Education In Conflict

There is a new class emerging within the Fijians -- an educated class. It probably differs from the educated class of Western nations, having a greater proportion of teachers and professionals. Most who have traveled outside of Fiji are already in this class. There seems a difference between those who have seen modern industrial cities and those who have not. Possibly, Fiji not having television heightens this. While talking to a Fiji citizen who has been to the U.S. or England, or at least New Zealand, it is easy to guess so – although he or she is likely to tell you first. It is a great aid to communication for people to know each other's background, to "know where he is coming from," so to speak, and this is doubly true when speaking to one of another culture or nation.

The missionaries established the first schools. Some of them still operate – Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, etc. The missionaries required schools so Fijians could read the Bible. The government runs several elite boarding high schools. However, the self-run "committee" schools in the bush (such as mine) struggle to survive despite considerable government help.The balance of my school's bank account is presently zero.

The schools follow a definite course outline of syllabus dictated by the Ministry of Education. At the end of his sophomore (Fourth Form) year, the student sits for a national exam, which he must pass to continue. Internal grades have little meaning, except they may help you into a better school, or an employer might want to see them, but don't count on that—they may not think to ask. The students know there is a test they must pass in the distant future. Rather than helping, the fact it is not today seems to hinder motivation. Most students think they can just plod along now, and suddenly they will absorb everything at the last minute. Until Fijian youth develop a love for knowledge and understanding, I think the American system, with numerous short term goals and immediate reward, would work far better.

Classes are not very relevant to life outside class. Curricula are geared to facts, not foundations. I am hard pressed to tell a student how knowing square roots will help him count coconuts. Students do not change classes, teachers do--and there are no time intervals in between. Who can blame the kids for being aimless and restless? This system has features built-in to encourage it! When student resistance to classroom education is obvious (less so now – the Fourth Form "Fiji Junior" Exam is close), I ask them why they come:"It's our parents who make us, Sir." To be fair, many kids are eager to learn and want to, but do not know how, and do not appreciate the discipline required. Much of the traditional education for a Fijian is through play.They bring enough of that to class!They just don't understand why play in the classroom does not translate into academic success or a good grade.

Child labor is used at home, and again at school. The happy-go-lucky children are in constant fear of breaking one of the numerous, getting the "stick," and assigned extra work. Most rules have the effect of breaking their own culture. It is said a rod bent too far one way is made straight again by bending an equal distance the other way. Perhaps this justifies some of what I see and participate in.I suppose it depends upon the self-determined goal, and what do you do when the goal and the current way of life, albeit attractive, conflict? The children just cannot express themselves well in English, yet it is the national language of instruction after the first couple of years. Fijian teachers and parents tell them to be "ashamed" of speaking Fijian at school and punish them for speaking it during class hours.The irony is the extreme high esteem in which Fijian hold their own language, a language they love to speak and are proud of.In a culture where time has little meaning, punishment is the reward for being a few minutes late. The student homework load is large given the context, but once home; there is rarely the encouragement, privacy, or quiet that homework requires. The student's family will not have the needed skills to guide the child when out of class– though the parents and grandparents, uneducated in the Western way, strongly desire the result. Fijians are physically rough on each other; Europeans are not, so there is more punishment there. The children of Fiji play hard, and the roughness crosses sexual lines, and there really aren't any cliques—even Thakur, our lone Fiji Indian student, blends in to what would be one heck of a lot of fun – if not for the imposition of foreign rules.

I am disenchanted with this system. There is little positive incentive for the students. The teachers are active and the students are passive. More students will fail than pass the Fiji Junior examination essential to staying in school. Western education is needlessly negatively condition in the student population by the classroom approach and the unrealistic, even unfair expectations in the public.There is a giant push to obtain the goods, services, and even some of the ways of the West.It is assumed at all levels that Western education is the means to a better life, and that it might slip by if action is not taken, e.g. towards getting degrees.

What motivates or inspires the individual is overlooked. How to develop an individual according to his or her talents is not considered—yet this understanding is one of the reasons for the success of the West.There is no connection of the person to the result.It is a catastrophe that half the Fijian students are told, at 15 years old, they are failures according the Western mold they are taught to want. Students who fail the important, eliminating exams aren't even offered a trade school – they are denied a chance to succeed on their own terms in the foreign thinking milieu increasingly imposed on them by the course of world events. Here is Western culture, harming an aspect of another culture arguably more healthy than itself. The day of the ulcer may not be far off. The irony is that in the application of the best of Western educational philosophy, I surely a sensible, successful system consistent with the well-being of the Fijian could be constructed.I am resigned that, since application of a principle first involves its understanding, those in the trenches must let Nature's way unfold without comment.

