Check out the Poetry page for select poems written by Kaliopate Tavola since 1980. The newest poem to be added to the archive is Vunilagi… Vunilagi Once With toes in the wet sand I could see it – with the innocent lens of a sun-baked village lad It was all around me I was imprisoned by…
Reviving the Dravuni Dialect
In the previous blog post, “Benefit from the Exhibition Continues,” published on 12.02.17, had referred to the two planned publications arising from the ‘Dravuni: Sivia yani na Vunilagi – Beyond the Horizon’ exhibition. The illustrated publications are based on the legend: ‘Tanovo and Tautaumolau’. The Dravuni children provide the illustrations. The publications are essentially children’s…
The innocence of youth!
A new poem for the Kaidravuni Poetry archive! First Date In retrospect It was an anticlimax But I couldn’t have done it any other way I didn’t know how I finally got the courage To ask a girl out to the movie – for the first time Mid-way through secondary school Coming from a family…
A new poem
A new poem has been added to my Poetry archive. Loss of a Grandfather I sat at a distance from Natavasara Alone A smooth rounded stone On the foundation of Nukucagina – the adjacent ‘yavu’ Provided a perch for self-reflection At four years old I didn’t understand the protocol I saw however Groups of adults…
Dravuni Marine Protected Area (MPA)
Marine protected areas (MPA) are generally defined as: “protected areas of seas, oceans or large lakes. MPAs restrict human activity for a conservation purpose, typically to protect natural or cultural resources. Marine resources are protected by local, state, territorial, native, regional or national authorities and differ substantially among nations.” Dravuni ‘s MPA was established in…
Re-Framing ‘My Origin Story’
In my blog: “Re-visiting My Origin Story”- posted on 13.02.17, I had reflected on the speculative nature of the Kaunitoni Migration story that links the settlement of other parts of the Fiji Group back to movements of people from Nakauvadra which is linked further back to Veiseisei and the Vuda landing of the early Fijians….
Prospect of Growth in Tourism
You will note from ‘Dravuni – Rural Village Economy’, posted on 13.03.17, the prominence of the tourism sector in this rural island economy. The prospect of further growth is on the cards given the interests from various hoteliers to date. Yaukuve Sewa or Yaukuve Lailai is adjacent and very close to Yaukuve Levu, location of…
The Legend Abridged
I wrote the legend of Taunovo (aka Tanovo) and Tautaumolau and published it on 16.02.14 as a contribution under the Legends section. For the Exhibition: ‘Dravuni – Sivia yani na Vunilagi: Beyond the Horizon,’ 24 June – 10 October 2016, (see Exhibition), I related the story in Fijian to the children of Dravuni and this…
Here comes the Real Bogeyman!
The bogeyman crosses cultural barriers. Some cultures have more than others. I recall growing up in the village as a child and being threatened with a bogeyman if I did this or that, or if I was in a certain place when I shouldn’t have been there. The threat was always instigated by adults and…
Collective vis-à-vis Individualistic Approach: Seeking Solution
The phenomenon of collective vis-à-vis individualistic approach has been broached in some of my earlier posts. In Dravuni – Rural Village Economy, for example, I mentioned that the pursuit of individual employment in Kokomo Resorts has reduced the amount of labour available for collective tasks in the village. In Recalling When Copra was King, I…
Recalling When Copra was King
In Dravuni–Rural Village Economy, I briefly referred to the copra industry being at death’s door after decades of prominence on the island. Like many islands in Fiji – large and small, the industry was the economic lifeblood for those islands and islanders. I grew up in the village during the heyday of the copra industry….
Dravuni – Rural Village Economy
In concluding the blog post: ‘Romanticizing Village Life’ (published on 08.10.16), I had attempted to characterize the changing Dravuni economy and had thus opined that out of the ashes of ‘The Death of Subsistence Affluence’, a ‘Rural Village Economy’ has taken roots. I did not expand on what the new term meant. I propose to…
kaidravuni 