Misses Blong Football

As you may have guessed by now, I tend to do a lot with football in Vanuatu (which I find a little ironic seeing that I thought my days of football were behind me). What started off originally as an attempt to meet people and keep busy has now ballooned into what is almost a second fulltime job. Ah woo.

It started off with pikinini, and last year was a big year for U12. We held two major tournaments in Luganville, to find champions for U12 for Luganville and then the northern province (Penma, Sanma, Malampa and Torba) U 12 Champions to go down for the finals in Vila. Throughout my time here I've been a big supporter of Kamewa School, and luckily their team, with Sainte Therese, went through to the finals. With the organisation work I'd already done with the tournaments, I was lucky enough to go down to Vila with the two teams and ended up staying with them as an official. The kids were great and I think pretty amused that a Misses would sleep on the floor with them!

At the same time as the tournament, the NZ All Whites came to Vila to play the Vanuatu squad. With the pikinini we got into the stadium as invited guests, with the kids being ball boys/girls or being part of the opening ceremony. NZ won 2-1 (which was lucky) but it was an amazing event to see, with such a huge crowd at the stadium and people in trees and on roof-tops around the park.

The following day we took the kids for a jaunt around some of the tourist attractions in Efate, including an outdoor aquarium with sharks and turtles. Then we went to the FIFA Academy at Teouma for a look at footballs training area: very flash indeed!

Monday was a rest day with the games starting on Tuesday. There were 8 teams in the competition: unfortunately Sainte Therese came 4th and Kamewa 5th, however the team from Pentecost (which came third at the northern regional finals in Vila) won the competition and are now heading to New Caledonia this year and the chance to go to France. Hopefully a team from Luganville will make it through this year.

Following this tournament I stayed in Vila for an extra day and was lucky to see an U17 team from Luganville, Kings United, win the Sportswell Tournament at the FIFA Academy, while being looked after by the attentive FIFA Referees who were officiating the matches.

Back to Luganville, we were charged with organising the U15 boys and U19 girls National Tournament. This tournament is still the worst week in my life in Vanuatu... needless to say it was a combination of poor venues (the use of the local stadium for a week that doesn't have toilet facilities, water, electricity or security), lack of funds or control in Luganville, and the reliance on teachers to help when it was during their holiday! Not to worry.

On the women's side of things, we ran a successful tournament: the Hotel Santo Cup, at Unity Park last year. Sia Raga FC won, followed by Vaum United and my team, Side Riva United, came third. Hotel Santo will sponsor a tournament again this year and we've also had another company come in to sponsor the first league starting in March. We've also got a coaching clinic on Saturday mornings for all women and women referees.

Somehow, at the end of last year, I ended up going to a meeting for LFA (Luganville Football Association). If you attend, you generally become part of the committee, and the meeting was about the 2008 calenda. I put my two (or four) cents in and before you know it, I'm helping the marketing officer find sponsorship and organise tournaments. We've luckily secured a sponsor for referees fees (did I add that I'm now doing refereeing as well?) although sponsors for tournaments is a different story.

While its pretty flat out at the moment, there's lots of good stuff happening with football that will hopefully help bring back sport to Luganville. For the past two years there was very little sport, with tournaments beginning and not finishing or not even starting.

If you're interested in whats going on in football here, have a look at the following website: www.vanuafoot.com

There are a lot of my photos from the NZ vs Vanuatu and Together Kids Programme.

Yours in football

Sera

Christmas and New Years Second Time Around

Amazing! The second Christmas and New Years here. last year was a decidedly ex-pat/baby doc affair. This year I was keen to do a more Ni-Van holiday, and I guess that reflects that most of my close friends are Ni-Van here.

As with all things in Vanuatu, plans are likely to change. Plan A (sounds familiar) was to go to Malekula with Rocky and his family, but following an aborted Sanma Mini Arts Festival (Chief Calab Sur who was a formative member of the organising committee, passed away on the second day of the festival following a custom ceremony the night before. Due to custom the festival was then cancelled) they were unable to get enough money to go.

Having lived in Vanuatu long enough to know that a Plan B-F is probably useful, Bridget and I decided to Christmas at Side Riva with Isabelle, Bong and Isabelle's family and friends. After finding our "secret friend" for Christmas presents, and making some classic Christmas treats to bring with us, we headed to Side Riva on Christmas Eve, enjoying a swim with the pikinini, helping prepare for the party and storianing.

