July 16, 2005

My friend Matt has been working for the Peace Corps in Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific (they filmed Survivor there). Over the past few years he's sent many great emails describing his adventures. Matt's time with the Peace Corps is nearing an end and I felt it would be good, for the sake of reflection, to go back through these emails, relive the adventures, and share them with others. With his permission I'm posting these emails on the Mugblog. It's my hope that you, the reader, might get a laugh, learn something new, or get a better appreciation for what an organization like the Peace Corps is all about and how commited and attached the volunteers become to the communities to which they're assigned. All photos are taken by the man himself.

Wednesday, February 04, 2004 6:03 PM

Yes ladies and gentlemen, hell has frozen over. Well not
really, but pretty darn close. The Christian Womens Club
in my village (which of course is named after Christ) has
recently been renamed to the MattDry Women's Club (Drury's
too hard to say). Take that Jesus! Just kidding. It all
came about with the donation of a couple of sewing machines
and some supplies. If I new that's all it took, I would
have done it years ago. Of course many of the women have
goiters and facial hair, but I'm looking into doing some
recruiting. I'm looking into printing t-shirts as well.

So I'm back in Port Vila for a friends wedding and to have
a few meetings. It's strange to be back so soon, it seems
like my last month on the rock hardly even happened. My
life on Ambae is finally improving, I think the major
contributing factor is good health. But I've also finally
been more or less accepted in the community. I've been
adopted by a family and given a custom name - Vuti Natinaho
which means when you're walking up the hill in the morning
and blocking you're face from the bright sun. People are
also bringing me food now and then. Also after 6 months of
carrying a 20 liter water jug over 1km twice a week, the
rains have hit and I have water in my well. I had a bit of
a devil infestation at my house for awhile, but Chief
Melkio Toko planted a custom leaf in the corners of my yard
and it's been quiet at night ever since.

Take care and I hope you're all freezing cold. I could actually go
for a couple a cold days right now. -- Vuti