Things are happening!

I think I might have mentioned a few months ago that I had written a very large grant proposal to Fiji Water for a water project in the village. With the devastating floods in January, I thought all funds would be diverted to disaster relief. Well, I just heard that we've been granted the funds!!! Very exciting. The project will allow us to acquire additional plastic rainwater catchment tanks, replace and install additional gutters, paint roofs, and implement an education and cleaning regimen to keep the water plentiful and clean. It's quite a large sum of money, which makes me a little nervous, but I think it will all work out.

Other things that are happening:

Catch per unit effort surveys of the clams and sea cucumbers. We've finally got started on these, though we are moving very slowly with them. So far, it is quite obvious that there are more of these animals inside the marine protected area as compared to the fishing grounds, even though the MPA was mandated less than a year ago. This could have to do with other things though... I am going to propose a change in the area that is being protected, once they open the current area. We'll see how that goes...

I have also started a very small Girl Guides company (girl scouts) in the village. The girls are really excited about this and our company might be the first in the country that's associated with the village and not a school (the company at my local school is no longer active). The girls and teachers are also kind of surprised by the things we have been doing. So far we have done some traditional stuff and then some arts and crafts, learning about different countries, and some environmental lessons. I think, in the past, the girls have learned things like how to properly make a bed and cook and clean... I'll leave those things for their mothers to teach them. I'm not sure if I even know the "proper" way to make a bed!