F A Q

How do I volunteer with you?

Register your interest online here.

Where on “Google” earth are you?

SWAP HQ is located just off Falelauniu Road, just off Aleisa Road East. Travelling West out of Apia towards the airport, take the first road on the left past the Mormon Temple. Stay on this road (passing through Lotopa and past the Papaseea Sliding Rocks) for 4.3km. Turn left into the main Aleisa Road at the intersection by the big Catholic Church (currently being rebuilt). Turn left into the Aleisa Road and travel another 4km up the hill. Turn right at the Tafatafao turnoff, and take the first road on the right once you are at the top of the hill (Beside the concrete water tank). Travel 400m and turn into the first sideroad on your right. We are the third property on the right.

See also the interactive Google Map below.

What’s your set up there?

Imagine living in a mixture of camping, bach and backpackers. The lounge, eating and cooking areas are like a beach camp or holiday bach, actually an open-walled high lean-to against a 40′ container. Accommodation is like an open-walled carport, with tarpaulins for walls (when it rains or if you want a bit of privacy). Walls in Samoa are a problem because they stop the refreshing cooling breezes wafting through. We will be building our new multi-million dollar headquarters (not) shortly.

What do you pay for and what don’t you pay for?

Here’s the cool part. Depending on your skillsets, SWAP provides accommodation, food, computers and all SWAP related transport – like airport transfers and field trips. Sweet! SWAP doesn’t cover our booze and personal stuff like nose-powder and mosquito repellant but that’s all cool. We’ve tried to get the local Vailima (beer) off the boss but it that hasn’t worked out so far!

They say it’s warm up there . . . ?

Yes

Well, so what is the weather like?

Warm

Are you trying to avoid answering the question?

Yes

So what *IS* the weather like then?

Warm. Very warm.

*&*^*%*$**(*)*(%^&*&!*!*!*!

OK, OK it’s a balmy 26, sometimes 28 – but that’s only at night. Then she warms up around about 10.00am to a pretty regular 30 degress, sometimes more. The afternoons are always humid. The humidity, especially during summer, drains your energy and you will not want to do anything from early afternoon on, so you’ll sleep and have a couple of cold showers throughout the day. It’s lovely from the evening until midnight when the boss’ curfew kicks in and we’re all lights out regardless of whether we’ve finished the “last post” or not!

What is there to see and do while I am there?

Oh come on this is a South Pacific island paradise! What do YOU WANT to do? We’ll start our business with a visit to Aggie Grey’s Resort – the largest and newest resort on the island. You’ll need to test the enormous pool of course and the swim-up bar that will server you with a Vailima (the local beer). Then we’ll slip you down to the markets and the seething mass of black humanity, taxis and buses to give you a culture shock, and grab a pineapple, bunch of bananas or pawpaw from the markets. After that the sky is the limit – mountain tops, valleys, bush, waterfalls, swimming holes, beaches, boats, resorts, businesses like shops or car rentals, village experiences, Tsunami visits, government departments, the fish markets, the flea markets, the produce markets, a bus ride, taxi ride, Samoan corner dairy shop, building supplies, the Land registry and more . . .

What is this SWAP thing?

The Samoan Web Ambassadors Programme. It’s Dennis’ really cool idea to get bloggers and Internet marketers up here and ramp up the online marketing post-Tsunami. He wants to put Samoa on the Internet map and really crank things along. He and his wife Debbie set up a Samoa Charitable Trust with the authorities as well.

Is there any free time/time off?

Excuse me? You want time off from a holiday in paradise? Of course you can have time off but you won’t want to. We’ll then have to stop having fun; stop driving around meeting people; stop chatting and planning and conceptualising; and stop sitting on beaches under coconut trees and blogging, programming and doing photos. We could also stop sitting around the 5 star resort swimming pool as well. So while “work” is non-stop here, it’s usually better to just “go with the flow”! Aim to have a break when you get home – you’ll need it after a stint in Samoa!

What kind of food can we get?

There’s a Big Mac in Apia – yes there is, truly! And a pizza outlet too! Many take a mixture of Palagi style with Samoan ingredients. Rice and chicken is a regular. Taro for the brave. Tropical fruit like bananas, pineapples, pawpaws, lichees, avocados and suchlike abound but ice cream, milk and chocolate are all off the menu. Every now and then (OK like every weekend) we’ll head out to a restaurant or grab a local BBQ – but we all pay for our own. If you have special food or dietary requests we will do the best that we can to oblige but you will need to let us know in advance and pay for this yourself.

