Vasemaca Rarabici Tribute

Va Rarabici with her daughter, Annie. Suva, Fiji, April 2008. Betty Oala, SeaWeb

Vasemaca Rarabici joined SeaWeb in early 2007 after a successful career as a journalist in Fiji, where she worked for the three local daily newspapers and rose to the rank of deputy editor of the Fiji Sun and later the Sunday editor of the Fiji Times. At SeaWeb, Va discovered a powerful outlet for her love of her islands and for her well-honed communication skills. Indeed, despite a prolonged illness, Va’s passion and dedication helped build a foundation for SeaWeb’s success in the Asia Pacific for years to come.

For those who knew her, Va’s powerful personality and energy were inescapable. Va was a force of nature–a bright, laughing, creative, determined force. And that laugh was loud, wonderfully loud, and infectious. Even if you got used to it, it still caught you off guard with its abundance of energy and joy. Indeed, Va was a rare person: intense yet lighthearted, focused yet free-spirited, she inspired the people around her and held our Asia Pacific team together.

Va accomplished much. As the heartfelt messages from our partners in Fiji illustrate (some comments enclosed below), people deeply appreciated her work and her efforts. With Va’s guidance, community leaders, scientists and government officials in Fiji have become stalwart spokespeople for the oceans and for protecting Pacific places and traditions. While SeaWeb as an organization is skilled in communications, we were not experts in the culture of Fiji. When our Asia Pacific Program first began, Va’s understanding of what would resonate in her home islands and her many strong relationships in the communities made this program successful.Truly, Va has helped elevate the discussion of ocean issues in Fiji at a phenomenal pace. We have never seen as much media coverage of ocean issues in Fiji as we do today.

Va’s work has also elevated the respect for Fiji and its efforts to protect its environments beyond her islands. SeaWeb brought journalists from Papua New Guinea to Fiji this past year to see examples of marine conservation success. And she has helped community leaders from Fiji visit places like Hawai‘i, where they have helped Hawai‘i’s people find solutions to their own ocean challenges by learning about Fijian traditions and ocean practices. In addition, Va was instrumental in ensuring that a Fijian journalist attended the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) held in Florida last year. All in all, she has raised awareness around the world of Fiji’s success by helping the people of Fiji tell their stories to wide audiences.

Perhaps what impressed us most of all about Va is that she always understood that what we do is not only about ocean life but also about people. She understood so well that preserving the marine environments in Fiji would help preserve the culture of Fiji. She understood how closely its traditions, land and sea are intertwined. Va loved working with these communities.

Va did not have the years and years to achieve all the great things we know she would have. But what time Va did have, she filled up completely, and she did achieve great things, every day. We are deeply proud of what Va accomplished and what she taught us. Her life reminds us of what we truly work for–certainly, for the oceans but also for the love of one another and our shared journey.

With that in mind, we at SeaWeb are resolved to remember Va by what she taught us about strength in adversity, about engaging people passionately and respectfully, about the importance of our communities and about finding joy in our work and lives. And she taught us the impact just one radiant person can have, even in a short time.

We hope that when you hear of the Asia Pacific Program’s good work in the future, you hear the echoes of Va’s good work in it. Va helped build the SeaWeb’s foundation in Fiji and the Pacific and every success we have from this day forward, we owe to her talent and passion for the Pacific.

We will always be grateful and we will always strive to honor her name in all that we do.

Va (right) with her SeaWeb coworkers, Alumeci Nakeke (middle) and Betty Oala at a dinner in one of the Fijian villages during a journalist exchange program. Betty Oala, SeaWeb

Reflections from From Va’s Friends and Colleagues

Please e-mail Asia Pacific Program Manager Scott Radway if you wish to add your thoughts to our memorial Web page at sradway@seaweb.org.

Va was a wonderful person to work with. Her smile and contagious laugh could light up a room. Her wealth of experience, professional attitude and dedication to her work–despite her sickness–helped spread the message of conservation in Fiji. Working with Va was an absolute pleasure, and she will be missed greatly by all who came to know her as not only as a colleague but as a friend.

We at the Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Area Network were personally honored to have worked closely with Ms. Vasemaca Rarabici of SeaWeb. She always went out of her way to assist FLMMA in promoting and raising awareness of the work we were doing.

