Hanging out in V-Town

Today has been one of the least taxing days of our trip so far. With no more room in the incubator for any new samples at the moment, we were limited to bumming around Vunikura and chatting it up with the local ladies about their families’ health and water usage (this was actually strategically planned as our formal health assessment). Ana introduced us to her auntie, her cousins, her sister… we actually have no clue how these folks are related as the word “cousin” and “uncle” are tossed around to mean “someone I grew up with who was around a lot.” Everyone is everyone else’s relative here!

We spent a good couple of hours asking about their hygienic practices (soap is quite a luxury in these parts), common illnesses, and wishes for an improved system. We both found it interesting that symptoms related to ingesting biologically-contaminated water (diarrhea, vomiting, overall stomach-achiness) were not considered by the villagers as common occurrences. More common were skin diseases, asthma, and the giggles (Fijians have infectious laughter issues).

What the folks at Vunikura are most concerned about when it comes to their water, it turns out, is volume and turbidity. When it rains, their distribution system fills up with muddy water (and who really likes the taste of that?). The 30+ year old pipes are backed up and ultimately break, leaving them to go to the nearby river to collect their water until the pipes can be repaired. Also, the growing population is putting an increasing strain on the water supply, especially when a handful of people carelessly leave their taps running all day long! Clean, safe water is important, yes, but a dependable distribution system seems to be a higher priority to the residents we spoke to. They mentioned that they have been raising money ($50 per adult male) to give to the Fijian government for a new system, which is quite a sacrifice for the families. Unfortunately the government is extremely slow in helping out these rural villages; we plan on contacting them to see if we can work with them to improve the system.

We sadly learned today that the daughter of Titimo (the Taqici headman) passed away yesterday, from a congenital heart disease. We gave our condolences and were graciously invited to attend the funeral on Friday. We asked whether this would be appropriate and were assured that Titimo would appreciate our attendance. With Seewah’s advice on behavior and dress in hand, we plan on sharing our sympathies with our new friends on Friday.

This afternoon we started digging through the Mission’s medical records in an attempt to understand what illnesses are affecting the residents of this area. Thankfully Laura, one of the volunteers currently staying here, offered to continue summarizing the stacks of data for us tomorrow (thanks Laura!).

Tomorrow we are off for our first real visit to Buca – the third and final village we will be assessing. Because the sampling incubator is still full, we will be GPSing the taps and getting a general understanding of the layout of the village.