SERVICE vs SINGLETON

Round 1

*Starting strong with a left hook to Singleton!*

 

I got a call from the Provincial Office today that the Minister of iTaukei Affairs is coming to our village (happy cry) tomorrow (stress cry) to evaluate our preparation for a $10,000 FJD grant. In the two months before this, we needed to secure a 25% community contribution of labor and river gravel to prove our capacity for this project.

Sigh… With a generous estimate, we maybe got like half of that to show?...

Not to mention, I'd already booked a stay that afternoon in Suva¹ to meet up with our cohort. Unfortunately, this gut punch to my morning schedule will triple the cost of transportation to the city and decrease the time I spend with friends. To be honest, I had already three-quarters of a mind to cancel my trip altogether, but the peer pressure chokehold just wouldn't ease up.

If I knew this weekend was going to be this chaotic, I wouldn't have stepped up to travel for a Labasa² Conference with Provincial Representatives. Like that's 4 extra days of wrangling that I don't know if my body can handle....

Ha! Yeah, who am I kidding? I've been training up and down these mountains to get in a ring like that. No one's backing out here.

*And that's the end of our opener! The moves are coming in hot with surprises - Can you tell who's winning? Who’d you bet on?

 

Singleton? Or the professional and social obligations of her Service…?*

Round 2

Luckily, Friday gave us a great event with the Minister and a fun evening with the Mighty 97's.³ Saturday did hit us with a one-two combo of missing phones, but I bounced back with village church on Sunday, drinking grog with a few neighbors, and waking up at 4:30am to pack for my Monday morning departure to the airport.

At this point, I'm starting to lose hold of my balance though. The 4-hour bus rides between Suva and Nativi were crucial breaks between the swings of Service, but catching my breath also didn't heal my bruises.

*Ugh oh - it's not looking too good for our young volunteer... all that running around, gassing her out...

 

Service is putting Singleton to the test tonight...*

Round 3

*And woah, there she goes! Singleton dashing out of her corner, full-out swingin’!!*

 

The Labasa Conference got me in my zone. My language skills were making marks. My year of training is starting to show. The government reps had an idea of who the Peace Corps was, but I know they didn’t expect what we came with.

I have a team behind me, firing me up to go all in. Coach Filipe sparked an idea to really wow the crowd, but the technical show we gave the room was beyond even what I imagined. I started to facilitate a project design tool we did in my village a couple of months ago, and in a spontaneous decision, tagged a Provincial Representative to co-facilitate with me. I felt it - the energy. The room was shocked by what I asked, but that’s what we needed. A visceral experience of what a Peace Corps Volunteer really does in their community. 

In a delicate balance of teamwork, Rep. Solomoni and I played off each other’s strengths by bringing everyone together to analyze a meaningful social problem. Yeah, there were a few missteps, and not every strike landed in their minds, but what the audience witnessed were fruits of the Peace Corps' labor, strengthening their volunteers to value all-in collaboration.

*With Singleton’s energizing win in Round 3, the crowd is buzzing over these next two rounds. 

 

Will Service try to knock her off her feet again? Does Singleton finally have control of the ring?*

Round 4

*Aaaaaaaaaand Fiji’s limited supply chain strikes again!*

 

Peace Corps Volunteers are heavily discouraged from traveling at night, so I had an extra night in Suva after my flight from Labasa. This wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, but it was paired with a surprise jab - I mean job - from the Peer Support Network (PSN). 

To celebrate March birthdays, I went on a 2-hour run around the city looking for postcards. You would think that a tourist destination like Fiji would be filled to the brim with mailers of palm trees, sandy beaches, and a variety of fresh fruit, but every store I went to recommended another store that - ha - also needed to recommend another store.

As the clock was counting down to sunset, I hopped in a taxi to the Fiji Museum in a last-ditch effort to recover this round. 

I’ve made it this far - I gotta get this… I gotta get this...

*And there she goes folks - she’s got it! Three postcards in hand, Singleton outthinks another challenge by Service. 

 

It’s lookin’ like our fighters are 2 for 2 so far; man what a show!! The Champion of the week will be determined in our Final round of this match-up.

 

Who will come out on top? Who will win it all?? 

 

Peace Corps Service with their erratic movement? Or scrappy Singleton who just keeps going?*

Round 5

After another 4-hour bus ride and a small meetup in town, Service brings me and 3 other volunteers to a hotel in Rakiraki,⁴ a stay necessitated by flood-related issues. Paired with a couple more jabs from PSN - this time successfully numbing my brain - we spent the evening and the following morning finalizing our programming plan.

A brief intermission for lunch separates me from the group, but not without a promise to meet on the 4pm bus back to the villages. After a couple more hours of work, interruptions from drunk hotel guests, and an end to a long important phone call, I finally catch a few missed text messages…

“Hey we are probably gonna take the 3pm bus"

“We've heard rumors that neither the Burelevu nor Nayaulevu bus are running”

… Oh no…

“We are on bus niw”

I check the time and fall to the floor with a staggering side sweep.

It's 3:40pm.

I look at the rain outside and suspire; it’s 7 times gloomier than it was 30 seconds ago...

“Do you know how you're getting home?”

Typing with a mild attempt to guard my disappointment, “Sit outside, wait for a bus, hope for the best ahaha”

Maybe I shouldn't have dodged that 50-year-old Turkish man who attempted to roll with me out of the blue. It was definitely a foul, but a more desperate competitor might've thrown a fight for a free meal and hotel stay.

I lug my bags outside and sit under the hotel's signboard. I look to my left... and I look to the right. How do I even know if another bus is coming?

“Here take this.”

One of the staff members came up to me and offered me his umbrella. I respond in Fijian,

“Oh no thank you, you should use it.”

Meli replies, “Come on use it, it's alright. I'll take it back when your ride comes.”

Dude. What a guy to have in my corner.

I thank him and continue the conversation. I found out he stays in a village 20 minutes away. He finds out I'm staying in Fiji for two years. Surrounding spectators start to join, energizing both of us with questions, jokes, and belly laughter.

This week was a proper head-to-head between me and the unpredictable moves of Peace Corps, but this, alas some calming relief. An easy cross-cultural connection helping me see that Service, always ready to knock me off my feet, will also extend a hand to pull me off the ground.

My mind drowns out the arena now and amplifies my inner voice.

They made me stronger with every bout. The battles… the heartaches… the chaos of never knowing what’s coming next. Reinforcing how our brightest gems are the ones crystallized under pressure.

I hop on a random bus back to our main junction and then split a taxi with another friend. My last pass through the mountains for at least a couple of days, and I can't stop smiling out of the window.

Like any worthy opponent, they gave me something to strive for… Something to get hurt for…

I’m locked into my opponent and see the depths of their being. “I’m humbled by your demands and honored by your teaching.” 

I look in the eyes of Service and reach out for a concluding dre.⁵

“Yeah, we're doing that again someday.”

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FINAL: Service vs Singleton, NO CONTEST

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1. Suva - the capital of Fiji and the headquarters of Peace Corps Fiji

2. Labasa - the largest town on the island of Vanua Levu (a 40-minute plane ride from the capital of Viti Levu, the island I live on)

3. Mighty 97's - the nickname staff gave to our volunteer cohort, Group 97

4. Rakiraki - my nearest shopping town, located in the Province of Ra

5. dre - a physical greeting similar to a handshake that relies on two opposing hands that'll pull each other's fingers back with a snap to the palm