Nius blong Mitufala

That Which Only Peripherally Concerns Simon

I often use cute photos of Simon to spur a blog post, but Marissa's comment on my last post got me thinking.  While I don't particularly feel that my personal identity has been subsumed by my son, it would appear that way from this blog, wouldn't it?  (I know you didn't mean it that way, Marissa, don't worry!)

So, I thought I would innovate a bit and actually write a post without cute Simon photos or anecdotes - is that half of my readership I hear clicking off the blog?

 I have been giving a lot of thought to next steps in life.  (insert 15 minutes of Googling "evaluation development degree" and then a trip to the kitchen for another coffee)  As I mentioned in my previous post, AusAID offers to reimburse studies undertaken that directly relate to one's field of work.  I'm keen to remain in development for as long as possible.  I've given a lot of thought as to whether I want to remain in the health sector which would mean completing a public health certificate in the very least in order to obtain formal qualifications.  And the answer that I've come up with is... no.  I'm not so devoted to health development that I want to specialise.  I would be happy to remain in the health sector for the foreseable future, but definitely have specific interests in other areas (gender, law and justice, education). 

Back to the mental drawing board I went.  AusAID is excellent at providing career development opportunities for its staff and one such seminar offered to our office was on monitoring and evaluation (M& E) for development projects.  The speaker was frank - almost brutally so - and took us each through one of our programs to demonstrate just how flawed the M & E component was.   It didn't take a genius to see that it would be impossible to demonstrate better health outcomes for the people of Vanuatu using the current evaluation systems... and if you cannot demonstrate positive change in black and white, what is the point of aid?

And so...  I am in the process of searching for post-graduate qualifications in M&E.  I will most likely be doing this degree online at a certificate level initially and, if I successfully complete that without too much pain, might move on to a Masters.  I am giving serious thought to either Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra or Melbourne University.  I was also thrilled to be chosen as one of AusAID Vanuatu's M&E trainees which will mean specialised AusAID M&E courses throughout the year and most likely a trip or two to Jakarata, Indonesia to get a first-hand look at the AusAID program evaluation going on there.

This brings me back to the fact that Fred isn't particularly thrilled with his job right now.  He craves a larger working environment with formalised feedback systems.  Construction has been in a major slump here, only really sustained by overseas aid to the infrastructure sector.  Indeed, Fred's in the process of tendering for a large, rural solar project through the Ministry of Health (funded by AusAID - don't get me started about how we've managed to avoid a conflict of interest in this small town).  We're both still very happy living in Vanuatu and don't really have a clear idea of where we would move if we did leave.  However, I don't know how long Fred will be able to sustain enthusiasm for his current working situation... and we all know what happens when you begin to dread having to go to work.

So in the meantime, we physically busy ourselves with Simon-wrangling and new nakamal building.  Our old nakamal was beginning to rot, and so we've built a much more permanent structure.  It will be half-jungle gym for the boy and half jungle juice for us.  I have it on good authority that the roofing has arrived at our house today from its island origins, so pictures should follow soon!

 Alright, and if you made it this far, you deserve a rewards so...

  

 

Akiriki on the Lagoon

Depuis maintenant près de 18 mois, les gros chantiers se sont faits rares. Le dernier en date est le Leader Price et il ne présentait aucun challenge particulier. La crise est sur nous. Les investisseurs et les  ONG n ont plus d argent. Heureusement cela ne nous a pas empêché d’être occupé. Les dépannages, maintenance les petits projets en tout genre et les contrats avec Unelco nous ont donnés du travail.

For approximately the past 18 months, large constructions works have been rare.  The last one that we did was Leader Price (supermarket) and it didn't pose any major challenges.  The economic crisis is upon us.  Investors and NGOs don't have any more money.  Thankfully, this hasn't stopped us from being busy.  Repairs, maintenance, small projects of all sorts and contracts with Unelco (the electric monopoly in Vila) have kept us in work.

Fin 2009, CK, une agence de location, m a demandé de faire l étude électrique pour un très gros projet, Akiriki: phase 1, 45 appartements en 5 bâtiments, suivie de 2 autres phases avec le même nombre d appartement. Deux ans! Deux ans qu on en parle, que les photos sont affichées dans mon bureau. Mais là, depuis 1 mois, ce dossier a bien bougé et j attend le coup de téléphone pour signer le contrat.

At the end of 2009, CK, a rental agency, asked me to do an electrical study for a very large project, Akiriki:Phase 1, 45 apartments in 5 buildings, followed by 2 other phases with the same number of apartments.  Two years!  For two years we have been talking about this and photos of the project have been hanging in my office.  But in the past month, the project has finally kicked off and I'm waiting for the final call to come and sign the contract.

Le site est à Paray, à 200m du nakamal du Père Rodet sur le 1er lagon. Le premier bâtiment, la réception est en route, la dalle a été coulée cette semaine. Voila un beau projet !

