Photo credits: Jeroen Swolfs - Life on the runway Tuvalu 2009

An atoll is an accumulation of coral on the edge of a prehistoric volcano. Darwin was the one who discovered this. That is why these islands naturally have a ring-like shape. Since coral lives under water, atolls are never high above sea level, where other sediments are deposited but also easily blown away. This in short is currently Tuvalu's most serious problem. A rising sea level threatens to wipe the tiny country off the map.

From the air it is easy to see how small the island is that I'm about to land on. Through the airplane window you can see that the main island actually mostly exists of the runway that marks the backbone of the island. Beside the runway on both sides are strips of grass of about 5 meters wide. Next to the grass are the simple houses of the residents of Funafuti, Tuvalu's capital.

I've done some preliminary research on this location and have learnt that this runway also serves for other purposes than just to discharge and pick up passengers. There are three other paved streets in the capital, one of which covers almost the entire length of the island. But the runway is undoubtedly Tuvalu's traffic artery, not only because of its link with the outside world but also because of the fact that from the moment the aircraft wheels touch the ground until the moment the plane takes off, the islanders own the runway.

Since the runway covers nearly the whole island, it is impossible for the islanders to drive around it each time they have to be on the other side for a chore. Although the island only has 4000 inhabitants, sooner or later they have to be on the other side of the island. Anyone will understand that it is both unnecessary and unrealistic to control the intersection, moreover it is well known when the next plane lands. A sparkling red donated fire truck's blaring siren announces the arrival and descent of the plane. In the meantime the islanders can cross the runway by themselves, whenever they like. Which is something you rarely see in the capital of a country.

But this is only the beginning.

When the sun loses its fiery strength at the end of the tropical days the people of Funafuti rise from their daily summer sleep. Slowly but surely voices are getting louder and you can hear movement commencing. It starts with children's voices. The kids are the first to enter the grass strip beside the runway and start their daily intense ball games. Of course the groups are age-based. It doesn't take long for the runway to become a gym floor full of bouncing balls. As soon as the sky starts turning orange, adults enter the strip. They split up in teams and embark on their local version of cricket. The grass strip beside the asphalt is ideal for this purpose. A little bit further along the road a group of boys start their rugby training including a full warming up and tactical exercises, followed by a pretty rough practice match on the hard but fast asphalt. Here and there a dog leaps aside to avoid a flying ball or a kid's bicycle falls and its little owner starts crying. Chubby women in colorful robes wander across the white stripes that mark the middle of the strip for the pilots. Their bare feet on the black traces left by burnt rubber. They walk all the way until the end, or the beginning. It depends on wind direction.

At the end of the strip people have hung volleyball nets between iron poles in old truck tires. There is one net for a women's match and one net for a men's match. Behind it, where the strip hasn't started yet, a large patch of grass where another rugby training is taking place. Some kids are racing around on a kart between the nets, chased by packs of howling dogs with tits swaying back and forth. I also see an escaped boar that is pursued by the inattentive owner.

When I look ahead from that side of the strip, around half past five I see something that reminds me most of the activity on an average Dutch town's playing field on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. On the airstrip of the capital of Tuvalu.

With a running video camera I run from the "seaside" of the main island to the "lagoonside". You can't do this in a straight line because that would mean that a white guy like me would be running through the living rooms of the open huts and as a consequence all the hysteria of the women washing themselves and their children during the evening wash. There are a few corners in the course. After a short intro of a minute, it takes me two minutes to go from sea to sea.

Tuvalu is a tight community. This is clearly visible on the runway. The people worry about the serious threats the giants surrounding them are posing to the climate. Tuvalu itself produces zero CO2, but it will be the first to have to pay the price the world has laid upon them.

Go to www.jeroenswolfs.nl to see the photo reportage: Life on the runway Tuvalu 2009.