Donning our island dresses, Isabelle, Bridget and I headed to midnight mass at Sainte Therese, joining Warren and Christine (new First National Real Estate owners) outside to listen to the mass. Then it was back to Side Riva for the presentation of gifts (with plenty of powder and perfume sprayed around) and then a sumptuous feast including a suckling pig. The music started, the whisky flowed and pretty soon an all night soulee was in progress. As I spend a lot of time at Side Riva, I tend not to get too much hassles from the boys (ie "Misses, me luvem yu"). However, it was Bridgets first time there, so like a new toy at Christmas, she had to contend with three 15 year old boys, one 60ish old man and a guy from Air Vanuatu. Ah woo, especially when the three boys are hanging off her at once! At about 4 o'clock in the morning, we called it quits and retired to the safety of Isabelle's mums house.

Christmas day is more about the pikinini, so lots of swimming, kakae and spel smol.

In between christmas and new years Bridget and I were invited to a wedding at Reef Motel, so we donned the Mother Hubbards again and went with Malvina to her cousins wedding. A lot of the family from Malekula was there so it was great to catch up with everyone from Lavalsal. The ceremony in true island style started 2 hours late and was very western. Later that afternoon we went to a house at Pumpstation for the custom presentation of gifts and speeches. While I've been to a wedding here before, this was the first time that I saw how the women of the bride openly grieved for the loss of the girl to another island (even though they had a 7 year old daughter and were living in Vila). Some of the women seemed inconsolable, although the display of such raw emotions at weddings, funerals etc is expected in the appropriate circumstance).

I returned to Side Riva for New Years which begun with a First Shave Ceremony for a neighbours firstborn son, Rex. The first shave is done by uncles of the boy and the ceremony is to welcome him to the beginning of adulthood (although it was definitely stressed in the toktok that it was the beginning, and there was a long road to go before he was a man). Plenty of powder again (everyone loves shaking baby powder on you at events), kakae and drinks. Then a smol soulee at Isabelles house followed by another kakae at around 10pm at her brother's house. Just before 12 we jumped into Bong's taxi and headed for the streets. At midnight all the trucks and taxis in town drive from one end to the other, beep-beeping, while people stand beside the roads singing aot, throwing water bombs etc. Lots of fun! Back home, more kakae, dancing, although an earlier night for me and in bed by 2am. Phew! The beginning of 2008!

Final Visitation for 2008: Tauranga Crew

Firstly, wan bigfula sori from we me no bin writem wan sumting longtaem finis. Sori Tumas!

As in the fashion of Vanuatu, you will have forgiven me whole heartedly (and will do so again in the future when I don't blog for an equally long time), although you may be miffed at not receiving a mat, pig or yam! Its just hard to send overseas...

The last visitors for 2008: Pip, Andrew, Glenda and Renee, arrived to the beginning of the hot (and sometimes rainy) season. Accommodation at Decostap (numba wan pool blong swimswim), the mecca that is Luganville to explore, what more could you ask for!

After hiring a pretty flash hilux, we headed to Oyster Island for Friday night, to enjoy the sumptuous offerings of this renown establishment... particularly the enormous seafood banquet. The next day it was off to Lonoc Beach, our base to explore the northeast coast of Santo. Swimming at Champagne Beach, admiring the "little paradise of Port l'Orly" through the rain, swimming at the blue hole and of course plenty of spell smol and G & T's. However the highlight would have to be the superb trevaily caught by andrew during a mornings fishing excursion.

Back in town, the girls helped officiate a Hotel Santo Cup match at Unity Park. They also had the opportunity to make laplap, with a friend of mine. From purchasing the yams, island cabbage and other choice ingredients, preparation and cooking of the laplap (with a bit of basket weaving to pass the time). It was one of the best laplap that I've had!

On the final day I made sure to get Glenda a mother hubbard dress, which she wore without shame for the flight to Vila (I've subsequently donned an island dress on the odd occasion for work or events thanks to Glenda's inspiration).

Thanks for a great visit guys, it reminded me how much I love NZ!!