Vunidogoloa: The Clear and Present Danger

Before leaving for Vanua Levu, I had this picture in my mind; of great big ocean waves crashing into a helpless sea wall, breaking it into pieces before making its way to the village. These fascinating pictures, I suppose in a way, was my own attempt to prepare my thoughts on what I was about to do. But, I was to find out soon that thoughts are entirely different from reality.

The lonely walk

 The first reality check would leave an indomitable mark on my mind quicker than I could have imagine. I was made to realize that the sea, though a source of livelihood could also be a clear and present danger. As i immersed myself in the study, I discovered the reality of it all. People, in the general sense of word, find it extremely hard to accept the dangers around them, especially when they feel a sense of belonging to a place, a feeling of ownership that transcends culture, tradition and economics. For them, to even ponder on the thought of relocating from a place that has been part of their being would be something bordering on blasphemy. 

A lifetime of memory is slowly feels threatened

Hence, there is more one needs to understand before one begins to attempt to understand a peoples psyche. I must confess that I failed in this department miserably. But soon time and experience would alter my thinking and instill in me an appreciation of that which I had held so lightly.  Studying a community is never a genre, it has to be experienced and this is what I had learned.

The people of Vunigodoloa have a deep sense of respect for the sea. It is their source of livelihood and daily sustenance. The sea's wild and free character, and of of course, its unpredictability fascinates the villagers and from it sprouts their legends and myths. They feel a sense of warmth towards this giver of life.

Sunrise over the Natewa Bay

But lately, things have not been cordial between the two. The villagers have complained about the low yield in their fishing and the fact that their once strange friend is now slowly turning against them. One would like to add that, somewhere along the line, the sea has decided to go its on way.

I could feel that in their mind, their exist this deep reminiscing of time past, where things were just right, not perfect but just right. They would tell me stories of a time when you could only fish near the shoreline and expect to bag a huge one, if not many sizable ones. It would seem that the proverbial "fat lady" has left the building and leaving behind a depressed lover who will now pick up the pieces of a once amicable relationship.

Looking back

There are few significant signs that one will see firstly when considering the fact that sea level rise is a real threat to the villagers. One has only look at the entirety of the village itself, its physical state, its seawall (or what is left of it), its dying vegetation (as if some army had implemented "scorched earth" policy on it) and of course, the faces of the villagers as they tell their story. In this section, I will look at the physical evidence itself.

The Seawall

The sea wall is a sorry sight in deed. It is the one reminder of where the shoreline was a decade ago. But if you wish to measure the timeline of its degradation and the advent of this disaster than you only had to walk  60 meters in the sea, from the present shoreline to see the remnants of an earlier seawall, succumbed to the deep.

The villagers claim that the seawall is no longer able to prevent huge waves from coming into the village. Instead it is more than likely to harm them than assist them. This is so, when the waves go recede, the seawall prevent them from going back so, it plays a role in the inundation of the village for days.

The seawall is now more harmful to the village

It is clear as the summer sun that the village has been through a lot. The structure of the house seem to shout it at you. You would feel that these people seem to be leaving on borrowed time. The structure of the houses, after close observation seem to be leaning to one side or the other. The poles have been running their last laps and the land for which it sits on is quickly realizing that not even a strong foundation would sustain the constant barrage of the waves when it visits the village.

The foundation is slowly giving in

This is the first sign of sea level rise I witnessed when I first entered the village. My guide told me that whenever a huge wave enters the village it destroys this walkway. The next day, the villagers would rebuild it and this process has been going on for years. This defiant act is the best symbol of the villagers resilience. But I feel that they are slowly realizing the futility of this exercise. They claim that they are doing this because this is the fastest route to the main road and once they relocate, they will abandon this exercise for good.

The makeshift Bridge/walkway

We will look at other issues at our next discussion. 

 

Friends At Vunidogoloa Village

Mara and kids in the village

There is often this feeling that when you are about to visit a place where you have not visited before, you tend to have questions of how you would be welcomed or accepted. These thoughts occupied my mind for the best part of my time prior to my entry into Vunidogoloa village. I wondered what type of people they would be, i.e will they be accommodating, very open to my inquiries and socialize with strangers easily. My anxieties, for a lack of a better word, proved unreasonable after I was introduced to the villagers. 

Taking a time out with one of the elders in the village after an interview

I was firstly taken to Vunidogoloa by a villager who resides in Nasinu but had maternal ties to Vunidogoloa. I was fortunate in this because the aforementioned gentleman was quite well known in the area. We arrived in the village at around 2-3 pm in the scorching heat of a Cakaudrove afternoon sun. The fact that we had to walk a further meters from the road, through a rough track and carrying my pack, seemed like the initial phase military training. But all this was slowly forgotten as I was gradually eased into the village. 

There was one thing I discovered from the first initial meeting, and it was that these people, threatened by the sea everyday of their lives still find the courage, in some deep resource of their hearts, to put up a smile and play host in the most magnificent fashion. Their willingness was encouragement  enough for me to do my best in telling their story. There is not much one could do to repay these than to write about the suffering their had to endure everyday.

A Talanoa Session

The most appropriate person to thank for making my stay a memorable one was the Turaga Ni Koro. Here, was a gentleman quite like no other other I have met in all my life. The tenacity and courage in his demeanor and his confidence in his abilities are exemplified by the way he throws himself into his work. Being the younger brother of the ruling chief, the Turaga Ni Koro, was more or less born to this role and everyday I was in the village, he seemed to justify the appointment in a fashion best suiting the calling. It him, most of all, who made my stay the most memorable yet.