She was also instrumental in getting the journalists from PNG to be part of the Traditional Leaders Exchange Visit that occurred in April 2007. Together, we visited FLMMA sites, and we got the first-hand experience of sitting with the community leaders and participating in activities in the community such as snorkeling in the MPA.

She was also very supportive with our Communications and Awareness Working Group, working closely as our Vice Chair Lady. I personally enjoyed working with her, as she was always vibrant and optimistic, even when things seemed gloomy. May she rest in peace and hope to meet you again!

–Margaret Tabunakawai-Vakalalabure, Senior Fisheries Project Officer; FLMMA Secretariat, on behalf of FLMMA’s partners and communities

Even among friends, she was never short of stories and always saw the funny side of life. Often when people die, many good things are said of them. But in this case, the good things are what I remember and many will agree with me. The bad times to Va were often funny in hindsight.

If there is one lesson I take from the life that Va lived it’s this: Do not worry too much about what other people may think of you. What matters is your own road to achieving what you set your heart on. And while you are achieving your dreams, don’t forget to have fun.

Goodbye, Va. While your life on Earth may have been short, the mark you’ve left has been truly amazing. Until we meet again.

–Ricardo Morris, Freelance Journalist, Fiji, an excerpt from his eulogy at Va’s funeral

Va was so full of life and energy and that is how, despite her illness, she was able to accomplish all the work she did. I met Va for the first time in early 2007 when she and Liz Neeley, former AP Manager, came to Papua New Guinea to interview me for the job that I'm in now. After that, Va and I grew to know each other more through e-mail and phone calls. I next met Va in April 2008 when I took six PNG journalists to Fiji on a SeaWeb Journalism Exchange Program to tour Locally-Managed Marine Area sites in Fiji.

Through it all, I came to know Va as a very headstrong person, and someone who gained the respect of the communities and the Fiji LMMA Network and its partner organizations. Although she wasn’t able to take part in the boat rides, the diving and the sightseeing tours because of her condition, every speaker at each gathering acknowledged Va and her strength in making the Journalism Fellowship Exchange program to Fiji a reality. I admired her for her courage, and when I told her, she just laughed it off! That's Va – to her, it's all in a day's work! Farewell, my sister and friend. I will miss you dearly.

–Betty Oala, Papua New Guinea Program Associate, Asia Pacific Program, SeaWeb

She was a champion of the underdogs–she fought for the weak and underprivileged and brought out stories of injustice whether it be in the sports, government, social, economical and cultural spheres. In her meteorological rise in the world of journalism, I always silently supported and admired her. She never lost that essence of sweetness and down-to-earth nature that she had when I first met her.

She was a true shooting star. Her life, albeit brief, was spectacular, and in her death I have learned one of life's valuable lessons is not to worry about tomorrow because it will take care of itself and to work hard and live for today while enjoying life to the fullest. I also wish to thank the Seaweb family for their support and patience with Vasemaca and for being there for her and her family during her times of need and for this we, her friends and family, will forever be indebted to your organization.

From the moment I heard Va's cheerful voice over the phone I knew she had the type of “can-do" attitude for which SeaWeb, as an organization, is always searching. And as I began to work with Va more closely, I realized she always had a way of pulling workshops and community meetings together at the last minute with top-notch media professionals and renowned ocean experts and community leaders. Her passion for the ocean was truly evident in all that she did.

Her time with SeaWeb and on this planet was brief, but what she accomplished as a person and as a professional is truly immense. Va was well connected with the media in Fiji, and through these relationships as well as her networking skills and always-effervescent smile, SeaWeb was able to achieve unprecedented growth within our Fiji Islands program.

Va will not be forgotten. Her spirit and message for a better ocean and brighter future lives on within all of us.

I will really, really miss Va. I personally will miss her inspirational and motivational spirit, always teaching people to be strong, dedicated in what they do and having fun along the way. Such a person with strong positive vibes. And I know it was no accident I crossed paths with Va and we became best of friends when later we discovered our family relation. Oh, and I will surely miss her because she always loved my cranky jokes. Rest in peace tinai Annie... .You're forever in my heart. Moce mada!

I cannot believe I am writing a tribute for a former colleague, a champion of ocean issues and a friend who I bumped into unexpectedly not knowing that it would be our goodbye.

Va had an infectious smile and laugh and was always easy to get along with. I will never forget our last laugh together–it was about overfishing in the Pacific and climate change, and how so little was being done by the powers that be. Vasemaca, there is an empty space and a much greater hole in our lives without you.

