A mad week!

The last week has been a super busy one, and it doesn't look to let up any time soon. Among all the work and half the team being poorly, we still went to Te Vara Nui cultural centre for a show and tour (Allison officially became 'Cook Islands Beyonce'), had a lovely night out for some of the volunteers last night on Friday, and joined half the locals at the auditorium for the big game on Saturday (with me single handedly holding my breath in case breathing might affect the result).

Half of the team left last night, amid some mayhem in the rain, for a Vet Trek to Aitutaki. Lots of planning and stressing went into the trip, and now we eagerly await the updates and photos. The rest of us at the clinic are anxiously watching over our Mumma, who is poorly, and keeping watch for Kya, our lovely girl who we rehomed but who keeps escaping back to us!

The fish poisonings who have been in for a long time are finally starting to show big steps in improving so we are all very happy about that!

So all around a satisfying last week, with so much to be achieved this week.

PS WAHOO FOR THE ALL BLACKS!!! :-)

Earlier in the day, I drove past a small shop with a few locals eating some fairly large plates of grub so decided to head back there to try what the locals enjoy. They were now busy installing a new floor but told me they were open and invited me in. I ordered the special and sat down with a local who told me his story: about the shop and the new burger place; about his family and Australia; and about the SDA Church and the Baha’i Faith. He also mentioned that after the cyclone, the school on the hill was moved to a site just up the road from where we were eating. So there was my next step.

As expected, the school was pretty quiet as the teachers were attending the retreat on the other side of the island. There was one person on the grounds who told me about a "kids day" they were holding the following day and asked if I would like to join them and meet the principal. I agreed I would be there to help with face painting and to set up a little Esther Honey Foundation stall. I was looking forward to talking to all the people who would be coming and bringing their children. What an opportunity!

After this conversation, I raced up the hill again to talk to the Agriculture Officers who were sitting in the cool beneath a mango tree putting soil into plastic bags to grow noni trees. We talked about how they had helped with Esther Honey Vet Treks in the past and discussed the upcoming trek. They were keen to help. Fred Charlie, the Senior Ag. Officer was also eager to come to the following day’s presentation at the school to see what we were up to. He told me about some of the problems I might face if I wanted to conduct the trek in two weeks. There was the upcoming Bonefish Fishing Competition, the CICC Aitutaki gathering of all the churches that are spread throughout the Pacific, and the Royal Sailing Regatta from Rarotonga. Lots of activities which needed to be taken into consideration in choosing a date for the trek. With so much going on, it could be difficult to generate community support during the trek. Fred also volunteered to help find a location for operating the clinic and we promised to meet in the morning before the school presentation and after the event find a good place to conduct the surgeries.

Leaving the Agriculture team to their work under the mango tree I was off to the hospital to speak with orderlies, nurse, and doctor about the possibility of using their small autoclave during the trek. They agreed given enough notice. The generosity of the island people here in the Cook Islands is truly heartwarming. We chatted a bit about their facilities before I left.

After all this racing around I decided to return to my home base to prepare for the next day's presentation. Fortunately, I had recently given a presentation at St. Joseph’s in Rarotonga so felt somewhat prepared. In the late afternoon I joined the other guests at the resort around the pool for a brief island culture lesson on the various types of coconuts and a bit of Pareu tying and dancing. I showed off a few of my dance moves. I also learned a lot about the coconuts and one of the staff showed me how to make a hat out of the palms on the coconut tree. In the evening I went back to the Boat Shed as my bike had a couple of nails in the tires from somewhere and they kindly gave me dinner on the house while we chatted about life on Aitutaki and the various animals. It was a great evening to wrap up an awesome day before falling asleep in a comfy bed.

Aitutaki Pre Vet Trek

Day 1

With so many volunteers at the Esther Honey Foundation for a limited amount of time the pressure is on to utilize their number and talents. There are several activities that we can undertake to make the most of this opportunity: deep cleaning and organizing the clinic, conducting a census of the local dog and cat population to bring in as many “intact” animals as possible to be desexed, and conducting a Vet Trek to one of the outer islands where we do not have a permanent veterinary presence as we do here in Rarotonga.

With this goal in mind I jumped on a plane to Aitutaki with the idea of making contacts to lay the ground work for a subsequent trek. We’ve been so busy at the clinic however with all the volunteers and a new Clinic Manager that it was a very last minute decision and I had only an hour to get my head sorted before having to check in at the airport. With a few posters and flyers in hand and a few other things to get me through a couple of nights I was dropped off at the airport.

Having organized two Aitutaki Vet Treks in the past, but not actually having had the chance to go myself, I was keen to see what everyone was raving about. Just before I left I sent out a couple of emails telling some local accommodation/cat owners that I was on my way. Arriving at the airport I wasn’t surprised that there was no one there to pick me up and had to think quickly as the small airport would soon clear out. I spoke with a man who was organising a pick-up for the Aitutaki Pacific Resort and was graciously given a ride to the Etu Moana Beach Resort. On the way, the driver told me about five cats who frequent the Pacific Resort that he would like Esther Honey to treat. So, only moments off the plane and I’m getting an idea of what to expect.

As I was dropped off at Etu Moana I promised the driver that I’d come to the Pacific Resort to have a look at their situation before I left the island. I walked into the Etu Moana resort and met with Amanda and Steve Millar, the managers at Etu Moana. They asked how long I would be on the island and offered me a room at their resort. What a blessing. It was a great place to set up base camp and allowed me ample relaxation in the evening. Anything I could say about the accommodations would not do it justice. I recommend checking out their website http://www.etumoana.com. They have two handsome cats, one of which greeted me upon arrival.

