Another Adventure

Aug

The other day Paul had just come out from his evening snorkeling adventure and was drying off when a local villager came along with a machete. He thought perhaps he was going to cut off his head for violating his beach. He came right over to where he was standing and started climbing a coconut tree. Paul asked him what he was doing and he said "getting a drink". Paul said great, get me one too. He climbed up to the top of the tree and twisted off 4 coconuts and dropped them to the ground. He climbed down and found a large branch and cut both ends to a point. He then pushed it into the ground and began pounding the coconut on the sharp point while twisting it from side to side. It only took him a few seconds to have the entire husk off and then he cut the top off the small remaining coconut and handed it to Paul. He motioned for Paul to take a drink. It was very good with just a hint of coconut flavor. He showed him how to reach inside with his fingers and pull out the very soft white meat of the young coconut. It felt like soft cheese. He said that it was delicious and ate the whole thing. He did the same with his coconut and then went off to play with his little daughter. His name was Red. Paul didn't get a last name but he said he lived right there in the little village that he walks through to get to the beach. He wondered why the coconut wasn't hard like the ones you buy. He said those are older and look black up on the tree. These were still kind of green and much younger and therefore very soft inside.

On Saturday Aug 1st we decided to drive over to the black sand beach. We had been told that it was closed because they are filming Survivor near there. We found the road going to the beach through the jungle and the sign said that you needed four wheel drive but we had been told that it wasn’t too bad so we decided to try it anyway. The first part was a little rough but not too bad then we came to the river. It had covered about 70 yards and as we drove in we noticed that the water came up to the top of our tires. We were, or should I say I, was a little nervous but Paul just barreled on through. Our battery light came on and the air conditioning stopped but we continued on.

