Kiribati Projects

We have posted many blogs of our New Zealand Adventures, but very little about our daily work activities. During the first several months we were here much of our time was spent cleaning up files and closing out old projects that had been completed before our arrival. There were more than 50 Church funded humanitarian projects that needed to be reconciled and closed. While this work was necessary, we didn't get a lot of personal satisfaction from it. With that finished, now much of our work time is spent preparing new projects and obtaining funding approvals from the Church. I'm going to focus this blog on one particular country where we have several projects in the mill. As a short introduction to Church humanitarian projects, our main objectives are three-fold: 1. to relieve the suffering of the poor and needy, 2. to help them toward becoming more self-reliant, and 3. to support and strengthen local organizations that share these values.

Here is one of the 16 Pacific island nations that we serve.

Kitibati: pronounced Kid-i-bas. It is an independent nation made up of about 30 small atolls, only one of which is more than 3 feet above sea level. These atolls are sparsely populated and are spead out over a very large area of the Pacific Ocean, spanning both sides of the equator and, until recently, both sides of the International Date Line. It is a very poor country with few natural resources. By some accounts, it is threatened with extinction by rising sea levels "due to global warming." We recently completed a very small project for a small village on one of the remote atolls. This community of less than 200 residents has no electricity. Motivated by their concern for the future of their children, they recently constructed a new "maneaba" (community activity center).

The primary purpose of the maneaba was for community sponsored meetings, activities, dances, and other recreational events. The problem was that the only activities they could have had to be held during day-light hours. With most of the men occupied with fishing they were unable to participate in many of the day time activities. So we provided a small gas powered electrical generator that was large enough to power some lights and a CD/DVD player.

Our agreement was that they would provide a place for the generator that was off the ground and protected from the weather. So they built this little shelter next to the maneaba.

Now their gatherings can be extended into the evening hours.

And include the whole family. (Aren't kids great?)

We are now working with five other small villages -- on five small remote atolls, to provide clean drinking water. We'll do this by building a metal roof structure that will channel the rain water into a 5000 liter storage tank. (Coconut frond roofs will keep you dry, but they are not clean.) Although we will provide all of the materials, the villagers will donate all of the labor.

The next project I want to tell you about is for the only hospital in Kiribati. It is located in the city of Tarawa. The hospital has five wards of about 20 beds each.

This is a picture of the Children's Ward. Notice the woven mats being used in place of bed sheets. They had no means of washing bed linens, so they required patients to bring mats from home. We have donated a washing machine to the hospital so they can begin using bed linens again.

Another view of the Childrens' Ward. Note that along with the paid staff, parents are expected to help with the care giving. So they bring their own pillows and blankets from home and sleep on the floor.

Family members congregate around their sick little ones with little, if anything, to help them pass the time away. So we donated a 32 inch TV to the Childrens' Ward for parents and families members to enjoy during their long stay.

This is a picture of the Surgical Ward. Again, no bed sheets -- just a bare plastic covered foam mattress. Notice the open louvered windows, with no window screens.

To help brighten the atmosphere, we are providing paint and supplies to re-paint all of the interior walls and ceilings. The local church members will donate the labor.

This utility room will also get a face lift, one which the staff will appreciate immensely. It will take us a couple of months to finish what we have started inside the hospital, but everywhere we look there is so much that needs to be done to provide a pleasant, clean, and sanitary environment.

We didn't stop with just the inside of the hospital. We wanted to give the residents a reason to be proud of their facility, so they can see the fruits of their own labors on a daily basis.

This is a picture of the ambulance entrance. Notice the people waiting in the shade. Also notice that for a "tropical paradise" native vegitation is pretty sparse. That is because of the high alkalinity in the soil from sea water contamination.

All of the waiting areas at the hospital are on the outside. This is the dental clinic waiting area. We will clean and paint it along with the rest of the exterior.

This is the food preparation area. Family members can line up at the windows to get some food. This area, too, will be cleaned and painted.

Later, at their homes they will prepare their family meal, in the dark, by placing hot coals in an iron channel that is also used to support their pots.

Having the screened windows closed and the air conditioner running is an indication that surgery is in progress -- so we didn't get a picture of the inside. But this is the exterior of the surgical suite. We'll repair/replace the window screens, door and a/c unit. Then we will clean it all up and paint it. I guess I've had some experience at doing some of these types of things before.

This is a partial picture of a very large water tank. It is divided so that half of the tank is used to allow turbid rain water to settle, then it spills over into the other side where it is distributed to the hospital. The problem being (in addition to some structural issues and leaks) the water pump broke some time back and they have no mean of replacing it. So, part of our project will address the issues of the structural damage, leaks, and replacement of the pump and motor. (We'll pay for the materials and look to the community to donate the labor).

We ceased medical incineration in the States many years ago. But it is still a regular (and unregulated) practice in Kiribati.

Perhaps part of the reason for the need for incineration is the lack of other storage or disposal options. This is a picture of the morgue. Notice the open windows. With no air conditioning the equatorial sun brings indoor temperatures to near 100 degrees almost every day.

I wanted to finish our short tour of the hospital by showing the current laundry facilities. The white sand is the ocean beach. The laundry is washed in the ocean, and then hung out to dry. A little bit of beach sand never hurt anyone, unless you have to sleep on it -- that brings us back to the need for a washing machine.

Most of what we do is still a lot of paper work, project files, budgets, agreements, and "pictures." But we feel like we are making some difference in the world. These humble people have no means to lift themselves without a little help from the outside, and we are happy to be part of it.

