Sorry it has taken a bit too long to get back to the blog. It has been good to be “back home” again in Vanuatu. Having been more or less on the move for the last few years, it is really hard to know exactly where “home” is, and I think we have “home” in a few different places now, without any one place in particular taking precedence. It was a lovely Christmas season catching up with family (and some of you folk in SA or Vic), and now we can also say that it is good to be back with our Ni-Vanuatu friends and family here in Port Vila.
We are now house-sitting a lovely semi-rural house and property for friends as they take a furlough leave back in the USA. It seems we have hit the ground running, and its almost as though we had never left! But it is good to be back.
A challenging aspect of being back in Vanuatu is hearing the many stories of facing the onslaught of three cyclones over the recent season. Many stories of decimation of houses, large fruit trees and food gardens, particularly in the southern islands (TAFEA), but also amazing stories of survival and subsequent resilience in the face of daunting circumstances. I am always impressed by the dexterity and the creative improvisation of our Ni-Vanuatu friends.
This year we are trying Distance Education for both boys. Ben (year 9) and Joel (grade 6) through Open Access College in Adelaide. School now depends a lot on a good quality (and fast enough) internet connection, but up to this point, it has been working out fairly well. We have noticed though that mum and dad’s supervisory role is almost as demanding as it was when we were totally homeschooling! It has been a good start to the year though. We have been impressed with the boys’ online teachers. Certainly a demanding gig for them, especially with all the technological demands!
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