My feelings are mixed.. If I emphasize the importance of the exam too much, it can only intensify the feeling of inferiority in those who will not make it anyway. This very large group is sacrificed for the few.I have discussed this with other teachers at my school (I am the only European) who tell me:"Well, you have to sacrifice a few." However, 50% is not a few. It is more a case of sacrificing the many for the few. Of those who do go on, it is only for a year, and a majority of those drop out at the end of 5^th form. Then there is the ultimate frustration when those who continue (or at least go through the 4^th Form Fiji Junior) find the promised jobs and great material rewards aren't there.

Perhaps none or one from a rural school as mine will go to college, let alone complete it, but that is what the big push is about, perhaps indirectly. When in Fiji, I do as the Fijians do. Fiji must see through its own social evolution. I suppose that Fiji must first acquire the material wealth and Western civility it seeks – or fail – before the system will consider alternative means and meanings of education.This is unfortunate, since I believe there are faster ways for them to get where they want to go.J. Krishnamurti says:

"There are two kinds of learning – one, acting

through the accumulation of knowledge and

experience, the other, learning without accumulation

but all the time in the very act of living…In the

learning which is accumulation and experience, profit

is the criterion that determines the efficiency of learning.And when the motive of profit operates in

human relations, it then destroys those relationships because it bring about isolation and division."

The strongest feature I see in Fijian education is this compulsion to turn the traditional Fijian mind, a product of centuries of conditioning, overnight into the profit motivated Western one. Indeed, there is a sense of urgency, even emergency, whose object is a vague wish for wealth and awareness by those in control. There is a direct assault of the Fijian status quo, the second in one century. The first was by the Europeans and this one by the Fijians themselves. The gains of the last will crease in this one, but at a price. Already alcoholism is a problem (throughout the South Pacific), and with certain religious exceptions, every adult Fijian male I know drinks to get drunk.Developing nations are attentive to the technological blunders of the leaders. As Fijians embrace new ways, may they look beyond the shiny gold plate, and see how thin it is compared to what they have already. Many Westerners lament that the Fijian healthy attitude towards life, sex, money, family, and on and on is out of reach of the West – and must be visited in a foreign land, like Fiji, to be experienced.May the Fijians invest an extra ounce of their own gold (at the Vatukola gold mines) into shoring up the onslaughts on their beautiful psychology.

Ethics In Conflict

One result of education is an increase in personal responsibility. Another is a decrease in misconception. I am about to make a generalization, but it points to the greatest adaptation I have had to make in my time in this village (like all blanket statements, it has exceptions).Here it is:The Fijian disregard for the truth. The "bluff." The examples I cite will sound common, as exceptions, anywhere.In Fiji; they represent a general principle. At first, I thought it was misunderstandings and mistakes, or errors in judgement. Then, I realized I was acting on incorrect information or being "lied" to in one way or another virtually all the time.To get a better handle on actual facts, I have had to take a "bluffing 'til proven innocent" stance.If some thing is important, it is better to not take it at face value, and try to get at the true, underlying, set of facts.

Example:A villager will tell you tonight, at a good price, he is bringing some dalo and bananas. You stay home especially. He turns up one week later.

Example:A student will not do his homework, tell you he turned it in, and you lost it.

Example:A teacher will forget to invite you, and when asked at the party where you are, he will say you did not feel like coming.

In a culture where you keep what you borrow (kerekere), perhaps it should not be a surprise to find that the bluffing person knows he will be found out. When he is, there is no sign of what a Westerner might call guilt. You get a smile.

J.G. Wood speak to something like this over 90 years ago:

" The Fijians are even more devoted to cannibalism

Than the New Zealanders...A New Zealander sometimes

feels ashamed of mentioning the subject within the

hearing range of a European, whereas it is impossible

to make a Fijian really feel that in eating human flesh

he has created an unworthy act….Indeed he dislikes

the European for wasting such a luxuriant food…"

Perhaps an exaggerated statement from a biased European commenting on Fiji and the Fijians from an armchair, but it makes the point.

Perceptions In Conflict

I am as subject to misconception as anybody, and I like to explore my own, as well as others." In Fiji, there are some interesting conceptions that just don't fit the facts.

