As many will know, the second phase of Think Pacific’s work on Moturiki will emphasise the importance of building infrastructure within villages, particularly in the form of businesses. With this in mind Yanuca have got ahead of the game and opened a growing concern. That’s right kids; the KitKat Kasino is open for business. Offering games of blackjack and 3 card poker the unfortunately initialled KKK is the hot destination for those who want to have a good time in Lomaiviti. Any members of Emma Hay’s family reading this may wish to start searching for Gambler’s Anonymous meetings in the Edinburgh area. Similarly, Harri has developed a taste for 3 Card Poker which she can surely not sustain much longer – at the moment she’s up about 25 KitKat fingers but this is surely just a peak before yet another dizzying low. At the moment there is only one permanent member of staff in the casino proper as well as out of hours gambling opportunities in Tomasi’s Kreepy KitKat Klub but there are plans to train Seru up as a dealer so that the business is fully sustainable by the time we leave.
Moving swiftly from the vice of gambling to the virtue of patience below are a few lines about Kindi. For the last week Emma, Laura, Jack and I have been on the Kindi rota. This means singing a lot of childhood songs, playing with crayons and scissors and soothing a fair few tears and tantrums. Liza the Kindi teacher will probably soon be recognised by the Fijian ministry of education as a proper teacher which is great news as she can start drawing a wage from the government. I would suggest she also be recognised by the Catholic church as an absolute saint for her beatific calm in the face of 10 screaming Kindians and 4 fairly hapless volunteers. How she manages when it’s just her is beyond me. All this aside, time in Kindi is great fun. Making paper aeroplanes and flinging them about the room was a high point and when one of the kids finally grasps the difference between “Bloo!” and “Porple!” it’s a lovely feeling. Obviously all the teachers have favourites and the kids each have their appeal; Joe is super cool, Ateca is very sweet, even Foto has a certain cheeky charm. This being said, the attachment that Emma has formed to Savate – a 5 year old boy from Yanuca – is nothing short of disturbing.
Elsewhere the build is all but finished and Big Jack will be leaving very soon. I’ve learnt two things from the HWB*; the first is that if something wont behave in the way that you want just hit it with a hammer, the second is never make a decision on an empty stomach. Vinaka Vakalevu, Jack!
Peace.
Tom Owen
West Inala Panthers JRLFC Under 12s Manager (2005)
*Human Wrecking Ball
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