After we went through the first river we came upon a car coming the other way and we asked them if the rest of the road was better or worse. They said that the first river was the worst and that there were just a few more but not as deep or as long as the one we had just gone through so we continued on our merry way. He mentioned that the week before, when he came through, his car started to float away and he could hear the tires spinning in the water. I guess he made it because he was here to tell about it.
We made it to the beach and found that we were the only ones there. After we had been there for about 30 minutes another car pulled in so we didn’t feel so isolated. They came over and we were talking to them and found out that he was here filming the Survivor series for TV and his wife had flown over from San Diego for a couple of weeks to visit. We discovered that he was originally from Utah and he said that he had gone to Ghetto Tech, Paul said “West High” and he said yes. It turned out that they were members of the church. It’s so amazing that we come all the way around the world and drive to a secluded jungle beach and run into an Utahan that went to West High, what are the chances. The snorkeling was not great but it was a beautiful beach and we enjoyed the afternoon talking to Russ and his cute wife and little boy. They came to our ward the next day so we got to see them one more time before they had to go back to the other side of the island to work. Nice people.
On Monday we learned that we would be going to Savaii, the Big island of Samoa, to help with a water project at a small village there. We had asked the humanitarian people to take us along on their next trip so we could help out and then take some pictures and notes for a newspaper article. So on Wednesday afternoon we loaded up our bags and drove down the island to the ferry boat landing. The drive takes about an hour. You sit in line for an hour and then the boat ride to Savaii takes just over an hour.
It was raining but the seas were calm so the trip went very smoothly although a little wet. All the seats inside were taken so we choose to sit on the open deck and the rickety roof over our heads provided a steady little drip, drip, drip to keep us from going asleep and missing the view.
We arrived on Savaii just after 5pm and went down the stairway to where the cars are parked. Trouble was, the door had been bolted from the other side and the attendant wouldn’t open it. The lady in front of us kept pounding on the door but still the attendant would not open up. We were second in line and the stair well was backed up with people all the way to the top and beyond. There was no going back. Finally after being in port for want seemed like 15 minutes, (really only 5) he let us out. We discovered that our car was the only one left in the bay. We later found out that just before landing, they announced on the loud speaker (in Samoan) that car owners need to come down the center stairwell to board their cars. The speaker was terrible and of course we don’t understand Samoan. But we learned a valuable lesson here. Get to your car early and use the center stairwell.
Our hotel was just down the road from the ferry so we were at our hotel and ready for a nice hot shower and dinner in a matter of minutes. The room was cheap, $129. Tala, ($40 US a night) and looked every bit the part. One decent sized bed and one couch bed. A small sink and fridge, (disconnected) and a small bathroom with a sink and shower stall.
Paul jumped in first and turned on the water. I heard a loud gasp as the cold water came down. He turned the tap left (cold water) and then right, (more cold water) After much adjusting he finally found the answer, more cold water. I checked both sinks and came to the same conclusion. This room does not have hot water. Great! I decided to forgo my shower until after dinner when we could talk to the hotel management. (A small girl at the front desk)
The restaurant look very nice with a wonderful view of the palm covered beach and ocean. I ordered a grilled chicken breast fillet with veggies. Paul ordered Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. We waited for what seemed like 30 minutes or more and our scrumptious meal arrived. There was just one little problem, it wasn’t what we ordered. Instead of a grilled chicken breast I had deep fried leg and thigh with some kind of thick cheese sauce over the top. Paul got what looked like spaghetti noodles but with some kind of cheese sauce mixed with meat served cold on a lettuce leaf. (gross) He took one bite and pushed it aside, I shared my deep fried leg with him, it wasn’t what I ordered but at least it was hot and edible.
We would have sent both orders back but it took too long to get this one and we were tired and wanted to take a hot shower and go to bed. We stopped at the front desk to inquire about the water and were told that all the rooms on that side of the hotel do not have hot water. We asked if we could move to the other side of the hotel and she said sure, but they don’t have hot water either. We asked if any of their rooms had hot water and she said only the new section overlooking the beach but the room would be 2 1/2 times as much. We decided to stay where we were for the night and worry about it tomorrow.
We met our two companions, George and Danny from Humanitarian services, at the complementary breakfast the next morning. Danny is 74 and was a very famous fire dancer in his younger days. He performed in Hawaii, England, Lebanon and eventually Southern California where he stayed and raised his family. George is 64 and was a professional singer and wrestler in his younger days. He performed with Elvis Presley in the movie Blue Hawaii and showed us some pictures of him relaxing with Elvis between takes.
We ate a meager breakfast of toast, cereal and papaya, and headed off for the other end of the island. Our destination was the village of Neiafu located about half way around the island and a two hour drive.
About an hour into the drive, we received a call telling us that a ferry boat, traveling between two of the Tongan island had capsized and sank during the night with the majority of the passengers’ going down with the boat. Early estimates said that there were 85 on board and only 40 had been rescued.
Our Auckland office wanted us to contact our Tongan representative to get the whole story as soon as possible. We soon learned that there were actually 154 people on board and only 45 were rescued. The rest, including 18 members of the Church went down with the ferry in over 300 ft of water .A tragic accident.
The final story came out yesterday saying that the ferry started leaking shortly after leaving port at 5pm. They found that the pumps were not working so the crew was trying to bail the cargo hold out with small buckets. As the compartment filled up with water, the cargo made a sudden shift to one side and the boat rolled over and sank. Only those who were on an outside deck and the captain survived. (All men) All the women and children plus the other men, went down with the ship. They said it sank in just two minutes. One member of the crew said that he saw another crew member who was a recent return missionary; try to run back inside to help a little girl who was screaming, nether were seen again. Only two bodies were recovered that floated to the surface. The rest remain in their watery grave. This has been a real tragedy for the people of Tonga.
In spite of the horrible news we traveled the rest of the way to Neiafu to complete the water project. The village is located at the end of a long dirt road right on a beautiful beach. It’s a rather small village with 30 or so fale’s. You could tell that the village is very poor with little means to make a living and only one old truck for transportation.

We were greeted by the village elder and after exchanging pleasantries they helped us unload the two 600 gallon water tanks and set them on the concrete pads that they had poured the previous week. The collection system consisted of one long piece of PVC rain gutter, perhaps 14ft long and pipe to carry the water to an opening in the tank. The fale’s were carefully selected based on the condition of the metal roof. It would only take one side of the roof to keep this large tank full of water all year. It rains a lot in these islands.

We wondered about the cleanliness of the water coming off the roof and were told that the majority of the villages get their water this was and it’s clean enough to drink.

This village has been relying on four old wells that were dug over 100 years ago. They were very shallow, about 4ft deep and the water was not clean at all. To make matter even worse, when the high tide comes in, the wells get polluted with sea water making it too salty to even drink. It always tastes salty, even when the tide is out but they were drinking it anyway.

We finished the first tank by about 1pm and were about to go to the next home when the village elder came out and invited us to have lunch with them. We walked into their humble little fale and found the aged mother sitting on the floor weaving a large mat. She told me that she used to be able to make a mat like this in about a week but with her old age it now took her over a month.