As examples, (1) A Fiji Indian friend and I were discussing the American Moon Program, when he explained to me (unopposed) why the Russian program is better:"Americans send men because their machines can't do it alone – Russian machines can." I suspect a Soviet information organ somewhere feverishly promulgates this idea. (2)Students constantly comment on how they are afraid to go the U.S. because they will be killed (exaggerated reports of U.S. violence). (3)A fellow teacher was surprised when I mentioned the number of days in the week is arbitrary, and she was mildly shocked to find that many Christians days are named after Roman gods. (4)Everyone knows that the United States is the world's greatest coffee drinker, and every morning, we teachers drink hot cups of instant coffee, just like the Americans, they thought. My co-workers don't grasp that we prepare real, fresh coffee in the American home and workplace. Minor points, perhaps, but to live in a foreign land is to be in unceasing awareness that the American mind is a chasm apart from the thinking of some other cultures.I understand myself in a way that would be impossible at home, as if the contrast heightens the self-awareness.

I am reminded of the words of the Englishman, Colin Wilson, in Poetry and Mysticism:

"Europeans are surprised at the American housewife's [common] use of abstract words…".

And I caught part of an interview on the short wave:

"In England just don't understand how something like a Psychology Today Book Club could be a success as it is in the U.S.It would never get off the ground here."

It seems to me there is an American cultural desire to know and understand (and control) the human condition that few other societies share.Although I do not know if that is good or bad (I think it may be neutral) I do know it makes for radically different approaches to the problem of living.

Religions In Conflict

Fiji is drenched in religion. Religion exerts here the same divisive force it has generated in the world since Adam begot Cain. Christians do not mix much with Hindus, or Hindus with Moslems as far as I can tell, except in professional obligations or economic intercourse. We have a government employee club which meets one night at week to drink kava (yaqona or "yangona").All ethnicities (and virtually all combinations of ethnicities) and religions are present. We love it. We know it is special, and unusual.

What is not expected is the very strong in fighting between Christian sects. It is not uncommon in my Methodist village to hear such things as "It would be all right if it wasn't for the Seventh Days" and the like. Yes, a neighboring village is composed predominately of Seventh Day Adventists.It is tabu to smoke, drink alcohol, or drink yaqona or have a caffeine-containing beverage there. So, certain male and female members of that village virtually live around ours in the evenings or weekends – and smoke and drink alcohol or kava and coffee or tea.

Our only local shop of any substance (many are temporary, fly by night experiments in the village) is down on the main road between the school and the village. The shop is owned by an S.D.A. Fiji Indian of Hindu origins and operated by him and his family. He is the object of much scorn, partly because he won't sell tea or tobacco, much less beer or beef -- things in great demand by a Fijian.If he did not have a local monopoly on twin pops and butter (he has the only refrigerator-freezer in the vicinity), I think the villagers would boycott him. I think the wish to not do business with this shop owner accounts for many of the pop up village enterprises.In the final analysis, I think it was personal religious antagonism that enabled the former chairman of the school committee to justify withholding (for two years now) $100 owed to the shop for construction materials.The reason given is that the shop owes $17 to the school in cement (the cement was delivered, but hard on arrival).Being friendly with both men, I found myself in the role of intermediary.Armed with two air-tight solutions, each chose the opposite one, then both -- to satisfy me.Yet neither would take a single action to resolve the situation. I awakened from my slumber when neither budged when the road was cleared.They want the dispute.

Traditional Religion

Fijians are a superstitious people. Devils and graveyards, tabus and rituals, even today. The sorcerer could induce love, hate, jealousy, and death any time he wanted. He would simply take something of the victim's, placing it inside a section of a special bamboo only he knew, and toss it into the victim's house. The target was doomed. I have no doubt this ability and these affects are true, to the extent the victim is aware of the expected result, in what becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On the Road of the Dead, the spirits waited to see if the wife of the dead chief would come after him. Or they come after him:for each major domestic duty, the chief had a separate wife – one to wash, one to cook, one to clean, and one to plant, although all would bear his children (chiefly polygamy benefited the group by increasing the likelihood an able leader would emerge at a chief's death).A chief not followed into death by his wives was ipso facto unworthy. An unworthy chief was not allowed to complete the chiefly journey into Bulu, the Fijian pre-contact equivalent to a combined heaven and hell.Your role in bulu depended upon the kind of life you had led.There were social safeguards to look after a dead chief: first of all, a moral, duty-bound, faithful spouse by definition would accompany her husband in death.Second, there was the practical consideration of the alternative, not following a husband into death – and the living widow's guarantee of a life of insult and injury, especially from other women. Invariably, upon the death of their husbands, the women demanded their own deaths, almost immediately, by the preferred method of strangulation.

