4th Fiji August 2018 Report

The flight from the main island to Labasa was lovely.  Pastor Reggie picked me up at the hotel and drove me to the airport.  It was quite unusual that there was almost no traffic, so we arrived much sooner than expected, so I was quite early checking in.  That turned out to be a good thing because since I had broken my trip with a layover in Suva, there were issues to resolve with the excess baggage.  Fortunately I still had a hard copy of the permission from the airlines to bring the extra weight and extra bag.  Also fortunate in that the counter agent and her supervisor were interested in my account of what TUtP has been doing around Fiji these many years and what was in the bags I was bringing to Labasa.  In the end they allowed everything on board at no extra charge.  And they thanked me profusely for what TUtP was doing for their people.  Another great answer to your prayers.
 
I’m at the farm where our beekeeping project is located.  I’ve already had a great preliminary discussion with Chuck, our project manager and the owner of the farm, regarding the training video we want to produce.  We still have a number of things to determine about the exact product that will best serve the needs of the beekeepers on this island and all over the country.  We’ll make contact with the president of the Fiji Beekeepers Association, a former Peach Corp volunteer who is now a resident of Fiji and who has a keen interest in seeing projects like ours thrive.  He has already commented that the training manual Chuck developed partly using materials our team assembled over the years is one of the best he has seen for beekeeping in Fiji.  What a tribute to Chuck.  We trust that the training video will be even more valuable.  But we do value the input we can get from John.
 
Tomorrow we’ll be looking into a boat motor recently brought into Fiji from China.  Chuck is building a boat.  This farm serves as a model for how small farmers can maximize their food production to feed their families.  Since it’s near a river as well as the mangrove swamps, fishing can add a lot to income and food supplies.
 
The drought that is prevalent all over the Western Division on the main island has hit this area quite hard.  Chuck and Sue are going to have to sell their sheep because there is no longer adequate pasture to sustain them.  The bees are also not producing any honey because they have very little forage.  American Foul l brood has also been brought from the main island to here by people who have violated bio-security protocols and laws by smuggling uninspected hives to their farms from infected areas on the mainland.  This could destroy the entire bee industry of Fiji if it is not properly dealt with.   That is a matter for prayer.
 
So appreciate your prayers and the many comments I’ve received from so many of you already during this trip.
 
Bedtime.
 
Blessings!