Christmas letter 2014

Greetings to you from Peceli, Wendy, George, Bale, Epa, Jordan, Andrew, Big Andrew, and household.  

We are reminded of Christ’s birth with the carols, messages, decorations and the huge conical tree in Geelong that lights up the sky in the night. Let us honour and pray for one another, for miracles in our world  today and may this message of good will give peace to you.  Our compound,  now called Vatuadova Kisi  often has a dozen or more people living here with visitors, the extended family, and friends of our teenagers and even  the touch rugby gang rock up.  There’s kava flowing several nights a week.  Relatives from Sydney have been staying in Andrew’s bungalow and Andrew’s new house went up early in the year. Next year Linlay will start school at Form 2 at Geelong High School. Jordan finished Year 12 and Andrew Year 10. Jordan recently had  surgery  to take out the plate and rod in his leg, and he is recovering well. Earlier in the year Peceli and the  two Andrews went to Fiji for the funeral of Peceli’s brother Dakai. Health continues to be an issue for us oldies with pills and checkups. The young ones in the family play tennis summer and winter for East Geelong Uniting – the club that lost their clubroom and courts with the Uniting Church kerfuffle, but have relocated to Breakwater.  Peceli and I often go for drives and simple picnics to enjoy the beauty of the Bellarine Peninsular.

Church news – Peceli continues his relationship with Altona Meadows/Laverton and I still play music at East Geelong and talk too much at council meetings. The members of South Geelong who lost their church  have joined out church at East which is doing well with community service – donating a vehicle to the Women’s Crisis Centre in Tonga and  setting up the teaching of stringed instruments at a local school.  We will have a second minister coming early next year which is a bonus. Rev Ikani continues to be an inspirational leader of our faith community.

Community news – Geelong has problems re unemployment with places like Alcoa, Ford and others sending staff off or even closing down.  Despite the enthusiasm of our new Mayor for tinsel and glitter, there’s a lot of pain out there.  However there is  much volunteer activity going on such as free meals at Christ Church, and care by Diversitat and others for the refugees coming into our community who are not allowed to work. We continue to help at Donation  in Kind  though  interest in Rotary is waning. Geelong continues however to be a place that we love to reside in.

Loloma and  best wishes for the Christmas and New Year season.

Wendy and  Peceli Ratawa.          December 10 2015

gift to Tonga from Geelong

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Our East Geelong Uniting church in Australia congregation were happy to donate this vehicle to the women and children Crisis Centre in Nukualofa. Our minister Rev Ikani Vaitohi, Moana and children, John Birrell and Annette Colgrave went over to Tonga for handing over. We are delighted to have a relationship with you all in Nukualofa. I was in Tonga last year and loved the place and people. My daughter-in-law is a doctor there.

A song about a bush boy from babasiga

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A song in Hindi about a Labasa boy and a Suva city girl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8NzUSvaPTk&list=PLedsN0Q3i2CPH76zRWrBGWQFgQY2bUMFW

AATI KYA LABASA PART TWO Fiji Bollywood Style

Bible verses in context

from w
From the Fiji media:

Bible study to address violence against women

By DAWN GIBSON
Thursday, December 04, 2014

Update: 12:51PM REPRESENTATIVES from numerous different religious denominations gathered at the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Suva this morning to mark 16 Days of Activism through an interactive ecumenical Bible study.

The participants are going through the Ephesians 5 verse, which reads that a woman must submit herself to her husband in marriage and the discussions today are putting that statement into biblical context with the aim of highlighting the importance of protecting women from violence. Leading the discussions is Dr Holger Szesnat who is a teacher at the Pacific Theological College.

I wonder what they make of that verse - 'a woman must submit herself to her husband in marriage' because if it's taken literally it means - just take whatever comes - and that could mean violence.  I expect Dr Szesnat is going to subvert that verse in some way to uphold the dignity of women.  Actually it's the other way round for some Macuata people - the ;women are strong and boss their husbands!

Youth camp at Davuilevu

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Over the years Davuilevu has hosted annual youth camps, this time using the facilities of Lelean Memorial School now that the school year has finished in Fiji for 2014.  This time the camp includes young people from Samoa and Tonga and is also ecumenical and not just Methodist.  It looks like they are all having a good time. More photos on facebook group of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma.  I remember the Keba Levu ni Mataveilomani - from years and years ago and it was a highlight of the year even then.

Vinaka Tupou

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Good to see that one new parliamentarian is not nervous about speaking about sensitive issues such as the huge allocation of money in the budget for the military.  Vinaka Tupou.