Now here is an irony: before Christianity, a warrior without blood on his club at death was condemned to an afterlife of pounding human excrement with the club. After Christianity, the penalty of hell remained the same – but the sin was reversed!You can imagine, in pre-contact days, the coward on his death bed looking for a bashable target with blood, just as the cowardly Western soldier might arrange an injury to avoid battle or go home early. In Old Fiji, even battering the head of a baby would initiate and deliver the uninitiated. With Fijian culture, Christianity, and Western culture generally, we can discern a lot of conceptual interchanging of parts as if one component is traded for another in a way that maintains psychological balance -- and social acceptability.

Are there really 200 religions with a virgin birth? These would, of course, have a central deity.Fijian religion had no central figure and virgin birth until Fijians converted to Christianity. It had, however, a story of the creation of men and women:

Degei ("nDengei"), a snake god, was lonely, and tried to entice the love of a female hawk. She rejected his advances and mated with another. Jealous and lonely, Degei watched her build a nest and lay two eggs. Degei stole the eggs and kept them warm with his own body heat. They hatched two tiny humans, a male and a female!

Being wise, Degei kept the two unaware of each other until they were mature – until he was strong, handsome, and ready to be a warrior, and she was soft, sweet, and ready to be a mother. When the time was right, Degei let them meet. They fell in love immediately. She eagerly agreed to his request that she come with him and "we will people the earth." They ran away together and lived on bananas.

When they were tired of eating bananas, they went to Degei, who told them the secrets of taro and yams and fire. Degei knew he was losing his loved ones, but munificently agreed to their love and ambition in return for the army of worshipers to come who would erase his loneliness.

The demise of traditional beliefs began with the conversion of King Cakobau.While certain similarities of the old and new may explain the rapidity or ease of conversion, it is doubtful the king's change of heart was valid.Was conversion a Machiavellian move to appease the Europeans, and a way to gain European aid in areas outside of religion?Wood describes, albeit from his armchair, a welcoming King Cakobau received at a village sometime later:

"He walked through a double row of living victims – men, women, and children of all ages – suspended by their feet, and placed there to give the king his choice.The hopeful convert was pleased to accept the offering, touching with his club as he passed along those victims which seemed most to his taste."

It pales in importance if Cakobau's thoughts on Christ and his conversion were real.Mattering more is how the act of conversion was perceived by those under his influence, which was virtually all Fijians.It should be kept in mind that Cakobau's Tongan competitors for Fiji had already made ostensible conversions to Christianity.This gave them European support and inroads to Fijians in areas hungry for the "superior" religion of the Westerner.Indeed, the Tongans would Christianize a Fijian group to fight against the Fijian "heathens"!Thus, while Cakobau paved the road which gave eventually gave the missionaries total success, he used the same road to prevail over his enemies.

Sometimes organisms and societies adopt new patterns of behavior to satisfy old requirements. It seems to me that had Christianity come to Fiji as a monolith, that is, with no sects of denominations, influencing Fijians would have been vastly more difficult. If successful, I think it would have fragmented in accord with old hostilities. As it was, I think that the selectivity offered by differing Christian branches permitted the group involved to exclude its rivals, and that this in an of itself was often the factor enabling conversion.

"Why Do We Work?"

Here is a quote from The New South Pacific.It alludes to my second main concern about the effects of Western influence on an impressionable people (the first is the possibility of a nation of "status seekers"):

" Few Fijian's aspire to business – the idea of making

A profit from one's own people is contrary to theirupbringing."

If you picture an ideal society, wouldn't one of it elements be a disinterest in reaping the benefit of another man's labor without compensating him equally? We know that compensation has not been equal where there are wealthy individuals.Even the wealth of chiefs in past and current times is seen as a way to distribute resources in the society for the good of all the people. It can be argued that the kerekere and vasu systems are less borrowing and "stealing" than mechanisms for preventing the over-accumulation of wealth. It would be a tragedy to lose this attitude.I think the Fijian heart and soul is bound up in the relationships of gifts and giving, borrowing and seizing.I don't think it is necessary for a developing and eclectic Fiji to become greedy or acquisitive to enjoy the benefits on the table before it.If this issue of business is approached not from the standpoint of taking a profit, but as fulfilling an important community role, I predict the wanted and needed goods and services will flow into Fiji on terms that do no disrupt (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx).

