledonia and spend Christmas with the missionaries there.  It was a great opportunity for us to meet them and get to know them.  We were able to spend five days there and had a great Christmas.

This is our New Caledonia Christmas tree

The view from our hotel balcony

We started Christmas with a devotional and spent some time getting to know each other.  Then it was play time.

They actually kept score for a minute but they were having so much fun they forgot.  They split into four teams and rotated between volleyball, soccer and dodge ball.

They don't have the opportunity to all get together very often so they made the most of it.

The Ward members provided a huge dinner and we had a gift exchange.  They are a great group of young men and women who have dedicated their life to the Lord and it was a privilege to get to know them.  They kept telling us how wonderful it was to have us come to be with them but I felt that it was us who received the greater blessing.

Small world stories from this group. Two of them are related to VaLynne through her mom's side. And one a convert from Illinois, went to school at University of Wyoming and knows Greg Livingston, originally from our home Ward in Mountain View! 

DROUGHT

Nov

I'm a little late getting this out but we have been very busy.  From now until the next school terms start in February we will be doing our very best to make sure that all students are able to receive the help the Church is offering.  Some other time we may go into more detail but this time we want to share with you a matter of concern.

As you know, in March we were hit by a very powerful cyclone that pretty well wiped out everyones homes and gardens.  This is a culture that relies heavily on eating what they can grow so it has been very difficult for many.  We are now experiencing a severe drought.  This is supposed to be the rainy season and it hasn't rained enough to matter for months, and they tell us it isn't going to let up until at least into next year.  A lot of people rely on rain for all their water and without it they don't even have water for washing and cooking let alone drinking water.  I have spent as much time as I can spare carrying water to people in some of the outlying villages and I'm not really making a dent in what they need, but we feel the need to do what we can

Wherever I go, people bring whatever containers they have for me to fill from what I can carry

This hole is a hand dug well about 20 ft. deep.  The man in the well is still digging and only has water up to his knees.  They are close to the sea so the water they do get may not be all that good, but at least they will have something to use for washing and watering what's left of their garden.  Now is when they should be harvesting their rood crops but when they dig them up there is nothing there because of the lack of water.

We have a couple of interesting before and after pictures

When we first got here we took a drive around the island and found this beautiful road leading into the WWII museum.  I couldn't resist taking this photo

this is what it looks like now

This is another part of that beautiful drive

and how it looks now

The Golf coarse when we arrived

This was taken about a month ago.  It looks a lot worse now.  Strangely enough, we sometimes still see someone out there putting around.  Hard core golfers I guess.

On the North end of the island there was an airstrip and Navy Base near Takara.  This concrete box is what the fighter pilots used for target practice.  When you look closely you can see it has been shot up fairly well.  Again, see how dry it is.  If it were Fall in Wyoming it wouldn't look so out of place but this is Springtime on a tropical island in the South Pacific.  It's supposed to be green.

                                                         This is where the airstrip was

There are a few more pictures but you get the idea.  In a lot of areas of the country people no longer have anything to eat because they rely on their gardens and the gardens aren't producing.  They rely on rain for water and it isn't raining so they have no drinking water.  We've heard that on Malekula cattle are starving so they are selling them at 25% of value just to get rid of them.  When people ask   what can be done, the only answer we can give them is to pray.

We are doing well and even though at times we feel overwhelmed with all we have to do we feel blessed to be here.  We are learning much more from these good people than they will ever learn from us and are making many eternal friends.

TRAVEL

September 2015

We had the opportunity to travel to Tanna with Mariella to meet with the District and Branch Presidents and other leaders of the Tanna district to give them some training in some of the education programs we are using. Also VaLynne administered the English test to students wanting to go to LDS Church College Vaiola. This is a high school in Samoa.

This is Mariella patiently waiting for the training to start.  She actually has to do most of the work because we still haven't mastered the Bislama language.  Even when she isn't actually doing the training, she has to translate for us so we can be understood.  Most people here speak and understand English well enough to converse, but for them to fully understand a lot of new concepts, we find it is best that it is presented in Bislama.  

