Friday, July 1, 2011

Fiji Part 3: Ravi Ravi

Alright, so continues my story about this adventure in Fiji!
The next village we stayed in was Ravi Ravi
Time slowed down there because it was so peaceful.
The people there are just great. They are super religious.
The preacher Big Bill would come over and play us songs
on his guitar about Jesus. And Tui (the guy's house we were staying at)
would wake us up to him playing the guitar and singing quietly.
While in Fiji and away from phone & internet
it felt like the entire world has stopped. It felt like we would go back and pick
up at the same date & time we left.
Anyways, Ravi Ravi was great. It was quiet and peaceful.
Tui was one of my favorite people I met in Fiji.
We called him Tatui or Father Tui in english.
He was the most patient, kind, and giving person I have ever met.
The pictures for this part are a bit scattered but
you get the point.
We went snorkeling in Ravi Ravi
That is a sea sponge.
I was only in the water for probably 10 minutes
because the second I got in I was getting stung
by little baby jellyfish. It HURT! So I just layed in the boat.
It was cool though, there were neon blue star fish!
I didn't take a ton of pictures while working but I
think I should share what work was done. Because
the entire purpose of this trip was to serve the Fijian people.
This is a picture of my shoes after stomping the muddy ground
over the pipes we layed for the septic system in Vuya.

The picture below is a picture of Tui
and a moth he caught in his home one night.
It was so sick! Yes, that is a moth.
He thought it would be funny to try to freak us out
and pretend to eat it. He never did.

This is a picture of Tyler & I on Tui's boat while snorkeling.

While in Ravi Ravi we went to church with the people there.
We went to one church in the morning and one at night.
It was such an incredible experience!
We had the chance to bear our testimonies and sing I am a Child of God
I loved their churches and found many similarities between
their church and the LDS church.
Us and the children at church.
Kaitlin, Big Bill, Me, and Tui

This is a picture of the trenches we dug
with lots of help by the villagers
in the Vuya village.
This was really hard work but very rewarding!

When we were walking to church in the evening at Ravi Ravi
a torrential down pour began so we got soaking wet
and pretty dirty.
Tyler tried to use a leaf as an umbrella to cover me.
It kind of worked, haha.

This is a picture of the bookshelves built for the library.
We brought over 6,000 books for the library.
The only books they had to learn english were text books.
While painting the book shelves we got a little distracted and
started painting ourselves haha, oops!
The people in Ravi Ravi after church!
Like I said we looooved swimming at the end of a long work day.


We painted the inside and outside of their school.
Here is a before picture
and an after picture.
Tui took us on his boat every morning
on our way to work.
It was incredible!
There were a lot of flying fish.
Playing ring around the rosie with the kids.
We also had a field day with them
We had plenty of games to play with them
and face painting.
I loved getting to know them all!

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