HERE

Relationships And Traditional Economics

A funny thing happened on the way to the West.A widespread sense of community or unity was renewed or created in Fiji with the might of the European, (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX which threatens their pre-eminence. In the days of tribal warfare, sharing was much more a tribal matter. Depending upon when you, the vulagi, or stranger, happened upon Fiji, Fijians may have treated you as a chief, with a celebration and a feast, in which you received a chief's portion, sufficient for 20 Fijians or 60 Englishmen (from a quantity of provisions of up to 50 tons cooked yams, 15 tons pudding, 70 turtles, and 200 tons uncooked yams. Puddings have been seen up to 21 feet in circumference…divide that by pi (!) if you want to know the diameter), and the best house.Or,…Well, let Mr., Wood describe what is said to be a time just before cannibalism:

"Many years ago, some strangers from a distant land

were blown the shores of Fiji and receive hospitality

by the islanders, who incorporated them into their own

tribes. It the process of time, these people became too

powerful, killed the chiefs, took their wives a property, and usurped their office." "In this emergency, the people consulted the priests who said that the Fijians had brought the misfortunes upon themselves. They had allowed the strangers to live, whereas'Fiji for the Fijians' was the Golden Rule, and from that time on, every stranger was to be killed and eaten, and every woman taken for a wife.

"Only one people was free from this law, the Tongans, who were always welcomed."

This golden rule was talked about by the old men of Cakobau's time, but this account does not explain why the strangers were eaten, and not just killed only, which would achieve the same end of Fijians for Fiji. Within Fiji, a vast and complex etiquette system arose, which was the practical equivalent of Fiji of Certain Fijians, in that transgressors would be killed and eaten. For example, if two Fijians met on the path and both did not lower their war club from their shoulders to their knees, instant battle took place.

The men of Somosomo, Tavenui paid formal tribute and respect to the men of Bau, as did the men of Bau to Somosomo's lesser men of Vuna.On visiting Bau, the Somosomo's were not allowed to enter a house for 4 days, and both during and after this time were required to walk in a exaggerated stooping attitude' they were subject to abuse and insults, and might be killed (and eaten) if they did not respond to an inquiry about their god "Yes, Ng-Guar is allowed his liberty" (a humiliating admission), humbly and half stooped.In their travels, you would expect they would skip Bau and skirt all this, but that is kalawa-ca – not stopping at a place to which you are subject- and would be killed it found out. Nonsensical? It served a purpose.It forges the same unity as our own prestige hierarchy in the U.S., which insists on signs of subservience to superior groups and exacts heavy psychological –even physical – penalties for failure to pay. The form changes, but the substance seems to remain -- and we pride ourselves on having a prettier package. We may have beat a quicker path to sophistication, but we have absolutely no reason to believe that the history of our own heritage does not contain the gamut of behavior which today we call bizarre and barbarous.

The European and the Indian created new vistas of civility for the Fijians by presenting alternatives, and giving them an interest in their own unity, thus hastening evolution, and rendering divisive customs inappropriate. Customs of borrowing (kerekere) and family relationships tend to persist, in that they have a unifying effect, and do not offend the Westerner. I don't know how strong the vasu aspect of kerekere still is, but I think that any mother's brother's son still has the right to take any possessions of his uncle's if he feel like it.Thus, the vasu of a king of chief is potentially a powerful of rich person.Again J.G. Wood:

"A striking instance of the power of the vanu

occurredin the case of Cokonauto, a Rewa chief,

who, during a quarrel with an uncle used the right

of vanu, and actually supplied himself with

ammunition from his enemies stores".

" The vasu is a hindrance to industry…An

industrious uncle builds a canoe in which he

has not made a half a dozen trips, when an

idle nephew mounts the deck, sounds the trumpet

shell, and the blast announces to all within

hearing range that the canoe at that instant has

changed masters".

Early whalers were especially welcome here, because Fijians esteem a certain part of the whale.That part is the tooth, which is highly regarded as a symbol of wealth and respect and any of the higher virtues and attributes.A piece of wood was used previously, but the animal product is clearly superior.The most prized tabua, as they are known, is the largest and the shiniest, the sheen indicating much handling.A permit is required to take one out of the country, but many will be found hanging by their sinnet cord in the pawn shops of Suva, each evidence of a destitute Fijian who gave up his last piece of wealth , possibly for beer money.I have seen half a dozen tabua presented in my short time here.Today, they are a token of mutual goodwill to a visiting or departing dignitary, but in the old days, it could save the life of one who had broken a tabu, or, save his face.Today, Fiji has a decimal monetary system (and even a 50 cent note), and the handshake is a fact, though submerged.But these means of exchange don't confer the great dignity of the tabua and its elaborate ritual.It is nice to see that for once Westerners don't have a more convenient custom to supplant this one.It is also nice to see that the Fijians don't encourage the slaughter of more whales and are content with the teeth they have.

Fijians may not display readily feelings of guilt, but they have a past of keen sensitivity to humorous embarrassment arising from awkwardness( though they expect payment.)A hundred years ago, a Mr. Williams and a Fijian were about to cross a stream on a felled coconut tree, which was wet and slippery.Mr. Williams speaks:

"Just as I commenced the experiment, a Fijian said

with much animation, 'today I shall have a musket".