The place we stayed is called the Whitegrass Resort.  Although there wasn't a real beach for VaLynne to swim in, it is very beautiful with a lot of things to do.  We didn't really have time to do anything there but eat and sleep, but still it was very nice.

We did make sure we found the time to go to the volcano.  Mount Yasur is known as the worlds most accessible active volcano and is one of Vanuatus most famous attractions.  It is a must see.

You can drive almost to the top.  From here it is about a 10 minute walk.

Might as well stop and mail a card or two on the way up.

Mariella wasn't sure she wanted to try the final climb, but we were all excited when she did.

It really is awe inspiring.  Every few minutes it makes a lot of noise and throws a lot of hot rocks and smoke in the air.

We had to have a group shot before we came down

After returning from Tanna, we needed to spend a lot of time with Mariella learning to do the things we have relied on her to take care of.  With her taking care of many of the programs we are responsible for, it has given us the time we have needed to learn and grow into the calling we have been given.  With the added areas of humanitarian work and Mission nurse duties it would have been impossible to keep up with everything without Mariella.  We keep hoping for more Senior Missionary Couples to be called and for more members to be called and trained to help, but until that happens we will just trust in the Lord to help us prioritize and make sure we keep up with the areas which will do the most good.  

We were invited to attend District Conference in Santo and give a short presentation on Self Reliance and the programs that are in place.  Luganville is the largest city on the island.  It has a population of about 12,000 and is a clean and beautiful city.  We were impressed with the four lane straight street running the length of the city without even one pothole.  Port Vila has narrow, curvy roads and a lot of traffic.  We have learned that it is possible to have three cars pass each other on a two lane street and not think a thing of it.  I think Port Vila could pass as the pothole capital of the world so it was a nice break to see good roads for a weekend.  

When we took a cruise to Antarctica, we enjoyed coming in to our room each evening and finding some sort of critter on the bed.  We never knew what it would be but we knew it would be interesting.  We were delighted to find a swan on our bed when we opened the door to our room in Santo

Elder and Sister Abbot who are the Audit missionaries for the mission were kind enough to take the time to show us around for a few hours before we were to fly home on Monday.  We found a small hydro-electric plant and some beautiful scenery at the outlet.  

We found these children taking groceries home for dinner and they were more than happy to have us take their picture

This is the chapel in one of the Branches.  We are in the habit of calling these "bush chapels" but now we are told they will now be called BUB or Basic Unit Building.  It makes sense, but it just doesn't sound the same.

One of our PEF students moved to Santo for a while to be with and help family.  We were happy to find him well.  We were even more excited to find that his wife served her mission in the Rapid City, South Dakota mission and her first assignment was in Casper, Wyoming! She too was excited when we told her that we were from Wyoming. 

This is right next to another of our BUBs.  I took this picture because it was so peaceful and beautiful there

These two fine young men have been out hunting for something to bring home for dinner.  It's called a Flying Fox but actually it's just a big bat.  

These two fine young men have been out hunting for something to bring home for dinner. They call it a flying fox but actually it's just a big bat

VaLynne still can't get used to seeing little children walking around with knives.  Better yet, they know how to use them.  The youngest we have seen with bush knives was under the age of two. It is amazing when you think about the fact that at home if we saw a child that young with a knife we would have a heart attack and be yelling NO as we take the knife away and put it up where he can't get it. Also it is not unusual seeing a very young girl (under age 5) cutting vegetables with those knives and putting them in the pot over an open pit fire as the mother is busy feeding the baby. 

BUSY MONTH

Aug 31. 2015

At the end of June, the Vanuatu District was organized into a Stake.  Since then the leaders have been very busy with Ward organizations and everything else that has to be done to move the Church forward in such a big way.  On August 9, our Etas Ward was the first to have its Bishop and counselors called and it was a great day for us.

Left to right.  First counselor Fred Massing, who also was the first missionary called to serve from Vanuatu way back when. Bishop Hilliman, Second counselor Alerd James and Clerk David Tangarasi

Our Ward Relief Society

On our way home from church we have to go down a steep, bumpy hill.  Just before we start down we have a beautiful view.  Pictures are never as good as the real thing but we love the contrast between the blues of the sea and sky in the background, with all the green coming back.  In a lot of areas, the vegetation has come back to the point that it's hard to believe how bare everything was just five months ago.

