Off to the University

02/08/09

The boy on the left, Sefo, is off to the university for the first time with his cousin, Sala, in her second year. They are waiting the bus to go to the ferry, then to Apia where they will be living with relatives. Each student has a backpack. This scene may be familiar to college student parents, except for all the missing paraphernalia and emotional goodbyes.

State of Mind

02/07/09

The events of the past several weeks has put me face-to-face with the shortcomings of others, maybe those of my own, to place me in a mental glen. Weaknesses in others can be depressing at a time when you expect courage and leadership. The village mayor, my host father, is the timid, unsure person he has always been, the President of the Women’s Committee is the arrogant, domineering person she has always been, and the Peace Corps staff remain without the ability to be anything but employees. I am still I. Then why do I feel the way I do? People haven’t changed; I haven’t changed. Maybe what has changed is my own expectation of others and myself to be more than we actually are.

From some of my past blog entries, you may have sensed the importance I place on expectations. My own expectations are what I expect reality to be. I base my life on these perceptions. When what actually happens doesn’t turn out to be what I expected, I can either blame others for disappointing or myself for not really knowing much at all, for being fallible.

My relationships with some are strained, never to be the same again. With others new relationships are emerging and with them new expectations of what the next six months have to offer.

Meal Planning

02/04/09

Planning your meals in a Samoan village is an oxymoron. Planning must exist but not in the way I can understand. For example, the last several nights I have been brought food late after I already made something for myself. Last night, I didn’t fix anything, nor did I get anything. During the hunger filled night, I dreamed of making a breakfast of eggs with freshly chopped basal, fresh tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and hot sauce accompanied with a side of buttered toast smothered with my own pineapple jam.

The next morning with eggs broken, herbs prepared, and bread in the toaster who should appear at my door but two women selling one of my favorite dishes fa’ausi*. How could I refuse them? I ate both.

* Fa’asui: made from grated taro baked in a Samoan oven (umu), cut into cubes, covered with a warm sugared coconut cream sauce, and served wrapped in banana leaves. Yummy!

Suicide

02/01/09

Samoa has the highest suicide rate in the world. I can’t confirm the accuracy of that statistic. However while I was in America over the holidays, an unmarried woman in her 20’s hung herself from a tree in the family yard. She leaves behind one child.

My host sister, a journalism college student and part-time employee for the Samoan newspaper, was sent to photograph the lava lava cloth remnant still hanging from the tree.

Motherhood

01/31/09

Outside my house a hen with a broken leg is trying to raise her brood of chicks. She limps along, resting often, leading her offspring to bugs in the grass. Almost against impossible odds of dogs, pigs, and rats, she struggles to protect the next generation of chicken stew.

New Savaii Market

01/30/09

New Savaii Market

Opening Ceremony

For reason, unknown to me, but might be related to voting in the United Nations or a satellite tracking station, the Chinese fund and build with their own people some of the major building projects in Samoa. The latest is a new market complex on my island of Savaii. Today is the opening ceremony, attended by the Prime Minister, host of dignitaries, police, school groups, TV, and me. There are no shoppers for the market is not yet finished.

The market complex is really a wonder to behold. There are fountains, a bus terminal, sidewalks, globe streetlights, out buildings with beautiful wooden doors, and even a second level with numerous offices. The existing market can fit into one corner of the new structure. In fact, I think you could put all the people who live on Savaii into the new complex with room to spare.

One should not look a gift horse in the mouth, or is it a white elephant?

Sustainability

01/29/09

Sustainability is the current buzzword concerning project both domestic and foreign. Donors want to know whether their seed money or efforts can continue after initial funds or training subside. This is a reasonable request from the donor’s point of view, yet most projects fail to exist after the initial push. Samoa is a microcosm of this global problem.

A Peace Corps Volunteers spent most of her two years in Samoa obtaining and teaching computer skills in a small village. By all measures her time in the village was a great success. However after she left the computer center sat idle. When the villagers were asked why, they said they went to computer training to please the Peace Corps Volunteer.

Wanting to please a Peace Corps Volunteer, a gift giver, or your boss at work are really quite similar. People respect what the donor/boss expect. In the end people seem to revert to those behaviors, which they feel are in their own self-interest. Herein lies the challenge of sustainability, try and find out what projects are really meaningful to others, not just to you. It is a game we all play.