Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Yes. Try and write a blog about that. As the on-island blogaddict, I promised to give
it a go, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. The blog never made it online.
In the meanwhile I have been to New Zealand, Australia, and back to New Zealand,
but the things that were said in the forum stayed on my mind
So here is the blog that never was and never really will be finished. Because there
is no way to explain what Tribewanted is in just a couple of words. It’s so very
personal what you get out of your experience, but I tried to bring everything that
was said together. To make a little bottle of Vorovoro for you to take home and look
at. To think about and maybe to help you share your thoughts with other people.
Tribewanted really needs the word of mouth, so if you’ve been on the island, tell the
world! Comments on this blog are very much appreciated
Vina’a Va’a Levu!
What it is that we do
Each person that visits Vorovoro arrives with a different view on the project. About
how they want to get involved, how much they want to get into the Fijian culture
and what kind of projects they want to help out with. Some people arrive without
knowing much - or even anything at all about Tribewanted and develop their
We all agreed on the fact that Vorovoro may hardens the feet, but softens the heart
and that there are not enough places like this left in the world. But what do we want
this project to really be? Is it enough to just be ‘a happy place’? Where do we want to
As a reaction on one of the previous Forum meetings, someone from the online
community wrote that with changing the date to 2007, all the things we discussed
could have already been done by now.
We agreed with that on some points. The project has been running two and a half
years now, and we are for example still working on a good way to store water for the
dry season.
As Ben (the sustainability manager) said: ‘We have enough signs now, but we still
don’t have water. So are we really that successful?’. Another point raised was the fact
that still most of our food comes from outside the island, we still aren’t 100% self-
sufficient at the moment.
Shouldn’t we be that by now?
something you do from 9 to 5 and after which you go home. Working happens at
(or very close to) home, with friends and family, all day, every day, and not always in
the speed we are used to.
Take the time you’re used to back home and multiply it by 3, then you have an idea
what ‘Fiji Time’ is, I’d say. But my question is then: ‘Does time really matter?’. Being
in harmony with nature, ourselves and each other is - for me - so much more worth
than having a building finished in a week rather than a month. I really believe that
being successful in happiness is the key to being successful in your work and that
we cannot finish great projects unless we are truly happy about where and who we
are at this moment. The inside comes first, then you can make a change.
Someone mentioned in the on-island
discussion that if you look into the past,
you’d see that excessive growth only leads
to destruction. That complete ancient
civilizations have disappeared due to
growth. We can live quite comfortable now
on Vorovoro, still have things to improve for
the future, but it comes as it comes. And for
me, I think that is fast enough.
How do you strengthen the relationship between happiness,
sustainability and growth?
Why we do what we do
One of the tribe members took us back to the ‘real world’ for a bit, to bring up the
issue of money. Being romantic about this place is very easy, but we all know that
everything has a prize, even in Fiji. That money has to come from somewhere.
At the moment of the forum, we had 9 tribe members on the island. To not lose
money, we need 20. The people that work within Tribewanted need to be paid, the
land needs to be paid. The materials we use, the food we eat and the boats we drive
cost money. If we don’t make enough money out of people coming here, what will
be the next step? He thought that maybe the prize of staying on the island would
raise. Not saying that it would, but he asked the rest of the tribe: ‘how much are you
willing to pay to stay on Vorovoro?’, or even more important: ‘What is paying (more)
money to stay here worth to people that have never been here before?’. In short:
how do we explain to people what the project is really about?
Our brainstorm session wasn’t finished, but at this point we had to stop and
welcome the new arrivals that just came in. But how much more could we have
talked about it? I still believe that the true Voro-feeling isn’t something you can ever
explain fully. But the experience itself is something you can share a great deal with
others in pictures, videos and a lot of wonderful stories.
I’ll leave you with a little story that for me personally is the example of my life on
Vorovoro. I think everyone has a moment when they truly enjoyed being on the
island. A moment that doesn’t seem like much, but every time you think of it, you
start smiling. I guess that’s when you know that Vorovoro is in your heart.
Here is mine:
One day, I was strolling with Jenni (Dec. Chief ) to the Fijian village. We were in
sulu’s, barefoot and during our walk we just talked and laughed, not much on our
mind. It was a really hot day and we walked in a slow pace, loosely kicking the sand
from under our feet. We didn’t have the energy to go any faster. It was eleven in
the morning. At one point we stopped, looked at each other and just laughed out
loud. ‘Why are we so slow?’, Jenni asked. ‘Because we’ve been here a long time’, I
answered. ‘It’s not slow, we’re just in no hurry, how great is that? We walk like Fijians
now’
What’s your favourite Vorovoro moment? ??
Thanks for reading,
x Nienke
About Tribewanted:
Tribewanted is a unique community tourism project based on Vorovoro Island, Fiji. Tribe
members join online before spending upwards of one week on Vorovoro living as part
of a Fijian and global community. You can do as much as you like on Vorovoro from
collecting firewood to spearfishing to learning the local dance. “If there’s one thing you
do in life, make sure its Tribewanted” Lisa Niari