Tonight it begins. The edits are complete. The first year of Tribewanted is documented. The ups, the downs, the near misses, the tears, the smiles and the life we began to live on Vorovoro.
‘Pick of the day’ across the board its time to hear what you think of the show, starting today with Programme One.
And now British residents can watch the first episode online!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008v1c7.shtml
Paradise or Bust starts on Monday 21st January on BBC2
Programme 1.
January 2006 – the idea is born. 26 year olds Ben Keene & Mark Bowness start a business, set up a website and find a deserted Island in Fiji, they’re hoping that up to 5,000 strangers from around the world will join their ‘Tribe’ and help build an eco tourist village alongside a real Fijian tribe.
The Island has no power, no water, no sanitation and no shelter. This first programme follows the rollercoaster ride of getting this hugely ambitious idea up and running.
Managing the online project from England, founder Mark faces claims that he’s a scam artist. Whilst in Fiji, Ben has just 3 months to get the Island of Vorovoro open for business. That means getting the basic infrastructure in place, but he’s never built anything in his life, he’s got to learn local Fijian customs and he’s rapidly running out of time and money.
Will the Island be ready in time for the first visiting members?
Here are a few I thought you might like to read…
had loads of emails come in – 99% very positive and excited, and the odd one a little unhappy, universally about the pig. See below. These are the pick of the bunch.
Bula,
the first programme has just been aired on BBC1, and no doubt you will be recieving a great deal of enquiries because of this.
I have been to many of the Fijian islands and i know the people to be very genuine with big hearts. Combined with your ideas and intellect, you are setting an example for the world to follow, so whatever trails and tests you have to overcome, keep going.
This is really a letter of encouragement to continue your project no matter what happens, but the best words that can help you are all in the poem IF, so here it is.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
’ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
I watched your programme on TV last night – it was absolutely fantastic
and I think your project is a great example of a sustainable tourism
development. Its eco principles and economic development goals are
inspiring.
One disturbing thought did cross my mind however – and I feel compelled
to share it with you. With all this increased publicity and the
informal, unregulated nature of the internet – who is ensuring the most
vulnerable tribe members (the children that live on vorovoro) are being
protected?
If you haven’t already this is probably something you need to discuss
urgently with the island chief. Tourism Concern should be able to
provide some useful information.
http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/index.php?page=child-sex-tourism
I watched your programme tonight and was impressed at
your place. I did an adventure myself years back
flying to Saudi Arabia to map marine habitats in the
Persian Gulf 1994-1999. Now I am sedentary stay at
home Dad but into fruit, veg and herb gardening in a
big way, and green living.
Here’s my advice to help you make the island grow the
right way.
Besides the land resources you have there – I already
saw the piece on the herb garden – there are two
others. The first is the sea. Snorkelling is of course
already being done but I am sure it is possible to
undertake self sufficient diving there. We had our own
air compressor in south west Saudi in 1998. Does such
an air cmpressor exist which might run on say biodisel
to fill air tanks to make eco-diving possible?
You might want to get conservation volunteer groups
like Coral Cay Conservation involved in fish counting
exercises.
You also have the sky. An expat friend of mine in
Saudi used to earn a living teaching astronomy to
people in the evenings after their safaris in
Zimbabwe.
Being southern hemisphere it must be amazing down
there, the Great and Lesser Magellanic Clouds must be
fabulous there – I have seen them in Kenya.
Anyway good luck with the whole idea. I’m impressed
that you got this far.
I saw your interview on the Richard and Judy program
today and saw the pig being knifed in the neck whilst
still conscious. The pig was squealing in pain which
must have been excruciating.
As an active campaigner for animal welfare, I
understand that a lot of countries do have immoral
policies in relation to animal welfare. However, I am
emailing you to ask if part of your project is to
educate people that animals feel pain and suffering as
humans do.
I read on your website that you were concerned about
the sea turtles. However, a pig also has feelings and
deserves the same respect.
I am a vegan and do not believe in eating any animal
products.
I look forward to your reply.
+ lots more congrats to the tribe, just you lot wait for the rest of the series….
Read it the interview on Mooky Chicks
So, Monday night found a very swanky London bar awash with Hawaiian style flowery shirts, young men in sarongs, and an extremely large bowl of Kava.
Ahh… more fancy dress! I hear you cry, but no, not an extension of the fancy dress club night craze sweeping London of late, this was the opening party of the TV Documentary series “Paradise or Bust”. The series is about British entrepreneur Ben Keene’s dream to build an ecologically sustainable village on Vorovoro Island in the far away South Pacific.
Very “The Beach”, but with a little bit more forethought and based around green ideals. Everyone who has ever dreamed of doing this sort of thing, and I’ll count myself in that bag, has been watching with intense interest.
The seriously new age difference with this project, is that using the internet, tribe members who have stayed on the island can continue to have input into the community. Members vote online on issues like compost toilets, and so the tribe continue to participate via the internet, from the comfort of their own homes anywhere in the world.