We have been very busy learning the numerous aspects of our call.  The list is long and most of it comes under the umbrella of Self Reliance.  Now that the Stake has been organized and the Wards are coming soon, we hope to be able to initiate some of the programs that will help the children have a better chance of receiving a high school education.  This was what our call was originally about but with the lack of Senior Couple Missionaries and a cyclone in March, we've had to spend our time in different directions.

We have also been asked to help with the recovery of Vanuatu following Cyclone Pam.  We are working under the direction of the Lebens who are the Humanitarian/Welfare Missionaries. We have been trying to identify the villages  where we and the membership can do the most good.  Most people have been able to construct some sort of temporary shelter from whatever materials they were able to salvage after the storm, but we want to help them to be able to build homes that will be sturdier and more resistant to future cyclones.  While VaLynne has been taking care of the office and all that entails, I have been spending almost all my time in my assigned villages trying to assess the houses and what will be the best path to help the families have safe shelter.  This has put a heavy burden on VaLynne, but she has been able to "Cowboy Up" and keep things going.  One of her assignments is that of Mission Nurse.  A Mission Nurse has been called but she won't arrive until the end of November.  Although that means extra work and responsibility, she enjoys the interaction with the Elders and Sisters.  One great blessing of this assignment is that she has to have a car assigned to her, which gives me the freedom to be gone most of every day without having to worry about her being able to get to where she needs to be.

We have been asked to document every house that we will be supplying materials for with a complete list of needs and a record of family members.  We have them stand for a picture holding a number.  We can then match the number with the information we receive from them and will be able to track progress much better.

This is one of our Ward members in front of his house the morning after the storm

and his wife in front of what they have been able to rebuild

Some people have been able to almost completely rebuild but most have not.  Some are still living with neighbors or family and a lot are at some stage of rebuilding but almost everyone needs help.

one example

and another

The list goes on and on so you can see there is still much work to be done.  We feel truly blessed to be here at this time and be able to learn so much about life and living from such great people as these.  We have grown to love them and appreciate them and their attitude toward life.  Many of them lost everything that most of us think we couldn't live without, but they from day one have had the attitude that nothing else matters much as long as the family is OK.  They have been called the happiest people on earth and I think it is probably true.  They certainly haven't let a little thing like a category five cyclone get them down and now we hear that the El Nino is going to cause severe drought for the next several months.  I imagine it will be a major blow to a country that is still trying to pick itself up but I'm sure we will endure it well.

I know this is short, but we may soon have more to show and tell.

SIGNS

JULY 26, 2015

Sometimes as we are driving around we will see an interesting sign.  This one is in front of the Wilco store which is our Home Depot, sort of.

We are still trying to figure out what this really means

During cyclone Pam, some of the furniture in the mission home received some water damage so it needed to be replaced.  We found the "boys" delivering the old furniture to storage.  We always find it interesting how many people you can fit in, on, and around the back of a truck.  We have counted as many as 12 in the back of a Toyota.

You can't read it in this picture, but the sign on the right says "Cleance sale".  It has been there since Pam, but when I finally got around to taking a better picture of it the other day, it was gone.

If I have been rather vague as to exactly what it is we're doing here, it's because it has been somewhat confusing.  We were called to be "Education Specialists" and on our way here we had just enough of a layover in New Zealand to get about a three hour training in what is called the Pacific Area Initiative.  We also knew we would be working with a new program called P-13.  Public education goes only so far here in Vanuatu and while private schools are available to the people they can be expensive. Vanuatu is reported to be one of the poorer countries in the world so help is needed. The P-13 program is money privately donated but administered by the Church to help children and youth get their high school education.  Requirements for P-13 are that they are active in the Church and if they are seminary age they must go to seminary. If parents need help with tuition or fees for their children to go to school they go through their Branch President or Bishop who submits the application. We are very fortunate in that we have an education volunteer who takes care of it once the Priesthood turns in the applications and it's a lot of work, but we do have overall responsibility. There are a number of programs that have been and are being developed to help improve the education at all levels.  When we arrived and were taken to our office, we noticed the sign above the door said "Self Reliance" and a part of that program is the Perpetual Education Fund" or PEF.  This is a fund that was developed so people are able to borrow money to gain skills or a higher level of education in order to improve their chances of earning a better income and improving their situation.  The only thing we knew about PEF before we came here is that we donated to the fund every month to try to do our part.  We have spent a large part of our time learning how it all works and trying to make sure the program is administered properly.  We questioned why our call had been changed and were informed that education is part of Self Reliance and that it all works together, so we are still trying to fit it all together and make it all work.  We still basically report to two different offices at Area Headquarters but now we have a good idea to whom we report for which area we are working in.

