Coconuts

A funny thing happened the other day.  I stepped into our “local toilet” (small house over a big hole in the ground) and was quite surprised to see a coconut sitting there (no, it wasn’t “using” the toilet - just sitting there).  I looked up and noticed a large slit in our black plastic roof (we will eventually put a thatch roof on, but since I don’t know how to weave it, I am at the mercy of the local Christians - maybe next week?).  Then I got to thinking: what if I had been “squatting” at the time of entry?!?

I brought the coconut in question over to Shawnda and asked her to guess where I found it.  When I told her the story, she started laughing and said, mockingly, “Sorry, Shawnda, how did your husband die?” - “Oh, he was in the toilet and a coconut fell on his head.”  We both got a good laugh.  The moral of the story - look out for falling coconuts at all times!

Why coconuts?  Because we live in the middle of a coconut plantation.  Back in the day, Malekula was practically a copra factory, and so the island is literally covered in row after row after row of coconut trees.  We had to cut down several to build our house (“why?” you ask - reread the first paragraph!). 

Coconuts are probably the most used “fruit” anywhere in Vanuatu. There is a use for it in every stage of growth. A green coconut (young, plucked off of the tree) is great for drinking the juice - the flesh is still very soft, but edible. We didn’t even know this stage of growth existed (since our experience with coconuts prior to moving to Vanuatu was buying dried, grated coconut at a grocery store).  The next stage (when the “meat” inside the coconut has hardened), it is split in half and “scraped” out using a round, serrated piece of metal attached to the end of a piece of wood. It’s then mixed with water and squeezed (coconut milk) over any kind of local food...e.g. laplap, kumala, simboro, manioc, taro, etc. Once a coconut has fallen off of the tree and lain on the ground for a while, it begins to sprout a new tree. The “seed” inside the coconut is considered a delicacy among locals (think coconut flavored angel food cake - consistency and taste). But, the most profitable use for coconuts is in the making of copra.

Copra is the dried meat of a ripened coconut.  Though the process is quite labor-intensive, it is once again also quite profitable.  Once the dry coconuts fall from the trees, they are gathered up by hand, split in half with an axe, the meat is removed with a small piece of iron, the pieces are hauled to a dryer (small hut with a raised floor - the coconut is spread out on the floor and a large fire is made underneath - it has to be stirred over 2-3 days until fully dried out).  Once dry, the copra is rammed into large burlap sacks and hauled to the buyer.  The copra is then exported and is ultimately used to make soaps, oils, lotions, etc. overseas.  Less than a year ago (if memory serves me) a ton of copra would win you 30,000 vatu (approximately US$300).  However, due to a recent rise in demand, the price is now flirting with 70,000 per ton (approximately US$50 per bag).  As you can imagine, the copra business is booming again in Malekula, because that is big money around here. 

If one person or a husband/wife team were to try and complete a round of copra, it would take them weeks.  Instead, they have formed co-ops in which 10-12 people work together on each of their small plantations until they’ve harvested all their copra.  The plantation owner has to provide lunch, but otherwise has no expense for the labor.  They usually meet once or twice a week.  With the co-op system, splitting/shelling out takes 1-2 days and drying takes 2-3 days.  The average person ends up with 4-8 bags of copra at the end of the process, thus 20,000-40,000 vatu.  Copra is the main source of income for the locals on the island.  They use their money to buy things like rice, sugar, tea, cement, mobile phone credit, clothing, and batteries.

It will soon be cacao season (from which chocolate is made), which I am looking forward to experiencing.  I will let you know what I learn.