On remote islands, diesel fuel for the village generator is delivered by barge in 50 gallon barrels. Often, transfer to the island is done on small boats.

Biofuel mills process coconuts into dried coconut meat, called copra, and then crush the copra to make coconut oil and copra meal for use as animal feed. Here, the mill site on Lakeba has dried copra ready to process.

On the island of Cicia, Nemani and I had lunch at the home of the coordinator of the Cicia women’s group. Pumpkin curry and roti, it was really nice. I received a gift of handmade virgin coconut oil.

The mill on Cicia is looked after by a family living next door. They have two children.

Our meeting at the village community hall was attended by several women.

Other villagers on Cicia took great interest in the evolving business plan for the Cicia biofuel mill.

On most islands we took the small boat to go ashore. Here is Nemani, the translator I hired and a crewman of the Vunilagi.

Our team included Joyce and Losala from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

We inspected the village generator on Cicia. It needed repair. We determined that the damage was not related to use of biofuel. They have two years of experience with coconut biofuel without problems.

Samuela greeted us at the village in Cicia.

On Rabi the villagers sell copra to a central business entity on the island at about ½ the price that the copra was later sold to the mill or to Copra Millers of Fiji Ltd. The central entity invested the profit in development projects on Rabi.

We were told that Koro was hit by Tropical Cyclone Winston, and that TC Winston was the second strongest storm ever recorded. But nothing can prepare you for what we witnessed as we disembarked on Koro.

From the first structure with its roof blown away, destruction was everywhere on Koro.

Not one home survived the winds and waves of TC Winston.

The tsunami washed over Nacamaki village and topped this church. Even concrete buildings were blown apart on Koro. Fortunately everyone in Nacamaki village survived because they climbed to the hills before the waves hit. In the next village, several people died.

The only shelter available now are shacks put together from the debris scattered about. The Australian Aid Society and UNICEF have provided tent shelters for homes and schools.

The biofuel mill lost its roof and walls, but the frame survived. Even the expeller was pushed aside from the wind. All the hardware is still functional including the generator. Now the mill structure is home to at least one family including elderly women. We had an informative meeting with the Mill Manager Iowane Bale, Supervisor Leone Mavu, Mill Operator Kameli Karavaki.

I am impressed with the calm dignity of the people of Koro, especially after everything they have been through.

We were uplifted by conditions on Gau. The mill is the best condition of any that we witnessed. It has been kept clean and all the equipment is in good condition. The mill on Gau is in the most sensible location of all, close to the village, on a main road, and close to the jetty.

Special thanks to Uraia, a mill worker who has been looking after the mill, without payment for over a year. Uraia will make a great Mill Manager.

Gau is in the best shape to rapidly get back into the biofuel business. They have two large drying sheds. This one can process 20 bags of copra, containing 25 kilo each, in two days. The other is capable of 40 bags in two days. This method of drying preserves copra product quality by avoiding contact with wood smoke. Fire wood consumption in reduced in this system with fire in the steel pipe and the shed conserves heat.

Raw copra is spread out on the wire grate. It takes two days to dry thoroughly. This drying shed can process 20 bags. A larger drying shed on Gau can process 40 bags.

We reached agreement to run Gau as a model project with District officer Revoni Vakasalu (shown here) and Chairman of the Island Council Viliame Nasere, and Island representative Kelepi Seki.

Our understanding shifted when we arrived on the island of Rotuma. They have developed the biofuel mill site into a production site for virgin coconut oil – VCO. VCO is a premium food product. The Rotuman’s are investing collected savings from the village to expand into exporting this valuable product. In this picture, I’m standing next to Penamino, who is the manager of the VCO operation. From Rotuma we learned that the mill sites should reduce their focus on biofuel manufacturing and instead make money on VCO.

I was so fortunate to be on Rotuma when they celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the coming of Christianity to Rotuma.

I witnessed a big festival at the church where each of the villages performed. It was like competition of dance, followed by a feast.