Love your neighbor

Documents to deliver for a stranger

Here in the islands we have a somewhat unique issue of transporting goods. Seeing as how most people don’t have a post office box and, besides which, the postal system is rather slow, how do you get something from one island to another? A lot of families are split between different islands, and with the cultural expectation that better-off family members will help out those who are worse off, there’s a fairly steady flow of goods between islands. Additionally, there are often official documents that have to reach government offices on the big island.

So, when you know someone going to another island, you often will ask them to deliver something for you. Or maybe you don’t know them, you just go to the airport and look for someone who looks trustworthy (hello, Abby!) You know how in the US, they ask you if you’re carrying anything for anyone else? Well… um… yeah.

I’ve ended up carrying a variety of things for others. Most common is an envelope with money. After that, documents, clothing gifts, food, jewelry, and random wrapped packages, labeled with who they’re going to. One time I was even given a 3 year-old to transport to her mother on another island. (she did great, but I wasn’t so sure at first!)

Two bags become "one"

I normally find it a little stressful, because, what if the person on the other end doesn’t come to pick up their stuff? What if I give it to the wrong person? What if there’s a prohibited item in one of the packages?

 

Today I’m flying from my island to the big island, then on to Madagascar. For the flight between islands, I was given: 5 large cucumbers, 2 kilos of tomatoes, a bag full of lettuce, a bag full of frozen samosas, a portfolio full of documents, $60, and a mysterious tiny bag with something wrapped in paper. 

And when I got to the big island, I got persuaded to help a lady out who had too much luggage. We’re only allowed one checked bag, and she had two. But one of hers was light enough to put with my bag and be under the weight limit. So we saran wrapped the two together and I now have “one bag.”

Maybe this is one of the more unusual applications of “love your neighbor as yourself,” but I try to keep helping out as I can, even when it means hauling more stuff through airports and getting them to their destinations.

Hopes and dreams

Sunset from a taxi

In my class the other day we were on the topic of describing your hopes and dreams. Each student was supposed to come up with a couple of hopes for how their island would be different 20 years from now. The first student's answer really caught my attention:

"My hope is for my island to have a good economic situation in 20 years. By that I mean that everyone will be paid at the end of every month."

Yeah, let that sink in for a moment. As Americans, we often think about "the economy", but how often do we wonder whether this is the month we'll get paid?

Can you imagine going to work every day for months on end, without getting a paycheck? Yet many islanders do. Some, however, get tired of it.

Sunrise from my roof

Recently the teachers in a couple of towns told their students that they weren't going to teach that day. If the students wanted to be taught, they needed to go on a parade and demonstrate, demanding their teachers be paid their salary. Well, the demonstration ended in my town where students burst into the classrooms and started throwing papers and overturning desks. The police were called and, when they arrived, started beating everyone they could lay hands (or clubs) on, teachers and students alike. Many students had to be retrieved from police lockup that evening. And why? Because their teachers hadn't been paid for months on end.

This is what a bad economy looks like. Those in power keep the money, those not in power dream of the day when they'll be in power and also be able to funnel money to their own pockets.

So when you think about the economy, consider this: when you work, you get paid. And not everyone has it that way.

On time, and timing

How often do you think about whether you should be on time, late, or early? Do you think about it, or not really?

Here on Clove Island I often have to consider whether the event I'm going to calls for being early, on time, or late.

Recently, there was an English certificate ceremony that I was supposed to go to which was planned for Sunday morning. They agreed to start at 11, giving my team time to worship and study together before going to the ceremony. Then the invitations were issued for the ceremony: the time on the first ones was 8:30, the rest of them said 9:30. Students we asked claimed that the ceremony would start anywhere between 9 o'clock and 10:30. They were planning to be there by 8. Well, you can imagine my anxiety-- am I going to be late to the ceremony? That would be embarrassing, since they have teachers sit at the front! I checked again with the administrator and he assured me that they would try to have things ready so that things could start after we arrived at 11.

Well, we arrived at 11 to find everyone sitting in their places, the pre-ceremony music performance going down, and administrator and teachers gathered in a back room still organizing certificates. At 11:15 the ceremony started. As the ceremony started, I sat in front of a stack of certificates and started signing them.

So was I late? Was I early? On time? Or does that vocabulary just not work so well in the situation?

Normally, when deciding what time to go to an event, I ask myself a series of questions:
-- is it with people who are used to using exact times? (then it will start closer to the stated time)
-- is it a social event? (these tend to start a lot later)
-- is it a women-only event?  (these tend to start later)
-- who told me the time? Did they tell me the real time or the "invitation time"?
-- is it work-related, and not social? (maybe closer to the announced time)

But the best option is really to just go with a friend. Some events you know will start around 1.5 hours after the announced time. Others are only 15-30 minutes late.  If it's in your neighborhood, you can just listen for the loudspeakers of the event to tell when they're getting started.

And when all else fails? Be patient. For the most recent ceremony I went to, the invitation time was 2 PM. But they told us to wait until they call to arrive, because maybe it would start late. So at 4:45 I got the call, "We're about ready." The 2 o'clock event ended up starting at 5.