The Turaga Ni Koro (red t-shirt) with his son

My host family was strangely enough a curious case. According to protocol, visitors to the village with a certain capacity of importance, not that I am saying I am, but since I was sent under the banner of academia, in which case, The University of the South pacific, I was in fact viewed upon as would any learned visitor, with some ounce of respect, would be billeted by the Turaga Ni Koro. More or less, this meant staying with the Turaga Ni Koro's family. I couldn't ask for anything better.

My host family

The facets of my lodgings were quite simple, I was allocated a room, advised on certain matters I should know and protocols I should follow, of course needless to say, things I shouldn't attempt to do. As for the latter, I think anyone average human being would find it common sense to avoid. And to raise the brevity, I was lodging with the representative of the Methodist Church- the "Vatakatawa". Of course to be fair on the vakatawa, it was his residence, and the Turaga Ni Koro's family volunteered to look after him for he was not married. Hence, the curious and strange case of my lodging arrangements.

The Vakatawa, standing behind the makeshift church.

 And of course my stay could not have been a complete success without the support of the whole village. I felt that for once in my life, I had an opportunity to tell the suffering and dangers that a community is experiencing. There, it is the ordinary people who I must also thank, those who have influenced me in my research, these people deserve a big VINAKA VAKA-LEVU...

The Chief

At a Church service

Church Service

I do hope that as I continue with this blog, I might have an opportunity to relate some of my experiences whilst expounding on the main reason for my visiting the village. It would be wise, I think, that one should consider the human side of research of this nature because not everyone in the village was affected the same way from sea level rise and climate change. I hope there unique stories would help us understand their predicament.

Climate Change and Relocation: Vunidogoloa and NukudamuNukudamu

Late last year, 2011, I was asked to conduct a field research on the social effects of Climate Change Induced Relocation on the community that was being relocated. The study was conducted in 2 villagers in the Northern Division of Fiji. The villagers were Vunidogoloa, in Cakaudrove, and Nukudamu, in Macuata. Both this villagers have been in the media for the best part of late last year.

Vunidogoloa children attending Sunday School

The village of Vunidogoloa, half an hour from the  town of Savusavu, is nestled on a beautiful beach beside a river that seems to expand with the years. The close proximity to the sea and the threatening river that lies beside the village vulnerable every time their is every rain accompanied by unusual high tide. The combination of the two ensures that the village is always inundated whenever that scenario eventuates.
As for Nukudamu, three to four hours boat ride from Labasa town, things changes when Cyclone Amy paid a courtesy visit. The village has been relocated to a few meters from the original village site. It has not relocated uphill but rather to another relocation along the beach, screened by a thick growth of mangrove.

Nukudamu Village

The two villagers shared a few common characteristics:
1.They both relliant on the sea for income.
2.They are both rural communities where tradition, culture and religion are the primary aspects of daily lives.
3.They share a common understanding that relocation will (or has already, as in the case of Nukudamu) have   an important effect on their lives.

The village of Vunidogoloa, while I was conducting the field work was still in the process of relocation. They were were quite adamant that relocation should happen, in fact they are sure it will happen after the government has informed them that it will be funding the relocation and also taking responsibility in building the houses in the site.

It would not be hard to imagine why they wish to be relocated as soon as possible. Their village is constantly under the mercy of the sea. rising sea level and unusually high tides have gradually eaten away the shoreline and decimated the sea wall to the point where I had to be shown the sea wall because I was finding it hard to relocate where it began and where it ended. Most of it was no longer there and the portion that remained is nothing but a reminder of how a man made structure could do less in the face of natural forces bent on having its own way.

The sea wall

The changes that they have encountered due to climate change has been immense. They reported that their livelihoods has been affected. They no longer enjoy the same yields from fishing that they used to enjoy five years ago. They also state that they root crops are frequently destroyed by the intense heat that dries the soils and destroys evaporates any moisture that might have been in the soil. Also, the plantations that they had near village has been destroyed because of sea water seeping through the soil or whenever there is an unusual hightide, sea water comes into their farms and kills the crops and other vegetation.

Sea water has killed the vegetation.

 This is why the villagers feel that relocation is the only option. You really can't blame them, seven years of living in this condition is not ideal.

The village Nukudamu apparently has been relocated. They feel that relocation was the only option that they had and it was a wise decision to relocate considering the incident that caused them to relocate. They relocated because in 2003, cyclone Amy came to their region and brought with her a tidal wave that destroyed the whole village. The elders, in their wisdom decided to relocate the village for fear that another incident like that would not be so merciful as the last.

Youths from Nukudamu

 The villagers were relocated under the assistance of government. In fact, government funded the whole project. The relocation did not come without problems but the villagers feel that this was nothing compared to living with the anxiety that any natural disaster would be fatal if they stayed in their old village.

Youths return from their plantations.

 There were of course certain changes which the villagers went through. They were:
1. Change in diet.
2. Change in everyday life.
3. Their was also social/economic changes.

Bese and Eddie

 These changes were felt either immediately or later on when villagers slowly realize that certain activities which they employed most of their time on whilst in the old site were slowly giving way to new priorities. An example would be that the men report that they now spent more time in their plantations and less time going to sea, as was the case before they relocated.

The need for relocation is slowly being put forward as the only option that need to be studied when considering climate change and sea level rising. Later on, I will be relaying some of the issues that I had encountered during my field work and I hope that they would enlightened some of us who feel that this subject is not important enough or worse still, do not feel that it exists at all.

One of the highlights of my fieldwork was visiting the Light House at Udu Point.