June and July 2015

June was a big month here in Dreketi, starting off with a visit from the U.S. Navy!  

In early June, a Navy hospital ship the USNS Mercy made its first stop as part of Pacific Partnership in Fiji.  The ship stopped first in Suva where they held health fairs, and took people on board for procedures.  The second stop was in Savusavu, which is the biggest port on my island.  From Savusavu, various teams were sent out around the island to see patients and visit villages, and one of these teams came to Dreketi!

 A team of 17 doctors including various specialists (dentist, pediatrician, physical therapists, dermatologist) and a few general practice physicians arrived via helicopter on the lawn of Maramarua Primary School in Dreketi.   To say that everyone was excited about this visit would be a colossal understatement.  I have never seen people in Dreketi get so excited about anything else.  Most of the people in Dreketi have never seen a helicopter, or a U.S. Navy officer (in full camouflage) much less have them arrive on the lawn in the middle of school hours.  When everyone could hear the chopper approaching, people dropped what they were doing and ran to the primary school.  It wasn’t just the locals that were excited either, words cannot describe how awesome it felt to be the Peace Corps Volunteer waiting at the school to welcome fellow Americans to Dreketi. 

All the school students lined up watching the excitement.

Unloading supplies.

The jump crew heading back to the chopper.

Kids and teachers waiting for the chopper!

Kids running from the next door school when they heard the chopper coming.

Looking out at the Dreketi River just after their arrival!

The team was here for 3 days and each day we set up shop at the primary school to see patients.  In addition to the big set up, I also took smaller teams to visit villages and see some of the environmental health issues that Fijians are dealing with.  Over the three days we visited 3 villages, set up at two primary schools, and saw almost 800 patients.  During the visit, I was with them the entire time helping the team with whatever they needed whether it be translating in either Fijian or Hindi, organizing transportation, or setting up village visits.  It was a really amazing position for me to be in where I got to be both part of the Navy team and part of the Dreketi community showing off what each has to offer.  

I want to say thank you to U.S. Navy and Pacific Partnership for selecting Dreketi as a site visit, and I want to convey what an honor it was to work with you all during your time here!

PT's talking to patients

Lines of people at the primary school.

One of our community health representatives helping translate for the team.  

On one of the days at the primary school, an additional team came to raise spirits and have fun messing around with the kids.  Part of this team was a brass band!

I wish I could find this girl and give her these pictures!

More lines of people waiting to see the doctors.

The team waiting around to be picked by the chopper.

Haha one of the secondary school students taking selfies with the chopper....

Whenever the jump crew would land, they'd come off the chopper and take pictures with the crowd like full on celebrities.

Again, I wish I could find this girl and give her these pictures!

As they were getting ready to leave all of Dreketi wanted pictures with them!  They felt famous!

The week after the Navy left, the Global Director for the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, came to visit Fiji.  During her visit she came to my island and had a sit down with the 10 us in Vanua Levu.  Getting to hear stories from her time in the Peace Corps and how she relates to all of our experiences was really awesome.  During the Director’s visit, Peace Corps staff decided to plan a two day training session covering climate change and empowering Fiji’s youth to make a difference.  The information was interesting, but the really nice part about trainings is that I get to see and catch up with all the other volunteers that I don’t see very often because they live on different islands.  This particular training was held in Nadi (on the mainland) so I got to see another part of Fiji where I haven’t spent much time. 

The North with Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet

Peace Corps Fiji with the Director and U.S. Ambassador Cefkin

These pictures were taken from Director Hessler-Radelet's twitter! https://twitter.com/peacecorpsdir

Bush kids getting on the plane to Nadi!

At the end of the training, I got to pick up my family at the airport in Nadi!!!!  I hadn’t seen them since last August when I left home, and getting to pick them up in Fiji was a fairly surreal feeling.  We spent most of our time in Savusavu, which is the nicer part of my island, and then we took a day trip up to Dreketi and I got to show them around my house and some of my town.  Even though they weren’t here that long it was still really cool to get to show them a little bit of my Fiji.   

Me, Dad, and Julia on a tiny island hopper plane!

Taking a bike ride with Dad!

Beautiful Savusavu!

Paddle-boarding!

 Extra pictures from work and around Dreketi!

Village visit- Narailagi Village

Handing out toothbrushes in Vunisea Village!

 

Another settlement visit

Way too excited about brushing teeth!

Handing out more brushes!

MRE's- what the Navy would eat while in Dreketi.  They aren't very good so I quickly got them all hooked on Bara, which is delicious fried lentils with spicy chutney that the women sell in Dreketi!

Nurse Ashika!

More toothbrushing dispensing...

Meet my new puppy!!!!!! Name suggestions???

I love this picture.... it was taken by another PCV the day I left my host village of Vanuadina.  I'm holding my host nephew.

Loloma,

Elizabeth