Va and I worked together for only nine months during which she was guiding me and sharing her knowledge. Our work was also mixed with jokes and laughter, which made it easier and fun. Va and I also shared our personal lives and problems, and I watched her struggle with her sickness, which she would just brush it off as, "I'm okay....it's just my leg and my right arm and this cough." But her limbs were weak after she suffered a stroke.

Last November, in Washington, D.C., at the annual staff retreat, she was so energetic. I thought she was going to be tired, especially after the long flight and chilly weather. Never! At the pre-retreat tour, we had to put her in a wheelchair at the Capitol building, but she would never let us take a picture in it. She said, "I don't want to be seen in a wheelchair because I am not crippled!"

I could go on and on about my experience with this strong woman from Ra. I loved her because she was always outspoken and headstrong. She often admitted, “I will fight for anything that I want and will never give up easily.”On our last week together, I could see that she was tired, which she also admitted, and encouraged her to go on leave. Well, I didn't know it was to be forever. Va I hated you for leaving but you needed to rest. We’ll meet you on the other side.

The Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) efforts gained a big boost in terms of awareness and dissemination of information to the wider public by Seaweb through the two hard-working ladies, Va (as we like to call her) and Alumeci. The recent passing of Vasemaca is a big blow to the FLMMA family, and has touched each of us deeply. It has meant the loss of, first and foremost a friend, a colleague and a fellow conservationist. Her energy, charisma and passion for her work shows in Seaweb Fijis awareness campaigns. Also, in the number of trainings that she has organized for journalists in the country.

Despite her deteriorating health, she continued to attend FLMMA communications meetings among other meetings, and still promptly replied to emails. Her contribution is invaluable. She will be sorely missed. It is our prayer that God's peace, which surpasses all understanding, be on her family, and that the Seaweb efforts and campaigns will not be dampened. And FLMMA will gladly continue our good relationship and work with Seaweb Fiji and regional.

–Ron Vave, Institute of Applied Science, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji

Va was a student of mine at University of South Pacific Journalism Programme, and later we worked together on joint USP-SeaWeb projects. She was an exemplary student who won the Islands Business International Prize for Best Feature Story at our annual student awards in 2005. It was a pleasure to work with her in her role as the SeaWeb coordinator. She was a dedicated professional who could be relied on at all times. Physically, Va's illness slowed her down somewhat, but it did not dampen her passion or commitment. She was a wonderful, courageous person.

–Shailendra Singh, Senior Lecturer/Divisional Head,
University of South Pacific Journalism Programme

I remember Va as the inquisitive young woman who would fire a million questions at me every time I reached home, exhausted from the day’s physical and mental workload. I had just started working then with The Fiji Times as a straight-out-of-school cadet reporter, so she was always very curious about the work I did as well the stories I would bring home at the end of the day.

Before the world read “tomorrow’s” news, Va was the first to hear them in our kitchen, over dinner sessions that normally lasted eons and sometimes three to four servings of boiled bele and fish. My aunt (who worked then as a radio journalist with FM96) and I would spend hours trying to convince her to try out journalism and send a job application to one of the newsrooms. She would only nod her head and flash her dimpled smile.

Later, I hope because of our words of encouragement and support, she joined the Daily Post newsroom and worked her way up to the top. She accomplished a lot and traveled the world in her lifetime. Now, her quest for travel and being the first to do everything has taken her to a place the rest of us can only be second to reach and attain.

Vasemaca was not an easy person to know, but once you got through to her, she had a lot to offer the world—and offer she did. She was a go-getter and feared no one and nothing. That was what I found most unique to Va, which so very few journalists in the Pacific today have. It was this selflessness and fearlessness that also made her perfect for raising the profile of not just marine conservation issues in the region, but also of Seaweb as a front-runner in the effort to build the capacity of the traditional owners of marine resources and of the gatekeepers of information.

I was so disappointed that Va could not be with us much longer because I know she still had so much more to give the world. But I'm thankful she was with us at all because in her short life she did so much more than some people do in 50 years.

–Lice Movono-Rova, Seaweb Sea Series 2006 graduate, Communications Coordinator, Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team

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In Memory of an Ocean Champion and Fearless Friend

Vasemaca Rarabici

Fiji Program Associate, Asia Pacific Program, SeaWeb

May 17, 1975 – December 30, 2008

Reflections from From Va’s Friends and Colleagues

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