I had just then to heed my more than his words, and

So succeeded in reaching the other side safely.When

I asked him why he spoke of a musket, the man

replied:'I felt certain you would have fallen in, and I

should have fallen in after you (that is appear equally

clumsy); and as the bridge is high, the water is rapid, and

you a gentleman, you would have not thought of giving me less than a musket."

Culture And Change

The changes some men have seen is astounding.Men born into the cannibal age have died in the nuclear age.My principal's grandfather died in April of 1976, and he said he was a young man at the time of Cakobau's cession to Great Britain.The rumors that he was a vegetarian proved untrue, fortunately enough, as he may not have approved the great slaughter of cattle at his death.This Fijians custom is a perfect example of the phenomenon I alluded to above:Some customs have interchangeable parts.100 years ago the cows and bulls would have been men and women.They were cooked and cut up very small – then pieces were dispersed throughout the countryside to mourners and their friends.That evening after attending the funeral (our group brought gifts of sugar bread, mats, and Cabin Crackers); I was sitting quietly at home when there was a knock the door.It was a tiny girl with arms extended, offering my share of the beef.My initial reaction, rather than pleasure at being a "friend", may have been one of alarm, had I then known only the old custom.Incidentally, had the Europeans not introduced bulls and cows (bulumakau in Fijian!); I think it would have been mush harder to eliminate dau kana tamata. ( Two returns and indent)There is concern that Fijian men are dying to early.Actually, this has always been the case, but not due to natural causes.Population has always been low in Fiji for a dozen preventable reasons, including warfare, cannibalism, infanticide, widow strangling, and child neglect…and the introduction of measles (there was an epidemic) and the common cold.Today there is a need politically for more people. And today, like elsewhere in the world, the men are dying at relatively young ages (50) of heart attacks, and the women are carrying on.

Not so long ago, drinking grog could be a deadly activity.To "come across" the tanoa bowl during a ceremony required immediate death.Enemies would sometimes be killed by "duva Kalou", or poison in the grog.But grog may be deadly today for at least three different reasons ( I am quite fond of it…it is a very weak soporific which simultaneouslymakes one to gnash his teeth, feel heavy, feel hungry, but feel mellow too.Our doctor cannot sleep well at night if he doesn't drink it): First to the inactivity of sitting cross-legged drinking it day in and day out by those several who do.Second, due to the mental activity absent when discussing the same war stories day in and day out by this same age group.Third, because grog is a diuretic, that is causes water to be eliminated.This is probably due to the high water intake, rather than any inherent chemical activity, such as that of alcohol.This dilutes the blood, and the kidneys overcompensate in an attempt to restore the balance.This would be no problem except that the water takes with it those vitamins and nutrients which dissolve in water.Of importance here is the water soluble "B" vitamins, whose deficiencies result in beriberi, and rickets, and anemia, or skin legions, known as "sharkskin".One of these effects is how many of the others are masked, and go unnoticed.Every Fijian knows what "Kani" is.This is how the New Fijian Dictionary defines it:

Kani:Scales and roughness of the skin, caused by excessive drinking of yaqona; also, the dregs of yaqona in the cup or bowl.

These men need to either get a proper diet, take a vitamin supplement,

or stop drinking grog.And quitting grog is an impossibility.

I don't think the psychosomatic factor can be overemphasized when discussing the health of this group of men.I am not referring to those many who are motivated, but to those men for whom there is nothing to do.In many cases, practically everything is done by the women, the planting and harvesting, the shopping and child rearing ( or at least by the older children).The lives of these men seem devoid of purpose, and I think its cause is an offshoot of Western Civilization, which may be overlooked:The role of the traditional Fijian male was stripped from him, and many, possibly most, never found the socially acceptable equivalent which satisfies the same needs.Perhaps an enlightened competition of an emerging capitalism is filling this pocket as new generations arise – now that the threat of physical attach is practically non-existent, save the streets of midnight Suva.

Defending Defense

Fiji needs its local Police Force, but its external defense community need not exist.Yet, its army is among the top prestigious groups.It needs no navy in the military sense, and its only purpose would be to scare off Japanese and Taiwanese fishing boats, and yachts.There are no serious threats to Fiji's territorial integrity, and if there were, Western powers would intervene in a moment.Though Fiji's commitment to a vigorous democracy is questionable, its present momentum carries it an a capitalistic path, and if you ask a student what a Communist is, he may tell you it is someone who kills babies, and hates God.Any Soviet presence is likely to be at the diplomatic level, and there is at present concern about Russian approaches to Tonga and Samoa, and the possibility of nuclear bases there --belonging to Russians.I was just told that is was Fiji, at a meeting of Pacific states in equatorial Nauru, who responded when an undesirable picture was being painted of the Russian :"They are human, aren't they?If they can help, and want to help Fiji, why should we have anything against them? (My students have an answer, albeit inaccurate.)