About a half an hour later the other accommodation owner I had emailed rolled up in a van at Etu Moana and took me to their place called the Boat Shed. They lent me a scooter for my time on the island which was just what I needed to conduct Esther Honey business! Thank you Allen, Maria, and staff.

So now I was set. I had a place to rest my head and transport to get around. The race was on to demonstrate how Esther Honey can make the most of their support to benefit the island. It was about midday and as I approached the first school I saw a row of classrooms with children inside and out. They all smiled and greeted me, testing the little Maori that I know. One of the students kindly guided me to the principal of Araura College, Enoa Raea, who told me that all the schools were having a half day in order that the island teachers could all get together at another school. Enoa and I chatted about the possibility of my doing presentations for the kids during the VET TREK and he seemed pretty keen. So we exchanged contacts, I gave him a poster, and I was off again to meet the next principal at the school just across the yard.

The principal of Araura Primary School is Gene Bartlett and he too was interested in having Esther Honey offer presentations for all the kids when we return. I handed him a poster for his school and promised to keep in touch to plan for our future presentation to the 150 kids that he looks after. He warned that I could miss the next school on my list if I didn't know what to watch for and told me the landmarks to guide my way. As I was leaving, a few more children walked up to me and again tested my Maori before I scootered off.

Before finding the next school, I stopped in at the Administration Office to see if I could talk with the Agricultural Officers as we worked so closely with their Mangaia counterparts during our last Vet Trek. I was kindly told that they were on a lunch break and that if I returned in an hour I would probably find them here.

Finding the next school was a little more difficult, but thanks to the directions from Gene I quickly back tracked and found the correct lane to go down. Here was the small Vaitau primary school. Two rows of classrooms joined at one corner creating an “L” shape with a big yard surrounding a beautiful large tree and various things for kids to climb on. The children were busy cleaning up the school, sweeping with Kikau brooms and piling up chairs, when I met with Ingrid, the school's principal.

We had a quick chat while she was organizing her students in their cleaning efforts. I spoke to her about the possibility of doing some presentations for the kids to teach them about the needs of animals and the role of the Esther Honey Foundation. She was very keen indeed and suggested that I come back the following day to do a presentation for her class of fifteen. I agreed if she promised to bring her goat and we were set. The kids were curious to meet this strange man who was talking to their teacher and introduced themselves to me.

So off I went to locate the last school. I found it following a dirt road, with its roof caved in and piles of sand and bricks to the side. It had obviously suffered significant damage when the cyclone hit Aitutaki almost two years ago. I decided it was time for lunch as my tummy was rumbling.

Week two as Practice Manager in paradise, and things keep getting better. Having been thrown instantly into the task of organising an Open Day, it’s been a busy time here at EHF. Many days of last week were spent convincing locals and tourists alike how much they wanted to come, and the cleaning efforts alone took the better part of a day for 11 volunteers!

For an event designated to begin a 3pm, the local kids starting showing up at about 11am, itching to spend their pocket money. A couple of volunteers got stuck in emergency surgery until we started, so it was a mad rush of re-scrubbing the theatre before anyone could see the mess. But the kids were entirely distracted by Eilidh’s face painting prowess, Gregg’s game inventions and trying to guess the weights of our tiniest kitten and big Mumma for the raffle.

All up we estimate about 100 kids came, and all of them had a blast! A raging success, thanks to the hard work of everyone here, as well as the generous donations and support of quite a few local businesses. We will definitely be having another ‘Esther Honey Party’ sometime soon!

First week in Paradise

My name is Jess and I am the new practice manager here at Esther Honey, joining Gregg in Rarotonga to help promote the foundation and keep the clinic running as smoothly as ‘island time’ allows. So welcome to my first blog, you will be hearing a lot more from me, and I am looking forward to keeping you updated on the exciting challenge of a vet clinic in the Cook Islands.

A bit about me (minus the boring bits); I’m a Murdoch (Western Oz) graduated vet but originally a Kiwi and still very proud of it (Go All Blacks!). The last few years I have been living and working in the UK and Denmark, in between trips to Thailand, Vietnam and Greece to help on a variety of humane projects where I love the satisfaction of making a difference, as well as the challenges of cross cultural (and cross language) consults. I have become very adept at miming vomiting and diarrhoea, and have serious trouble adapting to life in anything other than jandals (Raro terminology for flip flops/thongs); this makes for seriously cold toes in a Danish winter...

Part way through studying my MBA online (a challenge from a place where internet connectivity is as much on island time as the rest of us), and having a mildly unhealthy obsession for conservation and animal welfare, Esther Honey offered me the perfect opportunity to feel I could make a difference. Of course, my love of beaches, sunshine and mango daquiris didn’t affect the transition at all!

The team here have been amazing at showing me the beauties of the Cook Islands in my first week. Monday Hash runs (embarrassing—we took a short cut), Tuesday island-dancing lessons (embarrassing—we are in the class with toddlers), Wednesday paddling to look for whales (embarrassing—not sure it was supposed to end with capsize drills), Thursday mini-golf (embarrassing—the most points wins right?), Friday night cocktails and dancing (you can guess where that is going...). Mostly I love that it is not unusual to be out doing any one of these things and spot an unneutered, un-collared dog and pop it in the car on the way home and return them safely (but a little shocked) the next day.

I can’t wait to find out what else this amazing country has in store for me, and to pass the adventures on to our loyal blog followers.