Just a few of kilometres out of Martinborough on a rural road, you may have noticed a cluster of buildings that look a bit like a small village. These buildings house, at times, up to forty-eight people.
Being curious to know who lives there, I recently visited and met some of the inhabitants. I spoke to Roneri from Vanuatu and Manu from the Solomon Islands.
They are seasonal workers employed by Craggy Range under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
They are staying here for seven months before returning to their islands for five months. For Manu, this is his second visit and for Roneri, his fourth. I asked them what they like most about being here and they told me that they liked the friendly people here, especially the Craggy Range crew. Roneri is very keen on fishing and whilst he is here, he goes down to Lake Ferry when he can. He says that sometimes he catches huge amounts of fish, like 95 Kahawai one day and other times nothing. Back home he fishes every day and his catch is more regular. He always brings home something.
But, of course, the purpose for coming here is to earn money. Back home it is very hard to find paid jobs and any that they do get are only for short periods. The money they receive here is sent home and used to build houses for their families, pay school fees for their children and even, occasionally, to purchase a boat or a car.
I then asked them what they miss most from home. They told me that it was the food, especially the different types of bananas, taro, cassava and yams. But it was the special taste of food cooked on the fire that they miss most. However, their eyes lit up when they talked of how good the ‘chicken and chips’ were here. So quick and easy to get from just down the road in town. It’s good to know that there is compensation for what they miss from back home.
“The first workers were accommodated in a house on the vineyard and then two years ago the purpose-built prefabricated units were brought onto this present site.”
The vineyard manager for Craggy Range, Anton Stadniczenko, is proud of the workers. “They are very devoted to their work in the vineyard,” he tells me. He’s also very proud of how the RSE scheme has developed here over the last five years. “The first workers were accommodated in a house on the vineyard and then two years ago the purpose-built prefabricated units were brought onto this present site.” He likes the way the accommodation is separate from the vineyard and how the area has been planted in native trees to make it an even more pleasant place to live.
Sue Carlisle, the RSE workers’ Pastoral Care Co-ordinator, was once a Craggy Range vineyard worker herself and still does some of this work. But now her main job is concentrating on the welfare of the Solomon and Vanuatu workers, helping them with finding a doctor or dentist, or facilitating a way for them to transfer funds back home. However, they mostly look after themselves, buying their food from Martinborough village and doing the usual housework required for communal living.
The ones who have been here before, guide those here for the first time.
I asked Manu and Roneri how the two island groups get on together. They tell me that they have different customs but relate to each other well. “After all it’s only six hours by boat from one end of the Vanuatu archipelago to the closest Solomon island.” The pidgin English they each use is slightly different but easily understood by both. There are, of course, many differences between each of the numerous, vastly spread-out islands in both the two groups.
I left the village feeling that the RSE scheme was in good shape here in Martinborough, working equally well for both the workers and the vineyard owners.