They brought chairs into the room for George and me and Paul. Poor old Danny, the oldest of our group at 74, elected to sit on the floor. They pulled a little table over in front of Paul and me and then brought out plates of food. The meal consisted of a half of a cooked bread fruit. Two scoops of white rice. A large chicken leg in a little bowl of broth and a cup of some kind of chopped up meat, probably corned beef. The chicken leg was the best and the broth tasted very good. The corned beef would have been better hot but was not too bad.

The village Chief gave a little speech in Samoan said a prayer and we began to eat. Paul, after taking just two bites of his chicken, had a black and white cat appear between his legs. It sat staring intently at his food and then suddenly without as much as a meow, sprang onto the table and in a flash he disappeared with Paul’s chicken leg. I have heard of cat reflexes but this was amazing. We had two little boys fanning us as we ate. When they saw the cat grab the chicken leg, their eyes got as big as saucers, and they even looked frightened. Paul and I just started to laugh and they relaxed with a big smile.
It was a humbling experience to be in such a poor home, have them feed us such a big meal, with young boys fanning us as we ate.
The next water tank went a lot faster because the men now knew how to do it and put all the pipes together in about 30 minutes. As we were watching the work we noticed these darling children watching us and I couldn’t help but start playing with them. They would call me Palangi which means a white person. So when they would say it, I would run after them. If I caught them I would pull their little pony tails. They would laugh and the game started all over again.

I then started to say things in English and they would say it in Samoan. The only English they knew was “give us your money”. I thought that was quite funny.

We finished the second tank, said our goodbyes and hit the road. Paul and I decided to take the road around the other side of the island to go back to our hotel. This way we would have driven completely around Savaii. It took us a lot longer than we thought it would. It started to rain and then we came upon a huge flock of flying foxes or fruit bats.

They get up to 3 feet wing spans. They stretched out for more than a mile. There had to be thousands. One of our friends said that they are very good eating. Taste like chicken liver.

It was dark by the time we made it back to the town we were staying in and it was a little daunting trying to find the Hotel. There are no road signs, no road lighting and all we could remember was that we thought there was a traffic light on the corner where we were suppose to turn. Paul told me not to worry because he had iron boogers and would never get lost. We did find our hotel, right where we left it, and were anxious for another chance at having a good meal.
They messed up my order again. I got mashed potatoes for rice and I’m not sure what was under the sauce of the so called grilled chicken breast with herbs. Paul got mostly what he ordered so all in all we were ok.
We got up the next morning to a heavy rain storm and decided to head back to Upolu for two reasons. One was because of the Tongan ferry accident. We wanted to be able to on top of it for the Area President and two I was hungry for some better food. We had taken peanut butter and jam with us and it has never tasted so good.
On the way back to the ferry I told Paul that we should get out our snorkeling stuff and keep it with us on top of the boat, so that if the boat started to sink we could swim for safety. He gave me the thumbs up on that one.
All and all it was an amazing adventure.

This is our future dinner.

Our feature Missionary couple this week is, President Phillip Hanks and his companion, Sister Dawn Hanks.
Sister Hanks was born in Tetonia and live there until they married. They met at Teton High school. President Hanks was also born in Tetonia Idaho in 1932. He lived there until he left for college at Idaho State University where he earned a degree in Music Education.
He served a mission to Samoa from 1953 to 56 and they came back to Samoa in 1958 as a school teacher and stayed until 1961. He was called that year to be the Mission President of the Samoan mission at the ripe old age of 29. He and sister Hanks arrived with two children and left with four at the end of their call. They returned home in 1965 and he earned his Master’s Degree and a Doctorate in Education.
They lived and worked in Parowan Utah for a few years and then returned to Salt to take a job with the CES department of the Church. In 1993 they came back to Samoa and worked with the Church Education system for three more years.
They retired in 1996 and served another mission for the Church until 1998. In 2000 they were called to a mission in the Ukraine. They served a second mission to the Ukraine from 2003 to 2004 and then to the Freiberg Temple from 2006 to 2007. Their latest call came in 2008 to be Temple President in Samoa.
An interesting little side note. In 1961 they had just finished their teaching contract in Samoa and were planning to take a position in New Zealand for the next four years. The First Presidency had sent a letter to Samoa calling him to be the Mission President which read “Please let us know within the next five days if this will not work for you”. The letter was held up in the U.S. for several weeks due to an airline strike and before it even arrived, the announcement and his photo appeared in the Church news as the new mission president for Samoa. All their family members knew about the calling before he did.