Women of Navala

It's about time I blogged about the women of Navala. I've touched on it before but division of labour is incredibly visible in Navala. Though interestingly, there were instances where the division wasn't as obvious (from my white female NZer point of view). For example, while women weave mats for homes, the men weave the walls of homes. 

Here's a few photos from the womens meeting I attended where the women discussed what reparations needed to be done at the local school. Kava was consumed, songs sung, laughter and stories shared. Just under $300 was raised to get new curtains and carpet for the classrooms and the two dorms they have for students traveling from other villages to attend school (the other villages in the area are much smaller and so this is the only primary school in the area. High school students catch the bus down to Ba, the closest town or attend boarding school elsewhere).

Prayers before welcoming guests from other villages and from committees within the area wishing to help fundraise/plan for the school.

Electricity outside of the school is limited in Navala, so the owners of the closest bure to the area they had set up brought out their solar panels and set up a couple of lights after the sun went down.

I spent a couple of afternoons down on the river hanging out with locals. I watched as Mary did her washing (her young son came and helped out briefly also!) and burnt off rubbish, whilst kids played after school, men got their horses into the river to bathe and men and children collected kava/fruit for the family.