If Everyone Returned, The Island Would Sink by Kirstie Petrou

Author:Kirstie Petrou [Petrou, Kirstie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Emigration & Immigration, Human Geography, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781789206210
Google: RprJDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2020-02-01T05:22:52+00:00

Migrating for Other Reasons: Mobility over the Last Twelve Months

Rural Paamese may have been circulating less for employment and education, but rural-based mobility had far from disappeared. In the twelve months preceding fieldwork, less than a third (29 per cent) of villagers (35 per cent of women and 20 per cent of men) had not left the island. Some had not travelled because they had done so the year before, while others planned to travel in the coming months. For men, age and agility played a role in determining mobility, and the elderly were less likely to have travelled. For women, however, age was rarely a factor, and even quite elderly widows delighted in travelling to visit children and grandchildren. Paamese might have enjoyed living on their home island, but they were certainly not averse to venturing away from time to time.

In the same twelve-month period, two-thirds of villagers had travelled off the island at least once. Once again, their reasons for short-term mobility were gendered. Both men and women travelled to visit family, but while this was one of the most important reasons for women’s mobility, and often related to their role as carers, men travelled more for business-related matters, including attending training courses, meetings and organising stock for island based small businesses. Women also travelled for ‘work’, but this most often related to (generally church-organised) group projects; in 2010, a large group of Presbyterian women had travelled to Epi as part of the church’s outreach programme, a much-discussed trip that was enjoyed by all. When Paamese travelled for church-related business, fares were generally paid by the sponsoring organisation, or substantially subsidised or discounted, so even those with limited financial resources could participate. Conversely, some villagers who were heavily involved with the church were unable to wokbaot, as they were ‘too busy’ with church responsibilities. Church involvement therefore both enabled and constrained short-term mobility.

The location of family members, who housed and fed visitors, was significant in directing villagers’ casual mobility. Most villagers had travelled to Vila or Santo (55 per cent of moves) where many kin resided, and they could access goods and services such as education and healthcare. The few who had travelled elsewhere attended church- or business-related meetings or events, a departure from the rural-dominated moves of the past. While rural-based mobility persisted in 2011, the reasons for this movement and the destinations to which villagers travelled had altered since the 1980s when temporary mobility from Paama was largely undertaken to work in other rural destinations.

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