Jiuta, our guide, leads us on a jungle trek through his tribe's territory
So, while at Beachouse, there was this opportunity to go on a jungle trek which certainly appealed to me. The forest from afar looks plush and exotic. If you remember that movie “Castaway” with Tom Hanks, well it was filmed on one of the Fijian Islands. So one of the local Fijians, Jiuta, who has worked at the Beachouse for at least 11 years from what I could surmise, took us on a jungle trek to a waterfall, as he put it, “owned by his Navola Village.”
Initally, once we left Beachouse and first sat under a concrete shade within his village, he told us the story of house Christianity came there. Most recently, Korean pastors from the Methodist Church in Korea came in 1994 and injected substantial money into the village by building a school. As Jiuta put it, “there are 24 churches throughout Korea that support this village.”
But Jiuta told us how before Christianity Fijians typically worshipped demi-gods mostly in efforts to obtain power to conquer other tribes. He told us how, because meat was a scarce commodity, Fijian tribes would invade each other, kill the people and eat them. He did not refer to demi-gods as such, but as the devil.
It was interesting listening to him, because although the story came slowly and in a round about fashion, which was a test for my western style of listening, it was amazing to see how enraptured he was with Christianity. The magical widening of the ocean passage by God to allow the British missionaries in in the 1800s and the belief that God’s power, now securely settled in the village, will cure all, so long as you believe. Listening to him, I realized though that there had been some bastardization of the belief system since it really was similar to just being positive and being a good person, not reliant on a Christian God. Later when I asked Andrew Brown about it, he agreed that it is an interesting phenomenon how they embrace Christianity but do not necessarily live out its intention in their daily actions. Part of the quirk of just taking something at face value but not really understanding it.
In anycase, I digress, as this is about the jungle trek.
Jiuta's son's house in the jungle. Made of Bamboo posts and Coconut leaves weaved for walls and floor.
So as we walked to the waterfall, which actually was about an hour long, Jiuta would stop and show us all the food that the forest provides – Banana trees, Coconuts, Bread fruit, Pineapple, Casava etc… it really is quite spectacular. As he says, “in Fiji you don’t need money like you do in your country. If you are hungry you go into the jungle and you get all you need to eat. If you need sugar, you ask your neighbour and they give it to you without question. One day they may need something from you. But in your countries you have cut down your jungle and put in cities and you all have to work to buy your food and if someone knocks at your door, you hesitate to open it.”
Well what can I say – he is not wrong. Fijians are rich in life, not in money. But they do not have the resources to travel however.
Dwarfed by Bamboo. The jungle has so much to offer.
It is amazing how many resources are at their finger tips. What can be done with the Coconut tree is endless. Brooms, dishes, hats, skirts, walls, floors, food, jewelry. It seems endless.
In anycase, we trekked on and eventually reached the waterfall. Under the demanding and abrupt directions of Jiuta, for our own safety I have to say, he had us negotiate the waterfall and stop for pictures at various points. All in all, it ws a fun trek. Albeit I could have done with less of the constant return to impressing God upon us. But tolerance and understanding is part of being human, as well as patience.
A refreshing relief in the jungle's natural spa after a sweaty trek through the forest