The Wild West

Everyone has been telling us we need to go see the black sand beaches of the west coast. Whereas there are zillions of beaches and bays and inlets along the east coast (Pacific Ocean side) of New Zealand's North Island, the west coast, along the Tasman Sea, isn't very accessable. We found, though, that we could reach one of the beaches on the west coast, Muriwai Beach, in only about 45 minutes from our flat. It's known for it's black sand, and it is perfectly black. Even beeing right there and looking at it, it's hard to believe it's sand and not asphalt.

The west coast is pretty rugged and not too many beaches, mostly cliffs. However, this beach stretched on forever, and is very wide. They say you can drive your car on the beach up to the next harbor, which is about 30 miles away. (We didn't do that) There were motorcycles, a dune buggy, horses, etc on the beach and in the dunes. We saw several people kite fishing. They actually have a kite attached to their fishing line that bobs the bait up and down in the water to attract the fish. Apparently, the fish weren't in the market for bobbers that day, as no one that we talked to had any luck that day.

Unlike other beaches we've been to, this one, aside from all the ripples and designs, was perfectly flat and clean. Hardly a shell. It made a great place for a group of little boys who played soccer, barefooted on the beach, all afternoon.

In addition to the black sand, the other thing Muriwai Beach is famous for is its gannet colony. Gannets are birds about the size of sea gulls, but much nicer. (I've found the gulls to be obnoxious, rude and ornery to each other!) The gannets perch on two big rock cliffs where no one can bother them.








They go to Australia part of the year, and then in July come back, meet up with their life-long mate again, make their nests, and raise their young, all on these two cliffs. They're very affectionate, and you can hear chorteling and watch them wrapping their necks around each other. A big bird hug, I guess. We spent a long time just watching them dance and hug.



The beach was fascinating to us. Wet or dry, the sand had patterns all over it. Some of it almost looked like a pattern woven into fabric.

A river emptied out into the ocean, and even under the shallow water of the river, the sand was patterned. The dark sand came up in a pattern and the lighter colored, almost gold, sand sunk to the bottom.

You can tell from this picture how broad the beach was. Between the gannet colony and the beach below was a rock outcropping. The entire surface of this rock was covered -no, not covered - encrusted with mussels. You couldn't walk without stepping on them, and amazingly, they didn't crunch! They're alive, because if you try to pry one loose, you can see it close up even tighter, but there's no way of prying it loose from the rock.

The little depressions in the rocks were full of life. Here were two starfish as big as dinner plates, and you can see the shells of the mussels all around them.

A closer look at the mussels. Kazillions of them, every size. This is what the surface of the rock looks like. Not a bare spot.

Most pools also had colorful sea urchens, along with the mussels.

When the tide came in, the water flowed way up the beach, around the rocks, and made a very pretty picture.

But then so did the sun on the water as it swirled around the rocks and up the beach.

We purposely went in the afternoon so that we could be there when the sun set, because they talk about the beautiful sunsets on the Tasman. There were alot of clouds and we weren't sure what kind of pictures we would get, but it was worth the wait to be there and see the day end.

Another great day that we could enjoy together in this beautiful land. And the surprize that I found waiting for me when I came back from a walk down the beach...

A Bit of Charm

At last! What a beautiful sight! Winter is beginning to give way to signs of Spring. Although there have been flowers blooming all through the Winter, it's nice to know that Spring is actually on the way. We woke up to a bright, sunny Saturday morning, and decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We drove about ten minutes south of us to the quaint little seaside town of Devenport. It sits on the end of the peninsula facing Auckland across the harbor. In the early days, those who could afford to have summer homes ferried across to Devenport and built a whole little village of gingerbread cottages. Today it has the feel of a cute little seaside resort town, and retains the charm of older times. The ferry still makes many runs each day, as it's the easiest way to get from the North Shore to downtown Auckland. There is only one other way out of Devonport, a two-lane road up to Takapuna, then over to pick up the motorway, across the harbor bridge and into downtown Auckland. Mornings and evenings and most other times that road is in gridlock. So a fifteen minute ferry ride is a nice alternative for many of those living in Devonport. The distance across the harbor is small enough that every summer they hold a Devonport-to-Auckland swim.

Saturday morning was truly a "market day". Everyone in town was out and the few little blocks of downtown shops were crawling with families and their "push chairs" (strollers), sitting at little outdoor restaurants having tea, shopping, strolling, just enjoying the beautiful weather and pleasant surroundings.

Apparently, another big draw on Saturday mornings is the wagon ride, pulled by three big Clydesdales. Each time we saw it it had a full load of passengers.

This is the lovely origional old hotel across the street from the Ferry building, and at the foot of the downtown shops.

Looking toward downtown Devonport

The town is just chock-full of this type of gingerbread cottages and houses. Very quaint, pretty well maintained, and reminiscent of days gone by.

What might shock you, as it did us, is to find out that these little cottages are being sold in the million-dollar-plus category!!! I guess Devonport is still a very desirable address.

This giant place once housed the WRNS ("WRENS"), the women of the Royal New Zealand Navel Service, during WWII. The New Zealand Navy is headquartered in Devonport still today. Some barracks, huh? I wonder what the price tag on it is??

The view from the Devonport Ferry dock.

That wrapped up our morning stroll around Devonport. With the whole afternoon left, we decided to go a different direction and change gears from quaint to wild. Stay tuned...