Parable out of the blue!

J. Roughan

8 October 2010

Honiara

Most Solomon Islanders are already aware that Christ was fond of using the parable. It became his favorite teaching device. As he said more than once, his people were a stiff necked mob; very difficult to accept new ways of thinking. But the parable in his hands became a great tool to penetrate people's inner most thinking, offer a new way of looking at the world or at least undermine the certainty of their convictions. His Good Samaritan parable remains classic.

 

But the parable never died out! Even today in a Solomons context the parable remains an important teaching tool able to move people to re-look at their lives, to present a different way of understanding events or at least cast doubt on what was often considered unchangeable. Allow me to share with you a parables of an important Solomon Islander taught me more than 40 years ago.

 

Aliki Nono'ohimae, co-founder of Ma'asina Ruru with Nori, the father of Andrew Nori, lived in a village near Kiu in West Are'are. Our paths crossed many times during the 1960s but the most memorable came in 1968 when a group at the Rohinari mission station planned to erect a major health clinic in that part of Malaita. The building planned would be 30 meters long, 14 meters wide, steel framed with roofing iron and all the things necessary to make for a major construction.

 

In January of that same year, I called for a major meeting of all the Arahas of the area, including Aliki who was the Paramount Chief of West Are'are and beyond to discuss the construction of this huge building. The meeting was well attended, more than 150 chiefs from as far south as Maka to the north at Hauhui. During the meeting I made three non-negotiable demands: each family had to contribute $10 which at the time was serious money. After a bit of discussion, it was accepted. The second demand--each of the 9 villages involved would send 20-25 workers each week until work on the clinic was completed. This caused much debate but finally it was decided that as difficult as it was, it could be done.

 

However, my third demand almost proved insurmountable. I asked that the Are'are custom of holding feasts (houra)--marriage, death, compensation feasts, etc.--be suspended for the next 8 months or until the clinic was finished. I knew that even with the little bit of donated money at hand, without a work force the project would have come to grief. A feast given at Wairokai, for instance, would certainly attract hundreds from neighboring villages in Waisis, Rutorea, Kiu, etc. etc. That would mean no work force and lost time!  

 

My explanations on the matter fell on deaf ears. No, said the majority of those present. Such a request was going far beyond what the group could agree to. Arguments for and against raged on for at least an hour with no break through in sight. Then, Aliki raised his hand to speak and the classroom meeting grew quite silent. He asked me: "Are you finished speaking?" My only response had to be a polite yes and I sat down in the front of the classroom waiting for Aliki to deliver his verdict.

 

Here was the Paramount Chief, fully in charge of custom and tradition, and rightfully accepted as the highest authority in these matters. I was a White Man of only ten years residence in the district and was asking that custom and tradition of many years standing be suspended in favor of building a clinic. The outcome for my plans didn't look particularly bright and already my mind was racing to think how to save the day.

 

Aliki rose from his seat,  strode down the center of the classroom and at the same time he was reaching into the small woven pouch which hung around his neck. As he neared where I was sitting, he stopped, pulled out a 5 pound Australian note (worth $10.00 in Solomons currency) and gently placed it on the table before me. He announced in a loud voice: "Here is my contribution! Talk stops now and work begins tomorrow!"

 

Everyone in the classroom except myself understood the full meaning of his action. Not only had he blessed the project, he had also made it  clear that, although he himself could never use the newly built clinic (in his spirit world, it would be taboo to enter any building where a woman had given birth) he wanted it for his people.

 

Aliki with minimal words had decreed that in spite of people's important customs and traditions, other forces were of more worth . It took me many months, however, to fully understand the full meaning of his action. As Paramount Chief he, in full public view, had stated that other forces were beginning to work in the area and a new mind set had to take root. His action was a Parable out of the blue!