Programs Blog

Evan A

The day began as usual with the crowing of feral roosters. I took my guitar out to the hammock on our balcony to enjoy the morning view. At 0700 we headed down to the fare for breakfast. After a healthy and fulfilling meal we made the grueling trip back up the hill to the Bungalab to discuss core community values. We identified vulnerability, trust, and zest as out three core values before heading down to the library.

In the library we had the opportunity to learn from Jean Wencelius, an expert on local fisheries who has been teaching UC Berkeley students at the Gump Station. Jean told us about his work with ReCoPeM (Recherche Collaborative Pour La Pêche à Mo’orea) in working to increase collaboration between researching scientists and local fishers. He emphasized that both scientists and local fishers have an abundance of information that the other group does not, and collaboration between the two is vital for maintaining sustainable fisheries.

At noon we headed back to the fare for lunch where we finished discussing community values. We were briefly visited by a shark and a manta ray, and many of us spent some quality time with Papaya (Papaya and Goyo are two puppies recently abandoned at the Gump Station. If you would like to help them get necessary medical treatment here is the gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/abandoned-puppies-in-need-of-medical-care?utm_source=customerandutm_medium=copy_link_allandutm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet). After lunch we headed down the road to meet with Hinano and Frank Murphy who talked to us about traditional rāhuis, Polynesian culture, and the relationship between the people of French Polynesia and the government. Much like Jean did earlier, they heavily emphasized the importance of interacting with the local community when trying to make any decisions that will impact that community. Hinano also described the fascinating connection that Polynesians have to the ocean and how each family has a guardian (Hers are the sperm whale on her mothers side and the shark on her fathers side). After saying māuruuru and goodbye, we headed back to the Gump Station for a quick debrief.

Upon our release from class time, the group decided to split into two camps. One half went into town to go shopping while the rest of us went for a quick swim off the dock. We reconvened for dinner and debrief and then headed off to get some sleep for our hike tomorrow morning.

Evan A