The site is at Paray, 200km from Father Rodet's nakamal on the 1st Lagoon.  The first building is already under construction, the foundation having been laid this week.  Finally, a good project!

Malheureusement, c est très moche : sur 200 m de terrain en bord de lagon on va construire plus d une dizaine de bâtiment avec 3 ou 4 étages ! Les appartements seront a la location court et long terme, certains seront même des chambres d hôtel. Les pauvres clients, ils seront les uns sur les autres avec un petit bout de lagon visible du balcon.

Unfortunately, it's very ugly: on 200 meters of land bordering the lagoon we will construct more than 12 buildings with 3 to 4 floors.  The apartments will be short or long-term rentals, and some will even be hotel rooms.  The poor clients will be one on top of another with only a small bit of lagoon visible from their balconies.

En attendant, on a trouvé pire comme lieu de travail avec une superbe vue sur la presqu’île d’Erakor.

In the meantime, there have been worse work sites than this one with its excellent vue of the Erakor peninsula.

Aidworker Superstar

Part of my work with AusAID (Australian Agency for International Development) is attending opening ceremonies of Aid Posts and Health Centres in remote areas.  AusAID partners with the Vanuatu Ministry of Health and, in this case, Save the Children Australia to deliver primary health care to remote areas in Vanuatu. 

It is always a pleasure, though a bit surreal to attend these ceremonies.  We generally swoop in, give speeches, hand out treats and then swoop out without really ever taking the time to get to know the communities.  I realise, however, that these "Angelina Joli smiles with small African child in her arms" moments are necessary for both agency representation and the village.  The Australian taxpayer, through Parliamentary mechanisms, supplies our aid budget and these photo ops provide the proof needed for Parliamentarians and the public to see that at least some of their money is being spent in an  appropriate manner.  In addition, the communities (as a general rule) are thrilled to have visiting dignitaries and openings provide the opportunity to bring Ministry of Health officials to the site - a rare occurance for the village to air difficulties and ask for assistance.  It's also an excellent excuse for a party.  ;)

The ceremony for the opening of the Jairaland Aid Post was no different.  We flew up to the north of Vanuatu and took a 2 hour truck ride to South Santo over rutted roads and swollen rivers.  Upon arriving at the village of more than 2000 people, we were greeted by dancers and hundreds of families on mats around the newly built Aid Post. 

Speeches ensued and I am pleased to say that mine was by far the shortest.  A huge feast was had and the kids gorged themselves on cake, cookies and laplap.  When I sat down to eat, I noticed that the child sitting next to me had a huge, infected sore.  I coaxed him to come into the new Aid Post with me and was pleased to see that the Aid Worker did an excellent job of cleaning the wound, dressing it and providing antibiotics for the infection.  The boy was about 8 years old and didn't even flinch while the wound was being cleaned - an amazing demonstration of bravery and stoicism.  It was great to see some care in action.

Working Mom

I am now officially a working mom... CUE MOMMY GUILT.  I suspect that this is something that never ends and will only increase as Simon becomes cognisant of the fact that I am leaving him every morning.  My guilt is currently somewhat assuaged by the fact that I am only working four days a week until the end of the year (thank you Socialist Australian Government with 6 weeks of leave per year!).  I also have those 2 hour lunch breaks accorded to everyone in Vanuatu (thank you French Colonial influence!).  So at least I get to see Simon more than I would if I were just about anywhere else in the world.

Simon is growing and changing.  Here are a few of the latest photos (to see more, check in the Simon photo album):

 Simon at 11 weeks - taking things very seriously (his hands are constantly in fists these days!)

 
One of Simon's more spectacular vomits.  He's a vomiting monster some days and then others... nothing.  Go figure.

 
Simon discovers that he has feet!

The Perfect Storm

For the most part, I love living in Vanuatu.  Admittedly, it's difficult be so far away from American and French friends and family.  It's painful to spend our whole year's savings on one trip a year and not to have anything left over for a vacation in the middle of the year.  It's annoying when it rains for six weeks straight and the sheets develop mold spores sometime in between the moment you roll out of bed in the morning and slip into it at night.  It's vexatious when you're kept up at night because of barking dogs or a bad shell of kava.  It's frustrating when you are sick, yet again, with a stomach bug.

However, the positive aspects of living here far outweigh the negative aspects.  Fred and I have an inordinate amount of time to spend together.  We can afford a house near the ocean, near town and with a large garden.  Life is ruled and regimented here as it can be elsewhere and this brings a certain amount of freedom that we do not take for granted.  We can spend weekends on sail boats, diving, or just admiring the hibiscus.  We have a tight-knit group of friends and appreciate the music of the nakamal.