I dropped by the Sway Bar for the screening to find out more, and spotting the dynamic young Ben, dragged him off down the corridor to put the environmental thumbscrews on him for a few minutes, and see whether he could stand up to a bit of awkward questioning off screen.
Is it really love’s green young dream, or just some schoolboy’s pratting about with campfires and scout knots in the sun? Having had experience with this sort of project in the past, I don’t always think they are quite all they’re cracked up to be.
As well as talking to Ben I had a chat with some of the other guests, and can’t say I came back with out finding any cracks at all. Something about some turtles, that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like the sound of if I heard the full story. But as I haven’t heard the full story I won’t judge in its absence.
Ben studied politics, as oppose to the environment, which might lead some to question his green credentials when it comes to a project of this size. However he has enlisted the help of various others, including James Strawbridge who studied Environmental History, and is now the projects Sustainability Manger. You might remember James from the BBC’s Series “It’s not easy being green”.
It’s not easy being green…
All in all Ben stood up to his 20 questions from the green militia pretty well. Here’s how it went…
First of all, congratulations on the project so far, you’ve obviously come a long way.
Thank you.
Has the project broken even yet financially?
That will depend on the sales this year, or even in the second year. We have loaned more money than I would have wanted to, and taken a huge risk However we’ve worked through enormous events such as a coup in Fiji, and other events in our own community. So I’m optimistic.
How many people do you currently have on the island right now?
We’ve got 12 tribe members and 3 members of the team. We’ve got 13 Fijians working there, so currently a community of around 30.
Do you have a waiting list to get on the island?
No, you can join today and go tomorrow. There is a capacity of 30 people on the island, so you do need to book up fast if you want to go, especially in the dry season which is from March to November.
How do you see the future for yourself on the island?
The future for me on the island and the project is really to prove to Tui Mali (the indigenous chief) and the community that what we’re doing there is long term, in terms of sustainability, financially and the community that we’ve built. We’ve got a year and a half to prove it to him.
If we get it right then it’s something that we’re going to do for the rest of our lives.
Tell me about the concepts of responsible tourism which you apply?
In terms of the people, it’s about protecting and empowering, and also making sure that they are getting fair trade and a fair wage.
In terms of the place, it’s balancing the biodiversity with the self sufficiency, so perhaps not just clearing a lot of land so you can eat by yourself, but making sure you are fishing from the sea and using the other resources available.
What’s your worst conflict and best achievement on the island so far?
The worst conflict would probably be over the fire. (The island suffered a serious bushfire in the early stages of the project, many, though not all of the tribe members evacuated, leaving the indigenous population to put it out by themselves.) I was off the island at the time, the conflict between members showed the fragility of the project. But we learnt from it.
The best achievement would have to be the friendships built between the tribe around the world and the community. You wouldn’t get that in a resort. Vorovoro’s unique in that sense.
How do you feel about people taking long haul flights to visit an eco friendly project?
Can we say we’re doing something sustainable when you look at the carbon emissions? The answer is – it’s hard to say.
What we can say is we’re doing everything we can in our destination, the island, to be green, and I think we’re doing a very good job. We’re also learning things on line with the project and the ripple effect hopefully goes far beyond the physical site.
In addition, what we can’t offset we are investing some money in to change. I’m not saying that’s the future, I’m saying that’s the best we can do now. Around 10% of the planet is involved in tourism, lets make tourism better, and then think about how we can clean up the air itself. So that where we’re at, I’m young, I’m learning, and I think we’re doing the best we can.
Tell me about the future of the project in the long term, is it just an eco gimmick or is there a full on Green Ethos behind it?
I think we need to be realistic in our lives about what green means. For most of us it’s something that we’ve learnt in a very short space of time. We’ve realised what’s important is to change our behaviour, and that’s a big big deal in terms of the mainstream of the general public.
On Vorovoro we’ve built a great model for change. We’re using things like the internet, and the BBC to spread that change. The fact is that we’re learning this as enthusiastic amateurs rather than experts. So I think the futures bright as long as you keep trying to do something different. Keep trying to bring people together, which is what we’re doing on Vorovoro.
...
So without having visited the island what we can deduce is: If you are, as many of us are, going to take a carbon spewing flight to the other side of the world, (please do not be fooled even for a moment by that carbon offsetting rubbish).
Well if you are going to, (and I did fly last year too, yes me!) This eco resort is excellent value starting at £180 for 7 nights. You will in fact probably spend a lot less than if you lounge around by the poolside for a couple of weeks, and I should guess you will learn a whole lot more.
If you want more information you can catch Ben down at Sway Bar in Holborn watching the documentary as it goes out every week. You can watch on BBC 2, Mondays at 9pm for the next 4 weeks, or visit www.tribewanted.com
Episode 1 of the BBC2’s documentary Paradise or Bust is streaming online through their iPlayer :
Unfortunately, the show is available through the iPlayer only to those viewing it in the UK. If you are looking for an alternate fix of fresh content from Vorovoro, check out Tribewanted’s video feed through YouTube , or come and see Vorovoro for yourself !
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