GLOBAL VISION INTERNATIONAL
tag endangered hawksbill turtles
MOSO ISLAND, VANUATU
Nature sure knows how to bring a tear to a girl’s eye.
—Jen Whitney, Global Vision volunteer
100 If you’re traveling to the Republic of Vanuatu (van-wah-TOO), you’d better learn this word: nambawan. It’s a Pidgin phrase that roughly translates to something like: “It doesn’t get much better than this.” People say nambawan a lot here.
Once known as the New Hebrides, Vanuatu is made up of 83 steep-sloped islands with volcanoes to climb, rain forests to explore, and unique cultures to experience. People here lead a relaxed existence.
The New Economics Foundation and Friends of the Earth, in fact, voted Vanuatu the “happiest place on Earth” in 2006. Happy though citizens here may be, a great percentage of them cannot read. That’s why Wan Smolbag Theatre (WST), an innovative, participatory theater company, communicates with the island’s many villagers through plays and dramatic theater productions. In 1995, during the South Pacific’s “Year of the Turtle,” a WST troupe traveled from village to village collecting stories about the hawksbill and green turtles that breed and nest nearby.
SEE IT HERE FIRST
This project takes place on the island of Moso, the same island where “tribes” from the ninth season of the reality show Survivor vied for the million-dollar prize. If getting anywhere near an island chosen by Survivor is on your “to avoid at all costs” list, you can also see the hawksbill turtle (or at least its likeness) on the reserve side of either the Venezuelan bolivar or the Brazilian reals. There’s also a fountain sculpture of a boy riding a hawksbill in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The message from the play that resulted from those stories came back loud and clear. The villages didn’t need pamphlets, books, or wildlife do-gooders to tell them that their turtles were in grave danger. Many Vanuatu villages immediately imposed bans on killing and eating turtles and their eggs. Most villages also appointed a monitor who could keep an eye on nesting turtles and educate others. Once a year, in fact, this network of 200 monitors from all six provinces of Vanuatu meet on the island of Efate, home of the capital city Port Vila, to share data, updates, and new ideas for saving their at-risk sea turtles. They call themselves Vanua-Tai (Of Land and Sea) Natural Resource Monitors.
TAKE A FLYING LEAP
Jumping off 90-foot-high platforms might sound a little extreme—especially when it’s done just to ensure a successful yam harvest—but to the tribesmen of Vanuatu’s Pentecost Island, it’s a sacred ritual that’s been taking place for hundreds of years.
Each April and May, before the harvest begins, the men from the villages of Bunlap, Lano, Wali, and Wori build elaborate towers, tie vines to their ankles, and hurl themselves from platforms that are specially designed to collapse when they near the bottom. Using nothing but tree branches and vines (nails and wire are taboo), the men spend weeks building a nine-story, vegetal masterpiece.
While each diver is responsible for selecting his own vine (remember it’s got to be strong enough to support the weight of a 180-pound man), a tribe elder usually selects the length. When you figure that a difference of five inches on a hundred-foot vine can mean the difference between life and death, it’s incredible that the vines are hacked off without aid of a measuring tape.
While this daring ritual is done today to insure a successful yam harvest, it originated hundreds of years ago when a clever woman, desperate to escape a bad situation, lured her abusive husband into a banyan tree. According to tribal legend, she dared him to follow and then jumped. When she landed safely on the ground below, her husband declared it a miracle, took a deep breath, and leapt from the same tree. Only when the young woman was sure he was dead did she untie the vines from her ankles and walk back to the village, finally free.
Interestingly enough, women are strictly prohibited from taking part in the land dives today. In fact, females aren’t allowed within 20 feet of the platforms.
For many years, this spectacular ritual was private, open only to members of the respective villages. A couple years ago, the tribal chiefs decided to open it to the public in hopes of attracting tourism dollars.
Each Saturday in April and May at about 10 a.m., the symbolic ritual begins. It includes 16 jumps. One by one, the divers climb to their appointed places on the tower. First, the 8-and 9-year-olds jump. Even though the youngsters only leap 20 or 30 feet, they sometimes require a little push. Each jump gets progressively higher and more difficult as the age of the participants increases.
Finally about 2 or 3 that afternoon, the grand finale begins. The chosen man climbs to the top, wearing nothing but a namba (that’s Melanesian for “penis sheath”). The women, wearing grass skirts, clap, whistle, and sing. When the diver raises his hand, the crowd falls silent. The diver begins to speak, usually giving a short monologue on a personal or family matter that’s been bothering him. Then he plucks a feather from his belt and lets it drop, so it floats slowly to the ground. He claps his hands several times above his head, shouts, and makes the courageous leap.
Hawksbill turtles have been on the endangered species list since 1970. Even though most Vanuatu villages have vowed to no longer kill turtles or eat their eggs, hawksbills that feed and nest in this region face many other well-documented obstacles to their survival. Not only must they evade such predators as mud crabs, birds, and sharks, but global climate change is killing off the island’s coral reefs, which are basically the hawksbill’s dinner plate.
In 2006, Global Vision International (GVI), a nonprofit that recruits volunteers for 150 projects in 30 countries, stepped in to help. Volunteers from around the world fly to Vanuatu each month to help the island’s dedicated turtle monitors collect data, tag turtles, and monitor their nesting grounds.
One village that became involved in this effort, Tasiriki, is located on the shores of Moso Island, home to a nationally significant nesting beach and foraging grounds for hawksbill turtles. The people of Tasiriki were concerned about the turtles, but also concerned that they could not devote the necessary time to the nesting beach survey effort. So WSB contacted GVI about the possibility of setting up the survey as an international volunteer project. Today, the villagers, WSB, and GVI work together to provide keep the project running.
While the labor that volunteers provide is valuable, that’s not their only contribution to Tasiriki. The fees that volunteers pay provide a small income to many people in the village that would otherwise not have one. These fees also pay for the project manager, the turtle guides that work with the volunteers on the beach, and the local women who take care of the bungalows and cook for the volunteers. In addition to the income the project provides, it has increased the villagers’ interest in learning more about their turtles neighbors and ensuring they are still here for future generations.
As a volunteer on this GVI project, you’ll walk the beaches, count nests, and conduct nesting surveys. Depending on the time of year, your job may vary. In September and October, for example, you’ll conduct reef surveys, clear forest track, or mark out marine conservation areas. During November through March, you’ll likely spend evenings at the nesting beach (expect an hour-long hike from the village), where you’ll collect data and help the vulnerable one-inch hatchlings make it safely to the sea. Other jobs might be teaching at the village school, working in the gardens, collecting dried coral, or assisting with meals.
You’ll be welcomed with open arms by the Tasiriki community, who will ply you with meals from their gardens, teach you to weave, and throw grand galas in your honor. You’ll likely be given your own nickname. One volunteer was called Leiwia (it means “good woman”) and another was called Leisalewia (“woman who comes from across the sea”). The Tasiriki String Band, that plays at the goodbye party, has even been known to write a song about about each individual volunteer.
There’s nothing fancy about the two-bed bush bungalows where you’ll stay. There are two bucket flush toilets and two huts for bucket showers. The newest addition is a dining hall/common room that provides the volunteers with a spot to gather for meals as well as a place to relax on rainy days. A four-week volunteer stint, including meals and accommodations, runs $2,320.
HOW TO GET IN TOUCH
Global Vision International, 252 Newbury Street, Number 4, Boston, MA 02116, 888-653-6028, www.gvi.co.usa.com.