Welcome to the land of plenty!
A land ripe with plenty of coconuts.
I'm still perfecting my coconut shaving techniques. |
Where everyone has plenty of kids.
All of whom can climb coconut trees in seconds and effortlessly use a machete before they can walk.
There is plenty of muscles to help out whenever you need it.
There are plenty of fish in the sea (and plenty of fear of sharks in the sea, so if do go in, you have plenty of room to splash around)
There are plenty of friends to be made.
Left to right: Latisia (Qamia), Ben (Austria), Debra (Taveuni), me (South Africa), Damian (France) |
There are plenty of people who invite you to share their homes and their villages.
There's plenty of food.
And plenty plenty of sugar.
Vatu Lele village |
Malau village |
Korowai Settlement |
There are plenty of new skills to learn
And plenty of beautiful places to see.
And plenty of ways to get there.
Taking the ferry from Buca Bay to taveuni |
Taking the morning school bus to Lobasa |
Plenty of amazing sunrises and sunsets
But there's also plenty of cyclone damage.
Plenty of poverty.
Plenty of sickness and medical problems.
There's plenty of hard work to be done.
Every single day I have been taken in and housed and showered and fed and served and and overloaded on love and sugar and smiles.
(I'm not sure why I'm still carrying a tent and a cooker)
It's funny how those with the least always give the most.
In Fiji they don't have the newest gadgets.
They don't have the biggest houses.
They often don't have shoes, or fancy name-brand clothing.
They share beds and bedrooms.
They share everything.
But you can ask any Fijian if they have enough,
and the answer will always be the same:
They have PLENTY!