Military funding better used elsewhere: Draunidalo December 02, 2014

Shadow Minister for Immigration, National Security and Defence, Tupou Draunidalo has questioned the need to allocate close to $200million to the military in the 2015 Budget, saying it will be better used to improve the livelihood of Fijians. She described the allocation as "unnecessary funding" and one that will "encourage them to believe that they are the final arbiters of fact and issues in national public life – that they know much better than the other Fijians, including all of us who speak through the ballot box.”

Draunidalo suggested the funding will be better utilised on "building more and better schools and hospitals, wages and     salaries for government nurses, teachers, doctors and all of the other civil servants, village nurses and turaga-ni-koro who perform important functions for the State". She said it could also be be used to reduce the country's debt that Fiji’s children and grandchildren will inherit and have to pay, or that it is diverted for job creation for the young people looking for jobs, health care equipment at hospitals, and give more funding for scholarships to young people. “Couldn’t we use all of the money diverted to the military to train our people inside and outside of the military for far better employment that does not include coup making or peacekeeping for the moral free zone which is the United Nations?”

Draunidalo said she does not take lightly her task on her views on the matter of national security and defence but one she does with a lot of love for the institutions, the country and all the people of Fiji.  Looking at past year’s budgets, Draunidalo said that the actual total expenditure for the Royal Fiji Military Forces for 1986 was  $16,518,000.60. 

   

   “In looking to learn from the past Madam Speaker, allow me to touch on the cost of coups  and the  steady “mission  creep” of military spending to emphasise the point  of past journey's and pathways. It is also the context in which the  2015 Budget, particularly military spending sits.” Draunidalo said. She said since 1986, the pre-coup year to the post coup years, military spending has continued to thrive. “By 2001, the year after 2000 coup, the RFMF's actual total expenditure was $79,346,000.50. 

   

 “By 2007, a year after the 2006 coup, the RFMF's actual total expenditure had catapulted into the $100m mark and total  actual expenditure was  pegged at $126,285,000.10. Draunidalo says what is more concerning about the allocation is the estimated cost is not presented as per the norm under one Head, but have been spread out across several Heads.   

  “The intent perhaps to hide the glaring burden on the nation’s coffers,” she said.

Draunidalo says her comments is a contribution to assist in moving the country forward. “I am confident that many men and women serving in our military will agree with having the hard discussion – as they too would appreciate up-skilling and alternative employment, they too use our government services and  they too have children and families who use public schools and young people in their families who expect and  want much better employment and other opportunities that the government can create the environment for– if only it had the extra few billions that coups have cost us – so too the hundreds of millions diverted to unnecessary military spending.”

By Vuniwaqa Bola-Bari 

Read more at: http://fijilive.com/news/2014/12/military-funding-better-used-elsewhere-draunidalo/59875.Fijilive

Copyright 2014 © Fijilive.com

James Bhagwan on ABC radio

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Last night I was interested to listen to Fiji's James Bhagwan being interviewed by John Cleary on the ABC Sunday night religious program. Rev James was articulate and spoke of the arrival of the vaka from the Pacific Islands for a conference on conservation. He was also asked about the Methodist Church in Fiji and James spoke clearly about recent history.  Go to this website and the interview can be downloaded. http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s4139163.htm

THE INTERVIEW: REV. JAMES BHAGWAN

Sunday, November 30, 2014 

Related Audio:

The Interview: Rev. James Bhagwan

Download as MP3

Pacific Island nations recently highlighted their concerns about conservation and climate change at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney.

Leaders such as the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, made a spectacular entrance to Sydney Harbour on 12 November 2014, sailing up Sydney Harbour in four massive Pacific voyaging canoes and docking at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour.

The Mua Voyagers travelled to Sydney from as far away as the Cook Islands, entirely under sail and navigating by the stars, as an example of the way people can still live in harmony with nature.

Rev. James Bhagwan is the Methodist Church in Fiji's Secretary for Communication and Overseas Mission and the chaplain to the voyagers.

He spoke to John Cleary about the voyage and the climate reality faced by the people of the Pacific.

Rev. Bhagwan also discussed the current political climate in Fiji, where the majority Methodist Church has endured a rocky relationship with the country's former military regime.

Proposed technical school in Labasa

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This does sound like a good idea.  Some of the courses undertaken at Fiji High Schools are not as practical or suitable as technical schools, so it's good to hear that one is proposed for Labasa.  From the Fiji media:

Proposed technical college

Luke Rawalai And Salaseini Moceiwai
Friday, November 28, 2014

LABASA Arya College will be converted into one of the first three technical colleges in the country next year.

