Post by Heather Korb & Kristiane Huber
Alofa from Tuvalu! Yesterday we went to the government office building at look at maps of Funafuti and ended up buying a couple prints. We rode to the south end of Fongafale which is very different from the part of island where we are staying. As the island gets narrower, you can see the ocean and lagoon on either side of the road and there are fewer and fewer homes. Finally the road ended and we walked out to the end of the island.
On a bike ride, Kristiane came across hundreds of people practicing rugby on the airstrip. While practice for each team (it looked to be two women’s teams and two men’s teams) was serious business, one of the women’s teams stopped their play to sing in the middle while the others continued. The road was lined with other people from the community watching the practice!
That night, we decided to sample an Indian food restaurant (owned by Fijians) down the road from our hotel. The restaurant had four tables, one waiter, and two items on the menu, but the papua mango curry was delicious.
Today all three of us met with one of Tuvalu’s architects, a friend of Melton, named Lomi. The meeting with Lomi gave Tom and Heather a lot of information and ideas about siting for the environmental center, typical building materials used in Tuvalu, how houses are laid out, costs for building homes, energy costs and waste removal. Near the end of the meeting Tom showed Lomi an article about Tuvalu from an encyclopedia of indigenous architecture. For a moment Lomi looked a little puzzled, and then laughed and explained that he had drawn the illustration of the traditional Tuvaluan house printed on the page while in university.
After our meeting with Lomi we went to the east part of the island, the other side of the air strip, and admired a large garden organized by the Taiwanese government and a white coral beach facing the open Pacific Ocean. After lunch we accidentally took a longer nap than planned, and went to the Public Works Department so Tom and Heather could review Tuvalu’s building code. One of the public works employees, Tia, knew Reverend Tafue and was glad to give us information about building in Tuvalu. He also told us about a pilot project to install compost toilets around the island, a promising alternative to septic tanks which do not work well in places with high water tables (which Tuvalu has).
We are all really looking forward to a boat trip we will take tomorrow morning with Tafue and Maina to the outer islets of Funafuti. Tafue wants to show us these other parts of the atoll where some of the adverse effects of climate change are apparent.
Post by Heather Korb & Kristiane Huber
Yesterday morning, Maina pulled up to the dock next to the Vaiaku Hotel, and we boarded the boat to visit the outer islets. Our captain was Reverend Salanoa, who was both a trained sailor and of course a reverend. It took about an hour and a half to get out to Fualafeke, where we got out to explore. Maina showed us the distinct signs of climate change which were coastal erosion and dead coconut trees where the sand had become inundated with salt water. Fualafeke was an iconic tropical island with many bird species and a lush green forest. We had some brunch there, and sampled some coconut milk directly from coconut which Maina husked and cut open for us. Then we went to see Tepuka where we drove over areas of fallen palm trees with the boat because the ocean had risen to cover parts of the beach. The next northern islet, Tepuka Savililivili, had been reduced by rising sea levels from an island with coconut trees like Tepuka, to a small sand bar.
After dinner we went to a public space next to the airport where there was a community event and we were invited in to dance. We thought the event was really fun, and it was inspiring to see so many different people in the community celebrating together, we also met some great dancers.
This morning Maina picked us up and we all went to church. The church was overflowing with people and the choir sang beautifully. After church, Maina brought us to the northern end of the island to see the dumping grounds, the causeway that is completely covered during kind tides, and the buildings. Our activities over the past couple days have demonstrated that families and homes in Funafuti are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels and flooding will threaten the quality of life and culture of the people living here.