Masefau Drop Off

On Saturday I went to help Sandra, the founder of PICED- Pacific Island Center for Educational Development. She managed to get half a shipping container donated for tsunami relief. A company in the US donated canned goods, some basics supplies like ropes, batteries, and tarps, and clothes. On Saturday morning we sorted and put together ‘family boxes’ with an assortment of goods. We then loaded the back of her pick up full of boxes and headed out for the far northeaster village of Masefau which had been greatly effected by the tsunami. Scott, Taylor, Kate, and Thanh joined Sandra, Jim (a PICED employee) and I for the drop off. 

I had never been of the mountains to that side of the island, but was breathtakingly beautiful. Masefau is tucked into a bay and is extremely tradition due to its isolated, and therefore uninfluenced way of life. Once we reached the village, we found the head chief and directed us to a faleo’o (traditional hut) at the end of the village. Once he arrived, he asked us to unload the goods and place them in the center of the faleo’o. Next he asked us to unpack the boxes and lay everything out. (Everything in Samoa, especially in the more traditional villages, is done in a very ceremonial way and presentation is always important). For the next 30-40 minutes we worked as quickly as possible to lay out all the good and organize them by type. By now, much of the village had gathered to watch and see what we had brought. When everything was set out neatly, the chief uttered a prayer then a long speech of thanks. He then left, and let the second-in-command chief divvy up the goods. He had 4 men grab boxes and he specifically told them what to put in each family’s box. Taylor translated on very funny line, “Save most of the Spam for the preacher.” The preacher is help very high in society and apparently his favorite food is Spam :) 

Once everything was distributed we were invited to the head chief’s house for ‘tea.’ His children brought us cokes, cake, and a plate of puisupo (canned corned beef) and coconut rice. As we talked, we had to force a few bites of the disgusting puisupo down our throats. Samoans love puisupo and think of it as a delicacy but palagi find it absolutely horrendous. We felt it odd that we were bringing survival supplies to the village, yet were being treated to ‘fancy’ food. But it is all part of the custom and ritual of serving quests. The chief explained to us, how he left during the distribution ceremony, because he didn’t want to be blamed for anything unfair. Families might get mad if they felt others got too much more than them. He then told us of the Masefau tsunami story and how they had been coping since. 

The afternoon was quite a cultural experience as we got to see how a traditional village operates and be part of a ceremonial exchange.