Today we decided to do something different. Being a Sunday, we attended the service at the local village church. The predominant religion in Fiji is Methodist, so it was no surprise then that the denomination of this village church was indeed Methodist. Having the pastor deliver the service in her barefeet while wearing her robes though, left us in no doubt that we were on a South Pacific island.
The resort arranged transportation for ourselves and a host of their other guests, which took us to the southwestern side of Malolo Lailai Island, where the village is located. The little church itself was on top of the hill overlooking the turquoise waters towards Momi Bay on Viti Levu Island. The original church was destroyed by one of the worst tropical cyclones to hit Fiji, Oscar, in 1983, so it was rebuilt with the interior of the roof weaved entirely from coconut palm leaves. While the building itself was very basic, the ceiling / roof was defi nitely its feature. Unique and beautiful!
We also learnt that the lantern burning at the front of the church has been lit continously for just over two years and will stay lit until 1st March 2018, as a reminder of the pledge that the villagers have made to give up "kava", alcohol and tobacco. What we found interesting about this is that, although "kava" is an integral part of the Fijian culture, this village had pledged to give it up.
What was more interesting, was the fact that many of the villages on the resort islands are actually "employee" villages, comprising Fijian's from all over Fiji that come to work in the resorts. Part of their employment conditions is that they have to reside in these villages and are then transported back to their "native" villages to spend their days off. The number of days that they get off depend on the shift they are allocated, which is also dependent on the role that they perform at the resort. For example, six days on and one day off or nine days on and three dsys off or twenty-one days on and five days off. Although the villagers are away from their families during their stay in the "employee" village, these are fully functioning villages, with the village church, traditional cooking, gardening etc. So, all the boats we've seen ferrying people back and forth to the various islands every day are not, in fact, ferrying workers to and from work every day, but rather getting villagers to and from their "native" villages at the start and end of their days off.
Although we already think that the Fijian people are amongst the friendliest and most welcoming we have met throughout all of our sailing adventures, we definitely have a higher regard for them now, considering what they give up in order to work and cater to guests in the resorts.
We also received an official welcome to the Malolo village, which is traditional in Fiji. However, in this instance, it was not a "sevusevu" ceremony due to the villagers giving up "kava", but rather an elder from the village addressing us during the church service.
Feeling enlightened by our experience this morning, we dinghied out to the sandbar for some snorkeling this afternoon before returning to Paw Paw for what we thought was going to be a lazy evening aboard. Then Georgia (Chris and Paul) and their visitors stopped by to invite us ashore for drinks at the MCYC Island Bar. Needless to say, we didn't have to be asked twice and enjoyed another round of sundowners as the sun dropped below the horizon.
