Other than building
relationships with our new friends on Ambrym, our main job now is learning
learning learning.
(Hint on the
Smileboxes below - many have the option of clicking to zoom in on pictures and
for the ones with multiples on a page, that's kinda the only way you can see
what's going on in them.)
We LEARN
CULTURE:
Weddings:
Wedding food:
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| A scrapbook by Smilebox |
Custom ceremonies
and dance:
I didn't have room
to add these last 2 pictures into the Smilebox but this is how the Rom
dance ends - with the participants killing multiple pigs and then
cooking and eating them. An uproar was caused at one point when one
victim ran away, but dogs and dancers soon chased him down. Only
dancers are allowed to touch the pigs and prepare the food. The dance seemed harmless enough but Papa, the
old woman we were sitting with (white
hair in my header picture on my blog) said she was afraid.
When I asked why out of surprise, she said that after these ceremonies, emotions
and jealousies run high and black magic is done against some people. We didn't hear of anyone being hurt, but obviously we aren't really in a position to hear of
these sorts of things anyway. Another point of interest during the
dance was that the guys wearing the Rom masks and costumes were often in need
of being pulled (by certain straighter leaves on their costumes) by those not
in costume into their required place. When I questioned Papa as to
whether these were the new dances that were just learning their places, she
replied that they always require assistance because they are unable to see
well. Also, she said that there are no variations in the Rom dance,
that whenever they perform it, it is always the same. The whole dance
lasted around an hour.
We had several hours
to kill on our return to West Ambrym (Craig Cove)
to catch our plane
back to Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu. We just
happened to be
flying out on the day that the (Australian) Red Cross was
opening an office up in Craig Cove.
In honor of the event, there was
singing, speeches,
and a custom dance.
Houghton and Taso
(our friend from Ranvetlam village up north who accompanied us to Craig Cove)
watching the ceremony.
School and community
fundraisers:
Just in the large
village north of us, Ranon, which maybe would be considered the capital of the
language group, there is both a primary and secondary school from grades
1-10. One of the chiefs in our village is the chairman of the primary
school board and so led a community fundraiser for the school. As
Houghton and I were able to see with first-hand experience, resources are
desperately lacking in the schools and so they hold a few fundraisers a
year.
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We recently got to be a part of the Vanuatu Bible Translators meeting (VBT- a national organization chaired by ni-Vanuatu men). Our friend, Pastor Peter, who went to Summer School with us last year in Australia, is the chairman so it was great to get to see him again! We learned a lot seeing how the VBT is organized, and we had an opportunity to meet the new members who were appointed this last year, and have a chance to share with them our vision and leading for ministry here in Vanuatu. They were very welcoming and the committee member in charge of the province that includes Ambrym island, where we are praying about serving, was willing even to go with the guys in May to further survey Ambrym. He was interested in giving advice concerning land disputes and talking to local leaders about our coming. It's exciting what VBT is doing in the country to reach Vanuatu with God's Word!
We also had a chance the last few weeks to reconnect with our friends Philip and Sophia. Philip is our main contact from Ambrym island and he and Sophia were in town for a preaching conference. The language group organized a committee with representatives from each village in N Ambrym and the chairman of this committee was also in town for the conference. We had a meeting together to get to know one another and to answer each other's questions. We also had several days to hang out with Sophia in particular, storying with her and getting more help on our Bislama. She's a gem for that. :) They've all headed back up north now, but we enjoyed our time and look forward to all being together again in the future!
