September 10, 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.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 9:42 PM
Hello my friends, it's New Years Eve here in Vanuatu and
the rains have stopped (at least temporarily). My first
tropical X-mas was great, lots of swimming and feasting
followed by a late night of drinking at a resort on the
lagoon. I flew in to Vila on the 24th with a fellow man
Ambae on the smallest plane I've ever been on, but it was
nice because the sun was setting and we flew past a rainbow
that made a complete circle in the sky. I then went back
to my old training village where I lived for three months
to visit old Chief Pakalo and the family. It was nice to
see all my old friends and to get such a warm reception,
and the kava is the strongest out of any village I've
visited in Vanuatu.
Life has been quite difficult at site lately; the village
isn't motivated to do much of anything. I've tried many
approaches to many different projects, but no one seems to
be meeting me halfway. That's not entirely true, my
counterpart is great. But two men can only do so much.
It's even worse because Peace Corps put me on an island
that doesn't have forest and there's so much land pressure
that it doesn't make sense to put the cleared land back
into forest. So I'm working on an ecotourism project, a
couple of solar projects, and a tree nursery, but they're
not exactly taking off. I'm in a situation where one
person requested a volunteer, not an entire community.
I've decided to see some of these projects through and
perhaps change sites if the village still isn't willing to
work. Another factor is my failing health, for those of
you I saw in the states you know I was suspicious that I
was carrying worms. Well it turned out to be true and it
came to a head when I collapsed on the floor of my house
two weeks ago. The medication came by plane a (very long)
week later and they're gone. But three days later I caught
and still have Giardia. I'm waiting another day or two to
make sure it is Giardia before I eat the meds to be sure.
Regardless I've been in intestinal turmoil for 5 out of the
last 7 months and I'm quite weary. Another couple months
of this and I may decide to go home for my health's sake.
We'll see. I've never quit anything before.