I’m not religious

Then sorry you might not fit in here very well! They go to church three times a week and twice on Sunday. Services are three hours long and in Samoan. Every now and then you might recognise a tune or a word but there are no OHPs or hymnals and prayers last about 20 minutes each. Oh and you’ve gotta tithe and they record it then publish the results. If you’re a Palagi then you are exempt from all this of course and you can do whatever you like. If you’re in a tough village somewhere rural you might have to be good and stay home and not swim in the river or sea, but in the tourist areas you can do whatever. Dennis has a strong personal Christian faith but doesn’t go to church here so as long as you keep away from him you’re perfectly safe! If you do go to church, you can sneak out of the service at any time. The locals wander in and out of church all the time too. If you are religious – good on you. There are 1,489 churches here awaiting you to grace them with your presence and accept your talas. If you don’t come, no worries, they’ll come to you. The church up the road sets their PA system to something close to “public broadcast mode” every morning at 8.30am so you can just lie in bed and sing along if you know Samoan.

So what should I bring?

Light clothes. Short sleeves not long. A $10.00WST lavalava will keep both guys and girls cool day and night. They’re like an overgrown handkerchief that you will use as a skirt, blanket, towel or towrope depending on where you are and what you need it for! No jumpers, sweaters longs or blankets needed. Multiple changes of underwear, plus togs and a couple of towels. Sunscreen and insect repellent, headache pills if you’re susceptible to heat headaches, sleeping pills if you are an ultralight sleeper and dogs, roosters, thunder or lightning stop you sleeping and make you miserable to be around the next day! Anti-fungal cream/powder if you’ve got sensitive skin or sweat a lot in heat. You’ll use your sipper bottles heaps and your camera will work overtime. A notebook computer is a bonus and will get thrashed (when the Internet is working of course!) Power is 240 volt, NZ connectors. Paper doesn’t work here. It’s humid and gets dog-eared within a day. Jandals or sandals and no hot sox and shoes. A cellphone with a SIM card slot if you want to do be able to do the ET thing! SIM cards are supplied locally – no need for roaming. You can’t afford it and nobody can get it to work here anyway! Shopping is easy – imagine corner dairies everywhere, and small supermarkets in the larger centres. Touristy stuff in the cities. Chemists, doctors, lawyers, pigs, lizards, gheckos, centipedes, cockroaches and most wildlife are all within easy reach!

What do you expect of me when I am a SWAP Ambassador?

Just a few little things . . .

1. Blogging. While you are here, we expect a blog post per day on your experiences in Samoa, usually around 300 words, although this can be as little as 100 words of bullet points if you need us to help you with Wordsmithing. Facebook is a bonus, not counted!
2. Wearing the SWAP uniform when in public. A SWAP Ambassador position is high profile in Samoa. Samoans are a proud people and are naturally curious about visitors, especially SWAP Ambassadors. They want to meet you, talk to you, ask about your life and wearing the SWAP uniform is an honour, that gains you respect in this society, as well as opening doors. Sometimes you will have high-profile meetings or media exposure, and that is all part of the SWAP experience. The uniforms are very smart; also nice and cool to wear. Men don’t naturally like a lavalava, but you get used to them after a day or two. Just pretend that you are Scottish for a while, and you’ll be fine!
3. Photo sharing. We expect that all photos you take while here are shared with the SWAP team and offered to us for use royalty free. (In return we do the same for you and you can take copies of all or any of our photos)
4. Being part of the SWAP team. Sometimes we need help with construction. Other times with web journalism. Other times we may have a project on – a building, or a social event that we are working on. We expect our volunteers to join in and participate as best they can. “Oh sorry, I’m off [to see my aunty] or [have a party] just as the team is planning a team event doesn’t go down very well with us!

Will I know what I am doing beforehand, or will I just be told what to do? or Do you tell me what I have to write about?

We always talk about what we want to do as a team first and try hard to fit your interests and requests into our plans but in Paradise, really it is sometimes hard to predict what will be happening from day to day. Flexibility is CRUCIAL in Samoa, and if the PM or a Minister can or wants to see us this afternoon, our plans will change and we oblige. We do NOT tell you what to write about. If you have writers block, or are not up to producing polished web journalism, we have ways of extracting, oops, we have ways to help you share things that are important to you about Samoa in a way that others will find interesting. Some Ambassadors have found a simple question and answer “interview” helpful and have been amazed at what polished copy our Editors have achieved for them.

I can feel it in my bones

Yeah yeah yeah – we all get caught up with this Samoa/Paradise/Tsunami thing eh? Being able to make a difference also tickles our fancy eh? If you want to stay on and get serious up here, you’ll know within a week or two of arriving. It takes a while to slow down, get used to things, work out both sides of the equation – the good and the bad, and work out what you really want to do. If you do want to stay on and help then this is perfectly possible. We’ll help you get the right permits and make things happen for you. Best to just pop up and see what its like first. No amount of blabbering here can really give you the right take on such a rich cultural experience!

Register your interest now and we’ll very likely see you soon!

SWAP HQ – location  on Google  Map: