Navala Series: Men

At last, my final series of photos from Navala. I still have a tonne I haven't posted but I don't really feel the need to, for the time being at least. My last post will be about the men of Navala.

Tui preparing a traditional kava at the lodge where I stayed.

It seemed pretty common for the boys to break throughout the day to drink kava, have a smoke, crack jokes and relax. 

I happened to arrive at the one time of year where bures are built, fixed up and re-thatched. This group of men were out collecting resources for another bure when they passed by this bure on their way back into Navala. Only one man was working on it so they all stopped to give him a hand. They managed to get most of the framework for the roof up before having a break; "the hard part" I was told. 

Bamboo is used as scaffolding. 

Wood is chopped and sorted into piles. This man was the man working on the site by himself when others arrived to help.

The man in the orange watches and directs from the next door bure.

A washing line full of cloths hangs out to dry while the men work.

The walls of a different bure were woven by men. These two were resting whilst three others were assembling the a-frame of the bure.

Another group of men break for kava.

This bure was being re-thatched.

The men worked all day until dusk. Afterwards some gathered to sit around and talk before retiring for the day. Other men who had been working on the farm and ranch all day joined them once returning to the village. I've mentioned it before but subsistence farming is, for the most part, what people rely on for food. 

Bullocks are used to trawl cut grass (used to thatch roofs and walls of bures) from the hills back down to the village.

Tui pauses by the river to fill up the water of his truck.

Horses are owned by most families, used mostly by men for labour purposes and for getting around. From what I saw, Tui (one of the owners of the lodge I stayed at - the only lodge near Navala) owned the only vehicle in the area. 

A few men joined the women's group meeting in the latter half of the event to discuss developments for the school. Some of the men were planning on helping out with carpeting the classrooms (above and below)

Thanks for having me, Navala. You were beautiful and your people were beyond friendly and accommodating.