The last few days have been quiet on the work front, while we are waiting for project approvals and for quotes to come in from suppliers.
Each time we propose a new program or set of activities, I need to write it into a project, send it to London where they hold a CAG (crisis action group) to approve the project and allocate funds from a donor territory. Funds are getting tight at the moment as focus has well and truly moved (rightly) to Nepal. That said, we get excellent turnaround from CAGs as they understand the need for action. And, to be honest, they do forgive a certain amount of emergency action prior to approval.
It's also been a little quiet because the whole team have been in Vila, meaning the workload is spread between a bunch of us.
So today we had the chance to all go to wharf to load a ferry that's taking some of our project materials down to Tanna and Anatom. We are shipping rice and seeds to the school on Anatom, and a whole range of things to Tanna: fishing boats, reels, rope, fuel, seeds, jerry cans, solar powered freezers, even hygiene education brochures in Bislama.
We also put three of our team on the boat as it's the cheapest way to travel between islands, and we had it on good advice that if we sent valuable materials on this service, it's good to accompany them. We've been winding the guys up all week - it is a bit of a rust bucket that they're on - but I think we're all secretly jealous. It will be a bit of an adventure, and certainly more interesting than some of the government meetings I find myself in.
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