I must admit, however, that because of this rather idyllic life-style and our busy professional schedules, we're often insulated from the fact that Vanuatu is, indeed, a developing country.  We've gotten used to the myriad little frustrations of semi-functioning administration and are generally able to remain patient.  We bump and jump along poorly maintained roads and only occasionally get fed up.  We don't really see the trash littering the side of the road and we (ok, I) revel in the chase for quality homeware and clothing.  As volunteers, Fred and I were daily confronted with the lack of proper health care and infrastructure (electricity, running water, etc.) available to the vast majority of ni-Vanuatu.  Now, because of our long days in the office and weekends spent at home or out and about, we aren't confronted with that reality as much as we were before.  It's a bit sobering to realise that we've become quintessential but not quite stereotypical (I still like to think that we're a bit more culturally sensitive and aware than you're average bear) expatriates.

My new office is located in the Australian High Commission to Vanuatu.  This is a bunker-like building built to international Embassy standards - bomb-proof, earthquake-proof, cyclone-proof, etc.  This also means that the windows are triple-paned and hermetically sealed.  It also means that I work in a corporate bubble (good thing I like the work and the colleagues!) and occasionally forget that I'm not in Australia. Last Friday, however, the fact that I am living in a developing country was hit home with vigor. 

One part of my job is administering health contractors.  For example, the Vanuatu Ministry of Health might ask AusAID to sponsor an Australian Orthopaedic Surgeon at the hospital for one year.  I am in charge of drawing up the recruited doctor's contract and making sure (s)he is paid on time.  This includes uploading a scanned copy of the signed contract into our online contracting database.  If this is not done, the contractor cannot be paid.  Friday, I checked in our system to see if two contractors had been paid. They had not and so I contacted finance.  Finance told me that I needed to upload the relevant contracts.  I told them that I had.  They told me that the documents were complete blanks.  When I opened them, I saw that they indeed were!  Our scanner (already possessed by a demon) was broken.  I explained the problem and they asked that I fax them the contracts.  I tried to fax them but all international phone lines were down.  I then secured funds to have the professionally scanned at a copy shop in town but the final result was over 8MG!  When I was finally able to zip them down to an appropriate size, the online system wasn't working because our internet had gone down.  Sigh. 

Needless to say, I was at the nakamal early that evening.

Only in Vanuatu - Vous avez vu une tenue Vaté?

Cela faisait une semaine qu’Antoine entendait dire qu’une personne avec une tenue de Vaté Electrics se baladait du coté de Black Sand. Samedi matin il a décidé de résoudre cette énigme car il ne veut pas qu’une personne ne travaillant pas à Vaté Electrics porte la tenue de l’entreprise.

A 7h15, une fois que tous les gars sont arrivés, il a fait une petite réunion pour savoir si quelqu’un savait qui s’était. Et là miracle de Port Vila en 5 minutes, nous savions qu’il était plutôt costaud (c’est à dire gros), qu’il habitait Black Sand et qu’on le voyait très souvent au BP warf, près du Sebel. A croire que tous les ouvriers le connaissaient personnellement.

A 7h30, en allant déposer les gars, nous décidons de passer par le BP Warf, puisque Simon (un collègue) y avait vu les couleurs de Vaté le matin même. Je conduis le camion et j’ai 5 ouvriers derrière. On passe en face du Warf et effectivement un mec est assis avec le T shirt de Vaté sur le dos. Trois ouvriers et moi descendons de la voiture et nous nous approchons du gars. Il reste tranquillement assis par terre. Je n’arrive pas à croire qu’il n’ait pas compris.

Je m’approche et je lui demande de rendre le T shirt. Sans broncher il l’enlève, me le tend et je reviens sur mes pas. Sauf que les ouvriers sont restés derrière et y en a un plus nerveux que les autres qui l’accusent d’être un voleur. Une petite baston à 7h30 en plein centre ville, ca te dit Fred ? Et bien pas des masses. Je reviens en arrière et explique tranquillement (en apparence) qu’on ne veut pas qu’un maillot de Vaté se ballade en ville. La personne comprend et m’écoute parce que je lui parle correctement (c’est ce qu’elle dit), mais elle en veut à l’ouvrier qui lui l’accusait de vol. Pas bon pas bon.

Sentant peut être que l’avantage n’était pas de notre côté, l’ouvrier s’excuse et nous repartons avec la veste. Comment elle est arrivée là me direz vous ? Et bien, le mec qui faisait la sécurité au Rossi (un chantier que nous avons en cours) à piqué la veste des ouvriers qui se changeait sur place et l’a ramené chez lui pour la donner à son cousin.

Vila Change

Et voila encore une contribution de Vaté Electrics au paysage du centre ville de Port Vila. Le bâtiment de boutiques (au rez de chaussé) et de bureau (à l’étage) pompeusement baptisé Ocean Walk est en voie de finition.

