Work day

Work Day

One of my goals for this, our first year in Malekula, is to establish genuine relationships with the locals (not only with the Christians, but with non-Christian neighbors as well).  This can be difficult as most people have an inherent fear or nervousness around us “white folk.”  I guess that because our skin color is different, they figure we must be different. 

That said, we have to look for opportunities to show them that we are indeed people just like they are.  Since there aren’t many social activities in the culture (very few clubs, hobbies, recreational activities, etc.), we’ve had to become creative in our efforts to become assimilated into the community.

Last week, there was a village work day, and I decided I’d pitch in and help as well.  Back in the 1980’s, an Australian aid group helped our village and the surrounding villages install water tanks and a piping system that allows every housing group to have one tap that is sourced by a natural spring “on top” near the middle of the island.  As you can imagine, those 6inch PVC pipes have become quite clogged with “junk” and pinched with roots over the past 20+ years.  So, it was decided that we should dig up all the pipes, clean them out, and reinstall them.

Of course all the digging is done by hand, and the pipes are buried 2-3 feet deep.  I would estimate there’s over a mile of pipe.  Quite systematically, we were divided into groups and given a particular section to dig/clean.  It was interesting that there didn’t really seem to be anyone in charge, everyone worked together and got the job done quite flawlessly.  I got lots of “what on earth are YOU doing here?” stares, but once they saw that I could indeed use a shovel (and wasn’t afraid to get dirty), they warmed up to the idea of working together.

Unfortunately, we still understand little to none of the local “Big Nambas” language, so we can’t participate in the friendly banter that accompanies such work.  But nonetheless, hopefully my physical presence and willingness to help out will assist us in further becoming assimilated into the community.  Plus, it felt good to do some manual labor out in the sunshine after so many days of studying and computer work.

That evening, I heard that my contribution was a main topic of conversation among those with whom I’d worked.  “We didn’t know that white men could do dirty work.”  Haha!  To God be the glory, and may these relationships turn into opportunities to teach the gospel...

PS - We’ll have to post photos later, as I forgot to upload them from the camera