Two months after applying for the Teacher Trainer and Primary Teacher position on Tokelau, Matt and I have been accepted by Volunteer Services Abroad, and are looking towards our future: two years of living on the remote Pacific atoll of Fakaofo.
Tokelau is a New Zealand dependency, reached only by a 30 hour boat journey from Apia, Samoa. We're lucky; of the three atolls, ours is the closest to Samoa; the others, Nukunonu and Atafu, are up to three days on board.
We head off sometime early in 2009. This week we have a four day briefing in Wellington to learn a whole range of skills to survive in a remote and often challenging environment. We know that the two years ahead of us won't always be easy, so we are glad that we will have each other for support!
While on Fakaofo we both hope to study extramural through Massey; I hope to begin my Masters in Education with a focus on education in developing countries and Matt will hopefully be able to find something environmentally related.
We are currently trying to compile a list of what we might like to take with us. We figure that if we take a laptop we can load it with movies and I plan to take my jewelry making tools... what little I have! I have placed an article in the Silversmiths Guild newsletter to see if anyone can help with donating to me some tools they no longer use. Fingers crossed this all goes to plan, as other wise I'll not be able to make jewelry for two years!
With four weeks of school left in which to get my assessment done, along with having to pack up my class, the house, go to Dunedin for Xmas and then head up to Blenheim, life is seeming pretty hectic!
I just can't wait to arrive in Samoa and begin our big adventure! I'm hanging out for 'island time'!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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