Kulu Bay, Beqa Island, Fiji

Anne;

Kulu Bay..a visit to the village.

We met Sera at the beach in front of the deserted resort in the late morning and because it was already high tide, she'd decided we wouldn't walk along the shore to the village but to go inland instead. She would take us through the jungle, up and over the first hill and down again to the village in the next bay.

The forest was cool and silent once we were inside it's cathedral canopy, thick with broad green leaves and vines but only seen in snatched glimpses.. the steep track being muddy and treacherous with tangled roots. Sera walked at a fast, easy pace in her thongs, barely looking to her feet. She stopped occasionally to check we were keeping up and to tell us the manners for the Sevu-Sevu ceremony. At the saddle the leafy walls opened up to reveal a view of the Pacific Ocean smashing onto the reef some kilometres out from the shore, in a foamy, rolling line of surf.

On our descent we sensed we were close to the village when the sweet musky air of the forest gave way to the unpleasant odour and sounds of the pigs. Sera's dog was ahead of us, picking a fight with another village dog.

We crossed a creek littered with broken plastic refuse and followed Sera in single file along the narrow concrete path between small grey brick houses. All the slatted windows and doors were opened in an air of permanency and inside we could see woven pandanus mats lining the floors and no sign of any furniture.

We were led first to the Kindergarten room within the school and a wave of sweet, smiling children pushed and squeezed into the doorway to see us, greeting us with cries of "bula, bula!" Once we were seated on the smoothed matting, the children sat opposite us and sang two songs of welcome, clapping and grinning. Then without further ado, Sera whisked us away up to the primary school rooms where hastily the largest room was prepared for an impromptu concert.

The head teacher decided that we would alternate between the children's songs and ours, so they began with a traditional welcome song and then the most exciting version of 'Jolly Swagman' we had ever heard! They'd obviously performed this many times for Australian visitors. Some of the boys jumped up and danced with comical wiggling and sat back down again to give others a turn of the lime-light. The children belted their version out in three part harmony with complicated clapping patterns. We were hit by a wall of vibrant voices and extreme kid energy!

It was our turn, so we pulled out our instruments, the gaida and davul from their cases and the children fell to curious silence. As soon as we began to play they picked up the beat of the drum and clapped loudly with us, very sure of the rhythm even though it was completely foreign to them. After the applause, a girl sang a tone and all the children broke into 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot', another upbeat rendition with more clapping and harmonies, the highest voices powerful and edgy. This time we sang along with them.

We played 'Tseniv Se Upopa' and Sabine sang, the children all focusing on her….how does the girl from Australia sing? By now every window along the room framed the curious faces of the men who had been gathered at the school for the day to do some repairs.

It was announced that the children would sing 'Old Mac Donald had a Farm'. Five boys lined themselves up along the wall at the front and once they had finished jostling for positions the tone-keeper sang her note and the children burst into song, clapping rhythms as one, at a fast and furious tempo, barely pausing between verses in breathless cycles! Each time an animal was introduced, the boy at the front of the line would dance across the stage to us, confidently pulling the animal face, doing comical actions, then run out of the door to the other side. Screams of laughter peeled through the room. Cow, Frog, Duck, Pig and Snake, all made a repeat performance, running back to the stage at the end. It was very funny and I thought if only the children in Australia could see this on Playschool!

Sabine sang one last song, 'Buka Ere' with the gaida and davul and the children clapped along enthusiastically.

It was lunch time, so we finished the concert by thanking each other…we were truly inspired by the children's vitality and open spirit.

Sera led us to the school office where we signed the visitor's book which was placed on top of the donation box and we gave some books for the school library. The principal said that all the Australians bring books and she was grateful because last summer they lost their entire collection in the hurricane. We were sure they would have preferred a straight money donation!

Sera asked us if we would like to see the village's art and craft and took us to a large house by the water, pink walls with maroon trims. We were invited to sit on possibly the only lounge suite in the village, while a tarp was laid over the large pandanis mats on the floor. Many carvings and woven goods were presented before us with the expectation that we would buy something. Oh no.. not more artefacts for home!! We dutifully chose some jewellery for gifts and politely passed on the black shiny carvings of turtles, cannibal forks, clubs and kava bowls, all brought from other villages and less impressive than the ones we'd seen from the Lau islands at a shop in Suva.

Sera's aunt Levou, was weaving a mat at the end of the room and she told us how they prepare the pandanus by cutting off the spiky edges first and then boiling it. Next they leave them to dry in the sun, then straighten them by scraping the full length of the fronds. They blacken the contrasting fronds by soaking them in mud first before boiling. Levou works every day making the mats to sell. We decided to buy the mat she was working on, her price was only AUS $45 for a week's work!

We had one last place to visit and that was to present to the village Chief the kava for the Sevu-Sevu ceremony. We were taken to a small house and seated cross-legged opposite the Chief and the Spokesman in a formal way. (Quite challenging in a tightly wrapped sulu!) We were welcomed by the Spokesman and he introduced Joel the Chief whose hand we shook, giving our names. We were told it was now the time to present the kava, so Rob pulled it out of the bag and put it on the floor before the Chief. At this point anyone who walks between the Chief and the kava must face pain of death! Visitors are not officially welcomed until the Chief picks up the kava, so this is an important moment. The Chief clapped once and the others clapped a different rhythm, the Spokesman said a passage of ceremonial words and clapped. Everyone responded with a final clap and the Chief picked up the kava and thanked us for it and welcomed us again to his village. After some awkward silences, cicadas audible, the Spokesman asked to look at the gaida, wanting to know what the animal skin was and I pulled it out of the case, explained the parts and played for a bit.
The Spokesman asked, "do you smoke?" We told him "no". We were relieved when he said the Chief could not do the kava tasting without smoking tobacco… we were luckily reprieved! Normally visitors would be expected to drain a whole coconut cup each, children included! The lazy Chief had found a way out of the kava tasting so everyone was happy. We thanked the Chief "vinaka" and said goodbye "moce" and followed Sera to her parent's house by the water's edge. We sat on a platform under the breadfruit tree and her father picked us three of the fruits to take with us. Sera's mother gave us a taste of some from the kitchen that was already cooked…soft, spongy, starchy, perfumey and faintly smokey!

The tide had fallen enough for us to pick our way around the shore back to the next bay where the Ellida was patiently waiting….Sera was well in the lead again, setting a challenging pace yet looking like she was strolling in that relaxed Fijian way!