This was revealed by the Minister of Education Dr Mahendra Reddy during his tour of the college in Labasa on Wednesday.

He said this was in line with the ministry's reforms to develop more technical colleges in the country.

"The technical colleges will enable students who want to do skilled work like electrical engineering, mechanical works, short cooking classes," Dr Reddy said.

"After completing these two-year courses in these colleges, the students can then pursue their diplomas at the Fiji National University.

"These programs will suit school dropouts well who can use these opportunities to look for skilled works."

Seasonl workers to New Zealand

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Only thirty people to go to New Zealand as seasonal workers, and the training will cost half a million dollars!  What kind of training is that!  FORES is certainly going to make a huge packet out of this.

FORES to select for NZ seasonal work November 24, 2014 03:30:03 

 Fiji's Foreign Employment Service (FORES) will select and prepare the 30 workers to participate in the first phase under the New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Scheme. A sum of $520,150 has been provided to the FORES to facilitate the training of these workers as well as others expected to take up seasonal work in New Zealand and Australia later in the year. 

Finance Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said about 3000 Fijians are expected to be trained under this programme. Employment Ministry Permanent Secretary Taito Waqa had said in an interview earlier the training of workers is part of efforts to ensure and maintain quality in exports including in labour. It is likely government will also consider those registered with the National Employment Centre (NEC), when selecting those to take up the seasonal work programme. 

NEC has been provided $1million in the 2015 Budget to help unemployed Fijians find jobs, both locally and overseas, that will allow them to support themselves and their families. NEC focuses on providing skills training that makes unemployed persons, retirees, and volunteers more competitive in both local and overseas employment markets. It also offers placement services. 

Meanwhile, seasonal work for the 30 workers in New Zealand starts in February next year. They will work in Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty and Nelson. An agreement will be signed on December 11 between Fiji and New Zealand to set out the RSE arrangements. 

FORES was officially launched in July this year to help Fijians find employment overseas. The program has helped Fijians find employment in the UAE, Canada and NZ. More opportunities are available now that NZ and Australia have welcomed Fiji back into their seasonal workers program.

 FijiLive  

Read more at: http://fijilive.com/news/2014/11/fores-to-select-for-nz-seasonal-work/59759/
Copyright 2014 © Fijilive.com

China and Fiji

from w and from ABC

Chinese president Xi Jinping visits Fiji as part of China's Pacific engagement to strengthen ties

By Papua New Guinea correspondent Liam Fox, wires

Updated 36 minutes agoSat 22 Nov 2014, 9:29am

PHOTO: Xi Jinping (L) is holding bilateral talks with Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimarama (R) and seven other Pacific heads of state. (ABC News)

RELATED STORY: China and New Zealand agree to boost trade partnership

MAP: Fiji

China's president Xi Jinping is in Fiji on a whirlwind visit aimed at strengthening economic and strategic ties with Pacific island nations.

Mr Xi's visit came after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi stopped over in Fiji also to court regional leaders, who form one of the largest voting blocs at the United Nations.

Both leaders targeted the Pacific as a vital stop on their way home from the recent G20 summit in Australia.

Mr Xi is holding bilateral talks today with Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimarama and seven other Pacific heads of state, including Papua New Guinea's prime minister Peter O'Neill.

During a traditional welcoming ceremony in the tourist town of Nadi last night, Mr Bainimarama said Fiji wanted China to be fully engaged in the Pacific.

In a thinly veiled swipe at Australia and New Zealand, he said China had been "a true friend of Fiji" and had never interfered in Fiji's internal politics.

-----------------------

And also:

ITSY BITSY MOUSE WENT FOR A WALK WITH HIS FRIEND THE ELEPHANT.

THEY ADMIRED THE FLOWERS AND BIRDS ALL ALONG THE WAY.

SOON THEY CAME TO A BRIDGE. AND AS THEY CROSSED THE BROOK, THE

BRIDGE TREMBLED AND SHOOK UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE ELEPHANT.

"GOSH,' SQUEAKED THE MOUSE WHEN THEY WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREAM,

"DIDN'T WE MAKE THAT BRIDGE SHAKE"

THE INSIGNIFICANT SOMETIMES FEEL IMPORTANT WHEN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GREAT.

 

Brij Lal, academic from Labasa awarded

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It's good to see Brij Lal, who was once  a young lad in babasiga land, who studied hard and became a recognised international academic, has been given a special award..

