RUPENI Koroiyadrai spends his days caring for villagers in Nawaikalou but during Naitasiri’s bilibili-a-thon, he took on a different role helping build traditional bamboo rafts.
As the village nurse, Koroiyadrai provides frontline healthcare to 152 villagers, responding to medical emergencies, treating illnesses and administering medication.
He also coordinates with the district health centre to arrange hospital transfers for high-risk patients, often accompanying them to Vunidawa Hospital.
Beyond medical care, he promotes proper sanitation, clean water and waste disposal in the village to prevent disease outbreaks. He also participates in village clean-ups and carries out other duties assigned by the village headman.
Away from his nursing duties, Koroiyadrai is a farmer who grows dalo, cassava and bele with his family. He lives alone in the village while the rest of his family stays at their farmhouse to tend to their crops. Despite his busy schedule, he made time to help build bilibili rafts for the week-long event in Naitasiri.
The experience gave him an opportunity to learn from elders and share in the passing down of traditional knowledge.
“As youths, we have learned a lot during the building of the bilibili rafts for the bilibili-a-thon at Serea,” he said.
“For some of us, it was the first time witnessing how a bilibili raft like this was made. It was different from the standard rafts we use daily at the river.”
During the preparations, Koroiyadrai helped gather bamboo, collect vines and place thatching material on the raft to provide shelter.
He said collecting the thatching material was particularly challenging because it had to be gathered from the forest within a single day. The work however, gave him a greater appreciation of the knowledge passed down by village elders.
“I hope that in the future we can show this skill and teach our future generations because if we don’t, these traditional skills will be lost,” he said.
For Koroiyadrai, the bilibili-a-thon was an opportunity to learn from elders and help ensure a traditional skill is not forgotten.