United States interests in Fiji are not yet great enough to justify and ambassador her, but its economic and geographic importance, and its voice in the world community (Fiji was admitted to the UN immediately upon Independence) is recognized.I feel sure that my country's aid does not depend solely on such secondary considerations, and that it is also a real love for human beings of any derivation that accounts for the Peace Corp here and elsewhere, as well as bargain basement deals in such things as ships.

The island nation of Fiji had no navy until they bought one from the United States, just this year. These two ships are obsolete, wooden mine sweepers, sold at a fraction of their original cost, but to diplomatic advantage.Fiji is very proud of its fleet, and is thinking one more vessel would round it off nicely.With 75,000 square miles of ocean to patrol, it seems hardly enough if it really intends to discourage Asian fishermen and the exaggerated non – problem of drug smugglers.

At School

Recently at school we celebrated Ratu Sukana Day by cancelingclassed and playing traditional Fijian games such as banana eating, coconut husking, and basket weaving.The doctor, our guest of honor. Was to drink a small amount of grog at the opening ceremonies, and give a speech.The preparations were being made, and I was standing alone watching, when Losana, a teacher, comes up to me:

"James, do you see that container made of banana leaves?It is the water for the special grog the boys are preparing

on this day.It is tabu to place it in any European container ….that is Fijian custom."

"I see."A moment later, Lo returns, a little embarrassed:"James, Just go look at little closer at those leaves."I go, andhidden among the leaves is a small pot of water.I was thinking how another custom had bitten the dust when I looked a little closer.These pragmatic Fijians were too clever to break the tabu – this pot was made in China!

The following week, the son of our Methodist minister was causing more disturbance than usual in my third form math class.I gave him several warnings to no avail.Finally, I paused to put his name on the after school punishment list.Amenatave could not understand why I would do such a thing."Sir, Sir", said Amenatave. His eyes skirted urgently left and right, searching to say something. "Why did you do that?" he said.I told him "First, for not paying attention to the teacher, and second, for talking to Seru" Amenatave responded, "….Yes, but Sir, Sir, why did you put me on punishment?"I ignored him and continued teaching."Sir, Sir…Sir, Sir…" he continued, with his hand raised in the air.Finally, I said, "Amenatave, if I hear you say "Sir" one more time, you will get another hour of punishment…is that clear?"As I walked back to the chalkboard, poor Amenatave implored me: "Master, Master!"I didn't let him see me smile."Master, Master," he repeated.I turned and looked at him squarely in the eyes and said "Amenatave, I don't want to hear you say 'Master' again. Do you understand?A silence let it sink in, and my normally orderly math class was on the verge of hysteria.Thinking I had things under control, I again turned my back on a desperate man.I took two steps to hear this plea:"Daddy, Daddy!"The class went wild.

A few days later, I caught Amenatave "bluffing" me.I suggested to him that the reasons Europeans don't like dishonestys that somebody somewhere is usually hurt by it, for example , the dishonest person himself (quote from my principal:"Yes, Europeans usually try to do something about our stealing.").Later, after school at my house, we had a talk on the matter.About the time I thought I saw a faint glitter of understanding in his eyes, he jumped up to shake my hand, and insist that he had suddenly changed, and I was so informed.To me, of course, this is one more bluff.Nevertheless, now Amenatave doesn't go by that name any more in class. On his papers this potential artist carefully inscribes, in his best English, his new, self-proclaimed name of "New Men".

A custom not lost is that of accompanying a departing visitor on the first leg of his journey.Once this may have been a hike along a trail, or, if departure was by canoe, the host would sail out quite far with the departee, and at one point actually jump out and swim to shore.Now, when our village doctor retired to Suva, we held a special tea of gifts and speeches at our school.It was a hot and clear day.It was time to say goodbye.There we were, 150 of us, tears, laughter, last kisses and hugs as the doctor and Mrs. Doctor , and our principal, our host, got in the car.The emotional pitch heightened as the driver turned the ignition key, and we gave a final roar.And the car wouldn't start.The driver tried and tried and killed the battery.The kids all waved goodbye as the teachers pushed the car down the hill and out of sight.The drivers of passing cars did not stop and get out and push their own cars, to share in the doctor's embarrassment, but we did manage to get the car started.When the mood was back to normal, the doctor and his wife drove off normally.The principal accompanied the departing dignitaries on the first leg to the nearby town of Korovou, said his good byes, and returned—disembarking the car as in days of old the host jumped ship and swam back to shore.Given this undying custom, I think, you can see why I was happy the doctor was not embarking by air!