Award for academic

Verenaisi Raicola
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

+ Enlarge this image

Kahl Torabully (France), Prof Brij Lal, Lomarsh Roopnarian (US) and Maurits Hasan Khan at the Mauritius conference earlier this month where Prof Lal was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award by the International Association for the study of Indentur

Fijian historian and academic Professor Brij Lal, who was involved in drafting the now scrapped Fijian 1997 Constitution, was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award of the International Association for the Study of Migration and Indenture at a conference in Mauritius last week.

This award recognises a lifetime's path breaking research on the history of Indian migration and settlement in different parts of the world, and is a testimony to Dr Lal's global standing in the field.

"This award comes as I move closer to retirement next year," Dr Lal said.

"I feel deeply humbled by it, knowing the long and difficult journey that has led to it.

"The recognition of my international peers means a lot to me," he said.

Dr Lal, who was in Mauritius to receive the award, said: "It was in recognition of my lifetime's work on the history and culture of the Indian indentured diaspora, which began in 1979 with a study of the girmit experience in Fiji.

"I have since visited all the major Indian indentured labour colonies in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, Africa and Southeast Asia, providing an overarching interpretation of indentured migration and settlement," he said.

Mr Lal's first book, Girmitiyas: The origins of the Fiji Indians, is now recognised globally as the foundational text in the field.

Two other scholars were also honoured: Marina Carter from Britain and Brinsley Samaroo from Trinidad.

PMs of China and India visiting Fiji

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There won't be any 'shirt-fronting' and bad manners when two leading Prime Ministers visit Fiji later this week. They will surely be welcomed with correct protocol.

PM Modi to head to Fiji after Australia visit, climate change talks on agenda

AFP | November 18, 2014, 12.11 pm IST

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The Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi will both hold mini summits during their Fiji stopovers, meeting with up to 12 regional leaders as they bid for the support of one of the largest voting blocs in the United Nations. (Photo: PTI/File)

Suva, Fiji:  Rival suitors India and China step up their courtship of Pacific island nations this week when Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping head to Fiji following the Group of 20 summit in Australia.

The Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi will both hold mini summits during their Fiji stopovers, meeting with up to 12 regional leaders as they bid for the support of one of the largest voting blocs in the United Nations.

A likely central issue of the talks will be climate change, where low-lying Pacific islands would welcome assistance.

"China and India, they are not just global political and economic powers, but they are contributors to the problem of climate change and the Pacific Island countries are at the receiving end of climate change but do not necessarily contribute to it," said Sandra Tarte, director of the politics and international affairs program at the University of the South Pacific in Suva.

"In the past there has been this deadlock between developed countries and these so-called developing countries on how to approach the issue and whether or not countries like China and India need to make concessions.

PM Modi arrives in Fiji on Wednesday for a three-day visit with Xi landing on Saturday.

The countries expected to be represented at the talks along with Fiji include Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Nauru, Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Although Fiji has a substantial Indian population, Modi will be the first leader from New Delhi to visit since Indira Gandhi in 1981 and the first to have broad interaction with a wide range of island leaders.

But Tarte did not see India expanding its presence in the South Pacific to the same extent as China.

"India doesn't have the same reach as China does, diplomatic reach. It's economic ties are not that expansive or as developed," she said.

 

Fiji Geelong Friendship Club

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This evening several families from Geelong and also Melbourne gathered at Joe and Ninetta's home for kava, talanoa and a lovely dinner and some later adjourned to our household to drink kava and have a good social time. Here are a few photos of some of our family and friends in the Fiji network here.

Pacific canoe sails into Sydney

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Pacific Island canoe flotilla sails into Sydney Harbour for IUCN World Parks Congress

By Peta Yoshinaga and environment reporter Jake Sturmer

Updated Thu at 11:38amThu 13 Nov 2014, 11:38am

PHOTO: A flotilla of canoes from the Pacific Islands sailed under the Sydney Harbour Bridge before arriving at the Australian National Maritime Museum. (Melissa Sinclair. )

New South Wales' Environment Minister Rob Stokes has welcomed Pacific Island leaders into Sydney Harbour, as the World Parks Congress begins with more than 5,000 delegates gathering in the city to participate in this once-in-a-decade event.

A flotilla of canoes from the Pacific Islands has reached Darling Harbour marking the end of a voyage to highlight the need for more action to tackle climate change, with their final destination being the International Union for Conservation of Nature Sixth World Parks Congress (IUCN).

The Vaka canoes of the Mua Voyage sailed across the harbour this morning with Pacific Island leaders from Kiribati, Cook Islands and Palau on board.

They sailed under the Sydney Harbour Bridge before arriving at the Australian National Maritime Museum for the official welcoming ceremony.

It is the first time a fleet of traditional voyaging canoes has sailed to Australia, with crews embarking on a 6,000 nautical mile journey.