Pictures from Epi

Good Afternoon,

I've returned from my Christmas trip to Tanna and after fighting with my dying computer and the local internet speeds, I should finally be able to share some photos.

This is a view of Laman Bay in Northwestern Epi as seen from a hill between Laman Bay and the village of Wenia. Laman Bay is the biggest village on the island and is where the Epi High School is located. You can see our landing strip in the photo, but the school, houses, and market are blocked by trees. Trust me, there's a village in there.

This is the island of Lopevi as seen from the Northern part of Epi. I have been traveling to some of the Northern villages to meet with water committees and to help with some ongoing water supply projects. Lopevi is a large volcano that seems inactive now, but has erupted within the lifetimes of people on Epi. There is a village in Northeastern Epi called Ngala where the people of Lopevi settled a few generations ago when the volcano was getting bad. I've heard a local story that there is still one old man living on the island who didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to go and check for myself as people rarely go over there now. Also, I've been told that if people who are not part of the community that still retains customary ownership over the island travel over there, the volcano will erupt. Apparently, women traveling above the treeline will also cause the volcano to anger even if they are part of the Lopevi/Ngala community.

Moriu is a village in Northern Epi right along the coast. Over the years the villagers have piled up black stones to make a small sea wall. The island's road runs between the wall and the short, stone beach. The building pictured is the village nakamal, where I've met with committees and given brief talks to villagers.

This is the inside of the Moriu nakamal. Like most nakamals on Epi, Moriu's is made out of locally harvested timbers and covered in natangura leaf thatching just like my house. The stumps that make up the lower walls are black palm. Nakamals on Epi are community meeting halls and can be used for marriage celebrations, fundraisers, village court, council meetings, and the occasional Peace Corps class or training. People usually sit on the benches running along the edge, but may put down a mat on the coral as the man in the photo is doing.

My trips to Northern Epi have taken me to Lokpui village which is built on top of a cliff that goes down to the saltwater.

The boy is scratching out a coconut using a special stool with a metal grater on the end. I've scratched many a coconut into a bowl to make the shavings we mix with water and squeeze to make coconut milk for cooking. This boy, though, is just making sure the chickens are fed.

These trumpet flowers seem to grow all over the island. Supposedly, they are poisonous.

Like almost all Epi villages, Lokopui is built along the coast with an abrupt jungle starting just behind the village. These houses are much like those in my village and are made of local timber, woven bamboo walls and natangura thatching. The big brown coconut fronds hanging on the roofs are left over from the hurricane season. When coconut leaves are still green, they are very heavy and when tied together and draped over a house they can keep the roof from blowing away during a cyclone.

Here is another village nakamal or maybe a community kitchen. It's one of the smaller one's I've seen.

Walking east of Lokopui, I ran into this little guy. He seemed friendly enough and didn't seem to care that I was inches from the watering hole he found in the road after the big rain.

In fact, if you want that pig, I found out later that you can have him for a good price.

Continuing East of Lokopui, I climbed up these steps cut into the cliff to a little station on top. This is the kind of road you might have to follow on Epi when the truck road ends. These roads always seem safe when going up, but less so when going down.

Here is the view of the appropriately named Big Bay as seen at the top of that carved stair case. You can follow the black sand beach below all the back to Lokopui and a few other villages.

My Mom in America read my previous entry about local toys and felt compelled to send us a box of play things. Here are Kelvin and 16 month old Maralyn playing with a barrel of monkeys. Maralyn would later be covered in clinging plastic monkeys which has developed into a common game we play called "put the monkeys on whatever baby is at hand".