It is official…we have spent another incredibly fulfilling day as assistants to Batai, the island nurse. That hardly describes what Batai provides to the three villages of Fulunga. Last year there was no nurse here. Batai has been here since last November and the villagers love him. There is a lot to love about this 25-year old guy who is doing it all with no real time off. (Yesterday I found him asleep in the middle of the floor in a villagers house—but everyone knew where he was when I asked.) 24/7 Batai is on call.

So when Batai said he needed to continue the health screenings in the “third” village we were very happy to help. Yes, we have seen the third village. The interesting part about this village, Naivaduma, is that it is the only village visible from anchorages. But it is not the main village, Monicake, which has the school, the Fulunga Clinic and the head chief. Even though this is our second trip to Fulunga we don’t know anyone who actually has been to this village. Boats come in through the pass and head to the main village anchorage and don’t stop. So this was a treat.

We had heard from friends that tried to get to the third village by dinghy that it was difficult due to reefs. You can walk to this village but it is a rugged hike lasting from 1.5 to 2 hours (Batai can make it in 30 minutes!). We got lucky today. Batai coerced Ed and Nila from Quixotic into joining the crew that had helped the day before so we needed a fiber (panga-type boat) to carry all of us. Good thing because the winds are up and we stayed much drier in a fiber than we might have in a dinghy.

Our “taxi” picked us up at the beach at7:30am (ouch) and dropped us gently off right in front of the village. We were greeted by Felipe and Buna, the village health workers and wandered through the village to the community hall to set up. Now that we have been to each village we have seen that each village has a distinct personality. Naivaduma is incredibly well kept. Flowers bloomed in gardens around the houses. The beach was clean, but windy and in front of some of the huts the sand was raked. There were even ducks floating in the surf!

Tau, our host, is from this village and she told us stories about growing up there with her father as the most talented carver in the village. Although he has passed his legacy lives on in the church. The rail across the front of the altar is supported by intricately carved war clubs. Seriously. It is a comment by the church on how far they have come…no longer warriors but now a loving community at worship. Tau’s father’s was the centerpiece of the rail and it is beautiful. We are so glad we knew to go look.

The villagers were very pleased to be the center of attention and happily came in for their screenings. We managed to see all 25 adults (and four darling toddlers). Yesterday we were missing three adults. And these folks were characters. Our bulas and smiles were met with bigger bulas and, of course, some silliness. One of our favorites was Mattei, Buna’s father, who immediately set about causing trouble. He thought maybe he should just sit on the scale. Bob met his teasing with some of his own immediately instructing Lisa to do some extra blood sticks to make sure we had his data and the laughter continued. Oh, and Bob got invited to come join the men in a kava party as soon as he was done!

The village chief, Moeses personally thanked Bob for our participation in the church fundraiser a few weeks ago, where Bob reigned as guest chief. Very thoughtful. And of course, breakfast of bread, crackers, oranges and tea was provided afterwards. They really wanted us to stay for lunch too but we all decided that we would like to hike back over the hill and so time was limited.

The hike back to our dinghies took us up to higher lands where we saw many plantations, back down along the mangroves and finally ended at the second village where we had been yesterday. It was sometimes challenging due to the sharp lava rocks that are the path in some places. What a great way to complete the circle back to the main village. And just in time for school to let out…swamping us with all of our little friends creating a bit of a parade back to the dinghy.

Another great day in Fulunga. But tomorrow we are sleeping in!

From Bob: A short anecdote. Yesterday when Tau and family were on Charisma for dinner, we watched the new moon come up over the island. It was just a sliver and it was “upright” shaped like a bowl. Tau glanced up and said it was going to be a dry month. “Why”? we asked. She said that when the moon came up shaped like a bowl it meant that it was holding the water, that none would spill out. Just a little folk wisdom from Fulunga – where we’ll see over the coming weeks how the prediction for less rain plays out.