Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS writer.
My friends say that I’m unlucky when it comes to travelling. My luggage got lost at Vancouver airport. I caught a virus in Fiji and was hospitalised for my first four days in country. Then there wasthat time when I got chased out of the ghetto in Miami when I became separated from my mates and risked hitching a ride with a stranger to get away. Let’s see, what else? I ran over my next door neighbour’s dog in Samoa, but to be fair he was on his last legs anyway… But I’d have to say my top two ‘unlucky’ stories can’t really lead into any funny anecdotes for my new comedy show. They were however, two massive events that have had a big impact on my life.
In 2006 I was working in Fiji as a Cricket Development Officer; my dream job in an island paradise! I’d been in country for around three months, when my house mates (other Aussie volunteers) and I had a house visit by our in-country manager late at night. We were informed that there may be a Military Coup in the next few days. The Coup had been spoken about in each of our workplaces, however our local Fijian counterparts guaranteed us that it was all talk and nothing was going to happen. So we weren’t sure how to take things. Our in-country manager ensured us that everything would be fine, however to be cautious, we should pack a small bag with us to work that included our passport and anything else important just in case.
A few days had passed and our work colleagues were starting to make fun of our ‘Emergency bags’. We all felt a bit embarrassed bringing them to work to be honest, and some of the Aussie’s didn’t even bother.
Then on the morning of Tuesday the 5th of December, I was in the middle of a cricket pitch umpiring a practise match with the Fijian under 15 boys team. My boss was on the sidelines and he called me over. Our in-country manager had informed all Australian volunteers that we needed to pack our bags and meet at a church in two hours’ time. I was embarrassed to leave, especially because no one else was leaving? But my boss said that it was ok and ordered me a taxi to go home and pack.
“Miss! Miss! Where you going? We still play cricket Miss! You come back?” “Yes” I replied, “I just have to leave for a little bit, but I’ll be back”. As my taxi drove off, I saw a dozen of the boys chasing the taxi waving and smiling, they were all so happy, but I couldn’t help but feel sad.
At 2pm, all of the volunteers had met at the church where two buses were waiting for us. We’d been told that it was just precautionary to get us on the other side of the island for a few days and once things had settled down, we would all go back to our homes, our jobs and our lives in Fiji.
Free accommodation in a resort for a few days all of which was funded by the Australian Government; you bloody beauty! Half way across the island an official announcement interrupted the radio broadcast; it was the Military’s Commander Bainimarama. The military had officially taken over the government, two hours after we had evacuated the capital of Suva. We weren’t going to be enjoying a few days at a resort anymore, we were now flying home to Australia on the next available flight.
Unfortunately not all of us were able to return to Fiji and go back to work, some of us were reassigned to different countries. I was reassigned to Samoa around six months later. I’d been in Samoa now for two years. I stayed on after my 12 month volunteer position had finished and continued to work at Samoa Cricket as the General Manager. I absolutely loved it here; my job, the people, the place, it was an unbelievable experience. I did however believe that it was time for my next challenge, so was heading back home to Australia in one month’s time.
It was just before 7am in the morning and I felt another earthquake, but this one was stronger than usual. My bedside table rattled and the picture frames on my cupboard fell to the floor, smashing glass everywhere. I jumped out of my bed as the earthquake grew stronger and continued to rumble throughout our village. I ran out to the hallway, where I was met by my two house mates, each of us as terrified as the other. We ran towards the front door as I grabbed my keys and headed straight for the Ute. The ground beneath us continued to shake as though it would fall apart at any minute, sucking us into the bottomless depths of earth.
We drove out of our village and up the mountain as hundreds of kids laughed and skipped along the shaking ground on their way to school, as if it were a fun game. We screamed at them to run up the mountain or jump in the Ute, but instead they laughed at the panic and urgency in our eye as they continued to skip along the path.
The earthquake lasted nearly one whole minute, which seemed like a lifetime compared to the previous earthquakes we’d experienced over the last month that mostly lasted 2-3 seconds. As we met with the other Australian volunteers at our meeting point, ensuring each and every one of us was accounted for, the Samoans next door were laughing loudly as they headed to the bus stop and down to the town centre along the coastline. “Haha… silly palagi’s!” (Foreigners)
After 15 minutes, we received notification that a tsunami had hit the other side of the island. We froze. Tears overwhelmed each and every one of us and we quickly tried to think of anyone that may have been on that side of the island at that moment. It wasn’t long until the phone lines were down.
Crashed. No contact within the island and no contact with our families back home in Australia.
We tuned into local radio stations to find out what was going on but there was no information on the tsunami. BBC radio had more information on the tsunami than the local Samoan radio stations, but they knew very little other than a tsunami had hit the popular tourist destination of Lalumanu and other beaches.
More than 189 people died in the 2009 Samoan tsunami. Once again, we were the lucky ones.
Bobby Macumber
Comedian / MC
E: bobby@bobbymacumber.com
W: www.bobbymacumber.com