A Current Assessment

Fiji is peaceful.No more is passing behind the back of a superior assumed to be attempted assassination, resulting in immediate death.Great Britain pulled out of Fiji in 1970, granting it independence and dominion status in the Commonwealth.Independence came at a time when virtually all concerned felt Fiji was ready to stand on its own. However, the politics of independence is far from straightforward.In this quasi-democracy, Fijian Indians outnumber Fijians.Yet, the British left behind, out of guilt, obligation, and a sense of fair play, a constitution guaranteeing, in effect, a Prime Minister, which would always be Fijian.

Fiji Indians have most of the money in Fiji yet still are second-class citizens.Rightly or wrongly, the British concluded that giving "one man, one vote" was giving Fiji to the Fiji Indians, contrary to the terms of Cession.On the other hand, while acknowledging the good done in terms of language, organization, and awareness, some think the importation of Indian indentured labor from British India to Fiji between 1876 and 1916 had already violated the goodwill and trust terms of Cession.This is because the Indians (and their offspring) where not required to return home to India at the end of their 10 year indentures, but allowed to stay -- by the British. The problem of how Fiji would pay for the help it sought was solved, but the solution created a new "problem" for the ingrained indigenous concept of "Fiji for Fijians."The consequences of the solution were, however, inevitable, in that Fijians, having "no liking of regular and continuous employment," would run away home from a plantation when they felt like it, and the British could not let that stand or, more accurately, they compensated for it.

Great Britain pulled out of Fiji in 1970, granting it independence, and dominion status in the Commonwealth, coming at a time when all concerned felt Fiji was ready to stand on its own.But, in this quasi-democracy, Fijian Indians outnumber Fijians.The British , who out ofguilt and obligation, and a sense of fairness to the indigenous people of Fiji, left behind a constitution whichguaranteed, in effect, that the Prime Minister would always be a Fijian.The Indians have most of the money in Fiji but are still second class citizens.There is no caste system here, but light Indians don't want their children to marry dark Indians.The time may come when Indians demand an equality here that was not possible for their ancestors in India.Yet it seems to me that much pressure forcing such a movement ahs already been relieved, because even second class status represents a tremendous gain over the past

Fiji is peaceful.No more is passing behind the back of a superior assumed to be attempted assassination, resulting in immediate death.The European did much good, in terms of language and organization and awareness, but some think he did not live up to the promise of "trust and goodwill" he made at Cession, because of his importation of Indian indentured labor from 1876 to 1916.Since Fijians had "no liking of regular and continuous employment", importing laborers to develop the sugar cane industry was seen, officially, as a way for Fiji to share in the cost of British Administration.It is because of the expense that earlier Fijian offers of cession were refused.Though compassion was clearly an element of Great Britain's change of mind, we can't overlook an earlier and later sequence of exploitation, aside from cane, that simply involves a transfer of Fijian wealth to other parts of the world, with no high purpose:Sandalwood (exhausted in 13 years), Beche-de-mere cotton (during U.S. civil war), and gold ( a 25 year supply is left.

I hope I have related here what an incredible and challenging event it must be in anyone's life to live in a Fijian village -- with the possible exceptions of a Fijian and most Pacific islanders, for whom would be a casual home.

Living in a Fijian village sharpens your tact, extends your concepts, and tests your flexibility.It introduces you to a beautiful people that have serious; problems, and you sense an imbalance as you know you take more than you can ever give.You discover that electricity isn't all that important, and the exactness and promptness can hinder rather than help maximum harmony with your environment.If its trying at times, then that is the time to remember that the Fijian is adapting to our ways and we are obliged to reciprocate now and then.

Epilogue

And remember…The Fijian will give you the shirt off his back…literally:

We had just come to Fiji.Michael and I were drinking beer in a pub, in Nausori.We had been advised not to go in, as being dangerous.But it was hot, and we were thirsty.The next thing we know, a dozen Fijians were buying us all the beer we could drink and not expecting us to pay.Mike did not comment on this Fijian's shirt.He was big, and he liked Mike.The next thing I knew, he was removing his far better shirt and ordering Mike to do the same.Mike played it safe, and they exchanged for keeps.They had just met, and never met again.

If you want to know how it is with the Fijians, this is it.
END