Pour ceux qui connaissent le centre ville ce bâtiment est en face du El Geygo près du Rossi Restaurant. Il y avait avant Air Calin et quelques boutiques de vêtements. Mais l’endroit faisait délabré et avait bien besoin d’un bon coup de neuf.

Les rez de chaussé est prévu pour 7 boutiques, mais certains locataire en prennent plusieurs. Dans la 1^ère côté rue, c’est Paris Shopping qui va s’installer. Ils ont déjà une boutique en face de l’ambassade de France et je ne sais pas si c’est une boutique supplémentaire ou si celle la va remplacer l’autre. Ensuite, on a une boutique de pêche. C’est le mec qui tenait Pactech qui s’installe ici, mais uniquement pour la pêche, pas de matériel informatique. Les 3 boutiques suivantes vont être une pharmacie Drug Store et un magazin de décoration et au niveau de la mezzanine, ils veulent faire venir des médecins de Nouméa de temps en temps. Enfin les 2 dernières, côté mer, seront pour une boutique de vêtements.

A l’étage, des bureaux sont prévus, mais rien n’est loué encore. Le luxe de ce bâtiment, c’est la terrasse côté mer : elle ne doit pas faire loin de 15 ou 20 m de long. En plein centre ville au prix du mètre carré, cela ressemble un peu a du gâchis. L’architecte a fait du bon boulot en mélangeant le bois, le métal et le béton. Le plafond dans les boutiques sont très hauts (6 mètres) et les locataires ont possibilité de mettre une mezzanine. Tous les bâtiments : la Bred, l’ancien restaurant Rossi et Ocean Walk sont tous les 3 faits dans les mêmes matériaux : boutiques, restaurant, salon de coiffure, banque, pas de doute que le parking va vite se trouver saturer.

Finally Got a (small) Piece of the Pie

I just spent a significant amount of time writing this post when I should have been working to get an even bigger piece of the pie.  However, Typepad is testing a new publication interface and being the sucker for new technology that I am, I signed up to test it.  Hence, the loss of my last post and the inability to easily insert images into my posts for the time being.  I am assured that these problems are being worked on.  Unfortunately for you, though, this means that you will get an abridged version of the previous post where I described in detail what I do for a living (you probably didn't want to read it anyway).

A brief description for those of you who don't know what I do or who have never really understood it.  I solicit, design and deliver training on the different legal databases that the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII - www.paclii.org) maintains.  PacLII collects judgments and laws from 20 different Pacific countries and puts them online.  Essentially, I write materials and deliver training that enables database users to better search and find what they need online.

I have also been busy designing and maintaining the Pacific Legal Gateway ( www.paclii.org/gateway ).  This is a website available through PacLII that assembles pertinent online Pacific legal research tools in one place.  In addition, it provides free subscription for Pacific public lawyers and judiciary to expensive legal databases like Westlaw.  I spend a lot of my time negotiating funding for this and working on the design of the site as well as training.

My first six months at PacLII were frought with insecurity because, as is often the way in the Pacific, I didn't have a clear job description and our then Director was often off sick.  It took me quite a while to find my niche but ever since then I have really given my heart to my work.  I enjoy that I am working for a great cause that many people in the legal profession find useful.

Yesterday, I was informed that this hard work had paid off in the form of a 10% raise!  Yeah!  It's always nice to feel like your daily grind isn't going unnoticed.

Salon des métiers

Je vais avoir l'occasion de revoir certaines élèves : le salon des métiers 2008 à lieu mercredi 16 avril. Ce salon ressemble plus a une chasse aux bourses : les principaux bailleurs de fonds sont là (ambassades de France, d'Australie ...) et les élèves vont de l'un à l'autre avec l'espoir de décrocher LA bourse.

Cette année, je ne vais pas y aller en tant qu'enseignant mais bien en tant que professionnel. Antoine n'était pas très motivé, mais je lui ai proposé d'y aller avec un des gars pour présenter Vaté et surtout parler avec les étudiants de l'INTV (Institut de technologie, c'est un iveau BEP) du département électricité.

Pas de chance, il n'y a aucune chance qu'on embauche du monde, mais on est prêt à prendre des stagiaires, si pour faire les boulots de merde c'est pratique... Au delà de cela, je pense que c'est important d'être sur ce salon, ca nous fera un peu de pub et on pourra renseigner les étudiants.

Attention quand je dis salon, n'ayez pas en tête les Salons qui ont lieu Porte de Versailles, le notre il a lieu dans les jardins de l'AUF, c'est... plus petit.

News Pictures // Nouvelles photos

We went around the island yesterday even if the weather was really bad : some pictures are int Friends and Fun . Kendra was sick and she staied in the bed, sorry...

Nous avons fait le tour de l'île hier malgré un temps horrible : les photos sont dans Friends and Fun. Kendra était malade et est restée au lit, sorry ...