All this is leading up to the next picture.

I don't know if I've ever known a Carpenter who didn't drive a Ford, so I was a little taken aback when I saw this sign.

But back to our story.  As I mentioned, one of the things we do with PEF is to help people secure loans from the Church in order to improve their situation.  The reason it's called the "Perpetual" education fund is because the idea is that once someone has graduated from whatever school they attend, they get a better job, spend more time with their family, and with the money they earn, they pay back the loan and the money paid back can be used to help the next person, hence the word "perpetual".  Part of what we do is to help make sure they are able to pay back their loans so the system can keep working as planned. One young mother started falling behind in her payments and when I contacted her, she explained that she was working for a reputable car dealer.  I was excited for her until she told me that she was working without pay.  Apparently, companies can call it an internship and not have to pay someone until they "prove" themselves.  She has been there for almost three months so we decided maybe she should start looking for a different job.  It seems that the goals we are trying achieve are not being met.  Not two days later, we found that another of our young mothers has been working twelve hours a day, six days a week without pay for over ten months.  She is also First Counselor in her Ward Relief Society.  As you can imagine,  it's difficult for her to spend any quality time with her family or take care of her Church calling.  Needless to say, we advised her to give her employer an ultimatum.  The only problem is that we still have to help them try to find adequate employment.

These are just a couple of the issues we are learning to deal with as we try to do our best to serve the Lord by serving these great people here in Vanuatu.  We have grown to love them very much and want to understand their culture and their lives so we can do a better job in our efforts to help them.

OH, I almost forgot.  In the middle of all this we had a cyclone that kind of got in the way of a lot of things we needed to do.  We are still quite involved in the recovery effort and I'm sure we will be for some time, (another department to report to). The new Mission President and his wife call us "Department Missionaries" rather than "Mission" Missionaries because we report (VaLynne is in charge of writing up the monthly reports) to three different departments and not to the Mission President!  The immediate needs have mostly been taken care of but a large percentage of the people are still living in inadequate housing and water supply is an ongoing problem.  We are also being told that because of El Nino we are going to have a very severe drought.

Just a few days after Pam, this sign was in place on the road into the city from the airport. In typical fashion I waited until vegetation had covered the word "welcome" before I got around to taking the picture, but I think the sign has been left there to show the world that a little category 5 cyclone isn't going to get us down.  (Either that or it's just that nobody has bothered to take it down.  You never know which it is here in Vanuatu.)

July 30 is Independence Day.  Needless to say, there is a lot of excitement in the air.

I understand it's going to be quite a party.  We don't know whether to try to participate or to run and hide.

Just another beautiful picture 

Just one more story.  Our friend John Bannion, who is the Church facilities manager for Vanuatu, told us that a while back he had some work to do on one of the islands.  He knew he would be living off the land so he took some rice and a couple of tins of spam or something of that nature to be able to feed him self.  While there, one of the Branch leaders asked him if there was anything he would like.  John said, "well, a roast chicken would be nice".  The man took off and came back in about an hour with

a roast chicken

VaLynne is still the mission nurse and loves it (That is the one exception to being a Department Missionary rather than the Mission Missionary). In case we haven't mentioned it before, there is a desperate need for Senior Missionary couples here in Vanuatu and I'm sure that's the case all over the world.  Please come.  And if you are truly righteous, you might even get called to Vanuatu!