This is it for now

Hi Everyone,

Interesting times. New Zealand is now at Covid-19 Level 2 and schools opened for instruction last Monday.  Ally and I woke early, hoping to get a call to go relieving.  We have put our names in at several schools in the area.  This is our new normal for the rest of the year.

Talua has been very much in our hearts since we left.  Much has happened there.  The centre closed for instruction not long after we got to NZ due to Covid-19 rules.  Not too long after that, Tropical Cyclone Harold hit and passed directly over Talua.  It had spent a day offshore, building up it's strength before moving across South Santo, North Malekula, Malo, Pentecost and other islands in the area.  It was devastating and caused a great deal of damage.  Talua itself received damage to as many as 40 buildings.

Over the days to follow we gave praise and thanks to God for keeping the students, staff  and their families safe. We began to see the extent of the damage. Our house did remarkably well and is now the home for the Deputy Principal and his family since their roof came off.

Rebuilding of some of the "island kitchens" has already happened and the gardens are growing well.  The remaining staff and students have been well looked after, having received some food aid.  The buildings have been assessed and a figure put on the cost of repair.  Help is needed with this and the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand has launched an appeal for Vanuatu.  Thanks to all who have responded with this.

Sadly, Talua has made the decision to close until May 2021 so that repairs and planning can be done.  This means that our time there has come to an end... for now.  We left a part of our hearts there and would dearly love to return sometime in the future, God willing.

Student accommodation with damaged roofs and windows

Ally's classroom narrowly avoided substantial damage

The Bursar's house lost it's veranda and most of it's roof

The B.Min classroom, where Brian taught, lost the roof ridge cap and the ceiling collapsed due to the water pouring in.  The staff room is at the right end of this building, with the Principal's office in the middle.

There would have been great danger from flying sheets of Corrugated Iron

A brand new island "triplex" home in the background collapsed.  The families sheltered in the more solid building in the background. 

Week 8

Hi Everyone,

After only 8 weeks at Talua we have made the tough decision to return to NZ amid the uncertainty around Covid-19.  At the moment we are self isolating with Ally's sister in Whanganui and once the 14 days are over, we will stay for the remainder of the lockdown.  We miss our Talua family and will return as soon as possible this year.

The decision to leave was quite sudden as events escalated rapidly late last week.  On Wednesday we went into town and stocked up on a few items to prepare for the new rules around washing hands etc that had just been approved.  On Thursday morning Ally saw that volunteers from VSA and other organisations were being recalled home.  This seemed serious and we began to wonder about returning.  The NZ High Commission in Vanuatu were echoing the NZ Govt call urging NZers to come home while they still could.  After discussing with others at Talua, the Medical Centre in Luganville, PCANZ Global Mission Coordinator Phil King and God we bought air tickets and managed to catch the last flight to Auckland on Sunday

At this stage Vanuatu still has no confirmed cases of the virus and we are hoping and praying that it will stay this way. 

We have brought work home that we can be doing to continue serving Talua and the local school (Tata) while we are here.  Brian had recently attended a week long course on policy writing and will take a good deal of time to update Talua's policies and procedures to comply with VQA standards.

VQA course run by Dr Elly Govers from NZ.  The course was mostly in Bislama but Brian was able to follow it reasonably well.

Ally's birthday celebration with her class and with banana cake (her lemon icing was a hit!)

Ally's birthday party continued back at our house with our friends.

We were often visited by little ones collecting water from our rainwater tank for their families.

Walter - a neighbour's boy who often came to visit.

Week 3

Hi from Ally 😊

Well….we have been here for 3 weeks now!  The place feels like home…. 

Brian and one of my students put their heads together and got things working….and as of about Monday this week, we have power!! (amazing difference having a fridge and a fan makes!). 

We are in a self-contained house, with a rainwater tank just outside the door (and let me tell you - the tank is very full!!!!) Amazing to have pouring rain and thunderstorms for hours and then see the weather app say “feels like 39 degrees C today”!! This week we have had some lovely sunshine and everything looks lush and healthy!

Ally's classroom

Talua has a very chill and relaxed feeling – groups of students break out in song, they are super friendly and always very helpful.  They are also patient as we struggle to learn and remember names and faces and who fits where!! The staff have been wonderful and very supportive of us as we seek to get our feet on the ground.

 break time 😃

Our students mostly come from villages where they live a communal lifestyle. Everything is shared, they pitch in together to do the gardening or gather the coconuts or whatever else needs doing. So in that respect, living in community here is not so strange for them.  However, life here is very structured with very little down time and this may take some adjusting to for some of our students. And lots of them are finding it HOT!! (we are not the only ones!).  Students speak openly of the difference that knowing God makes in their lives and they have enthusiasm and passion to tell people about God and make a difference in the lives of their communities.

 my students doing some work..

Our roles are varied – mine is designing and teaching a new course in English and Study Skills.  It is certainly keeping me on my toes, and a lot of the stuff we do in NZ eg moderation, aligning to a framework, standards based assessment etc is the same here (except we don’t have any exemplars here!  I am kind of flying blind, but think/hope we are on the right track!). And ha!......who knew there was so much grammar that I don’t know!!!! I am slowly getting my head around the present perfect continuous verbs etc!!! I have 7 students and they are delightful (ages range from 20 to 32). They were very quiet to start with, but we are building rapport and a more relaxed feel in the classroom….(No discipline problems here….rather like a year 13 Calculus class feel!) – (I will let Brian tell you about what he is up to!)

So… loving it so far! A rhythm of life with God squarely in the middle, beautiful people, plenty to do, places to explore, time to relax, back to basics….

Ally 😊

 Sunday lunch from Mama Martha ( next door)

I tried out our flash new gas oven!! Apparently it's a tradition here that the English teachers bake and share!! This was made with home grown bananas! Thanks Phil King and PCANZ.

For those who pray…

We are thankful for how settled we feel here and that we are starting to find our feet. The practicalities of life here, power, water etc are all pretty much up and running, which does make life easier. We are feeling a real sense of belonging  and gaining clarity in the direction that our teaching needs to go.

The start of the academic year can be challenging for students... High expectations, new community for some, finding their feet and getting started on their courses. Brian and I are trying to learn Bislama and want to set up pour courses as well as we possibly can!

x

Welcome

 Outside our house

Welcome to everyone interested in keeping up to date with the tingting (thoughts) of Ally and Brian MacKay during our time at Talua Theological Training Institute, Santo, Vanuatu 2020.

We have been here for 2 weeks now and have learned and experienced many things already...

 Inside our house showing off garlands we received at church.

We have met the most friendly people on Earth. The staff and students here are wonderful.

 Everyone dresses in white at church and produce the most heavenly sound when singing.

We have swum in the sea a couple of times, a lovely 15 min stroll through a coconut plantation and farm, cross a stream and we're there.
We have been into town (Luganville) several times. This is a major trip usually on the back of a ute 50 min each way on a 20km muddy bumpy, unsealed road. 

 On the back of a "truck" with black plastic to protect from the rain

We have scrubbed clean the floor in our house using elbow grease and sweat.
We have had quite a few meetings with staff, discussing timetables, curriculum etc. And we have met our students and taught some classes
And we have had lots and lots and lots of rain... The last 2 days have been sunny but it rained for a week before that.
We have learned a lot about solar power and battery storage.

 Installing new batteries for the solar system

Oh and we met our first grandchild, Miles Te Punga-MacKay, (by video call) born Friday 7 Feb 2020