The power of a welcome
by Gary Walker
The culture recognises people, it welcomes them in a
dignified way and farewells them with respect.
Fijian culture is still strong especially in the rural villages. This does not mean Fijians who live there are behind the times. Recently I was in Fiji to gather stories for The Far East magazine and to supplement our collection of photographs from mission countries.
After visiting the village of Vanuakula, 15kms from Suva with Columban Fr Tom Rouse, one of the women asked me to send a CD of the photographs I had taken so the village could see them on her DVD player.
One constant in the culture is the formal welcome and farewell around the yaqona (traditional drink) ceremony. The culture recognises people, it welcomes them in a dignified way and farewells them with respect. When we travelled by four-wheel drive to Vanuakula Fr Tom took a detour to the market in Suva where he bought a bundle of roots, tied in string, yaqona in its raw form, to take to the village.
When we arrived, we were taken to a house and sat on the floor on woven straw mats. After some small talk, one of the Fijian men presented the bundle of yaqona to the priest of the parish, Fr Ioane Manasa, on behalf of Fr Tom and ourselves, visitors. He was our spokesman, offering this gift of yaqona to the village. In return, Fr Ioane also had a ‘spokesman' who accepted the yaqona on his behalf as the leader of the Catholic community. We felt welcomed.
After Sunday Mass in the Fijian language, the same ceremony was repeated in an open shed/lean-to in the village. This time we were welcomed by the village with the chief present. Powdered yaqona was mixed with water in a wooden bowl called a tanoa and a drink of yaqona was offered to us in a half coconut shell that serves as a cup. The ceremony is dignified, we felt important.
There is great respect for the role of the priest and the chief. One of the perplexing questions at present in Fiji is the relationship between the Great Council of Chiefs which is a traditional hierarchical structure and parliamentary democracy which is a modern and egalitarian way of running a country. Does a Fijian voter follow his own mind or does he vote as the chief indicates? Fijians have a strong communal sense and are much less individualistic than people from Australia or New Zealand.
When I started my training in the seminary at Turramurra in New South Wales, I was impressed by the emphasis placed on the virtue of hospitality. To be welcomed, lifts our hearts. I have often waited at international arrivals terminals for Columban personnel; I study the faces of passengers coming through the doors from Customs. They scan the crowd, looking for the familiar face, for a welcome. In a strange place it is good to be made to feel at home
