During a recent trip to SWB, Malekula with Shawnda's parents, I realized that some might be interested in knowing about how dishes are washed in the outer islands. First, items like dish soap are luxuries (available for those who have the extra funds, but most choose to use their discretionary income on other things like rice, tea, sugar, tinned meat, or toilet paper - also "luxuries" for outer island locals). So, most people simply have two large dishpans of room-temp water sitting outside their kitchen - one for washing (the goop off) and one for rinsing (the goopy water off). They might have a sponge or small dishrag, but usually just give it a good rub with their hands. Once washed and rinsed, they set the dishes to the side to dry, where they sit until they are needed again (no cupboards or cabinets for storage).
Cooking pots are another story, as hand-rubbing and water don't get the cooked-on goop off. Something abrasive is need for scouring, and when you live on an island the best available (and totally free) option is sand. In Lembinwen Village, every evening you will see locals down by the shoreline scrubbing their pots with handfuls of sand, and rinsing them in the ocean. For those villages that are not oceanside, locals will sometimes even carry bags of sand up to their house for this purpose.
Now you know why they prefer to eat with their hands (instead of utensils) and off of leaves (instead of plates). Not normal to some, but it's been working around here for years!
Note 1: The photo of Shawnda's parents washing dishes does have sudsy water, as we always try to bring "luxury items" to the local Christians we stay with when visiting, such as those listed in this post, as a thank you for hosting us.
Note 2: One of the things that we are most "proud" of is the way most ni-Vanuatu Christian men help their wives with children, cooking and cleaning. To see Aiel helping his wife with the sandbeach-scouring of the pots is unusual in Vanuatu.
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