Giving. Pots and pans are fine for a week or so post-Tsunami. Food and shelter abound naturally in rural Samoa, so what next for those wanting to give? I call this second phase giving.
When I first came to Samoa, I experienced something quite special – extraordinary in fact. A week after the Tsunami everyone had a heightened sensitivity toward anything – spiritual, financial, physical, social – the whole country was on tenterhooks as hundreds of government officials, NGOs and their officials, family and friends and well-wishers graced the shores of Samoa.
The cleanup began. The fundraising and donations happened and, yes, the stories of corruption and incompetence happened of course. Personal stories started coming out – of loss, of escape, of hope and more.
In the midst of this turmoil, I too experienced something quite surreal. I won’t go into a lot of depth at the moment but in a nutshell I came to see, through a vision actually, a connection between the enormous goodwill that existed outside of Samoa toward Samoa and the Samoan people (who quite honestly have no idea even to this day how deep this goodwill is). A large part of my move to Samoa was essentially philanthropic. I knew that with my business, Internet and marketing skills I was in a perfect position to “help” Samoa put itself back on the map as a desirable tourist destination. Of course as an entrepreneur I was also attracted to the business opportunities that abound here, but to be honest this business interest was initially secondary.
Since arriving here, my focus has changed. I now seek to achieve social benefit secondarily to business interests. The reason for the change is quite surprising to me – it’s basically that the Samoan people don’t want change and deep down really don’t respect people who want to help. They do however respect those that want to do business and make a buck.
I know this sounds strange to the Palagi who would think that people struck by a Tsunami would be desperate for outside help but, think about it . . . if you’ve built houses in Samoa for a thousand years with a machete, sticks and coconut leaves, and it only takes a couple of days for a family to make quite a nice Faleo’o – what’s the problem? If you can go to the plantation and bring home enough food for the family with a machete and digging stick, do you really need a TV, fridge and freezer to survive? “Sure it would be nice if a Palagi gave us one but we’re not going to change our ways just to get the goods. We do things OUR way and always will” is the thinking.
We think the same too in our culture. Why did the overt social manipulation by Helen Clark grate so heavily on so many Kiwis? For the same reason that Samoans resist change. Outsiders trying to meddle in their affairs.
I believe that the real reason for resistance to outside influences is a deep mistrust of the Palagi’s intention. Their past experiences with the colonial attitude that comes in and changes the local lifestyle, is viewed as a rape and pillage of the country by many. When customary land is no longer available for traditional purposes because of a Palagi “trick” that alienated it from them, deep seated mistrust is formed. It is very real here.
A sad offshoot to this deep mistrust of foreign intent is that it encourages the handout mentality – essentially “Well take as much as they’ll give us, and then when there is no more, we’ll kick them out”. So post-Tsunami there is much giving – nice new homes and lots of positive emotion, but when the Palagi has gone, things will be back to normal, “the way WE do things”.
This occurs at every level of society. Kids ask for money. Even adults beg when they see a Palagi. A couple of days ago I was accosted by a Samoan man in the street. “Please sir from the bottom of my heart, I am a preacher from Mangere, and my wife and kids are waiting at the bus stop and I need help with the busfare to get them home. She is sick and I have no money. Can I have a couple of Tala? Please sir, from the bottom of my heart?” So my reply, “OK I’m happy to help. Let’s go and meet them” stonkered him and he changed the story to “Even one Tala, please sir?” and took off in the opposite direction.
The day before a Samoan guy raced up to me at the markets – yes even Samoans can be quick when a Palagi walks by – and begged for a few Tala. This guy was apparently just out of prison the day before. He had mates all around him all day but the moment he spots a Palagi, “Hey bro, can you help me?”
This happens from the government down, including the church (don’t get me started on that one!), and the Matais. They all look for a buck and of course the Palagi gives the most.
I heard about a couple that established a venture and put all their profits back into the local community. The Village was very appreciative of course and assisted the couple get started, all was great for a while, then the demands increased. The rules changed. The people wanted then demanded more and eventually the couple lost all and the village had nothing. This happens all the time over here. I’m constantly told about the string of well-meaning do-gooders who have lost all in paradise!
With subsistence mentality, long-term investment is a foreign concept to most. Most of those with a long-term outlook are in New Zealand or Australia. Some of them don’t even visit their own villages when they come home because of the handout mentality of even their own.
To a Palagi, especially an entrepreneur or one with a business mind, this is all very sad, and enormously frustrating, especially if you want to help make the world a better place, but effective giving must be founded upon reality. This is the reality here.
So, second phase giving is a phrase I use to explain the way that a deeper value exchange can occur between two cultures.
Effective giving requires a good knowledge of ones self. If you are giving or want to give to satisfy your own personal needs, you will be giving cash to the various leaders in Samoa, for their political and social and personal benefit. That’s the way things work here. You will probably eventually be left drained and frustrated. I’ve been told of many who have experienced this before!
Effective giving comes from a position of strength, knowing your calling, interests and passion. Engaging with the Samoan culture is then easy, and opportunities abound.
Here are some examples – real ones by the way.
Say for example you love bush walks and you want to help Samoa “recover” from the Tsunami and help the local people somehow, then come over here and cut a walking track through new bush areas. I know of a village that has one young man who has a dream to do exactly that – develop a two day bush walk across a mountain with amazing panoramic views – but there is no way in a month of Sundays he could ever do it by himself. A team of workers who live with the local people for a season, clearing and building a Fale or two and some steps here and there and a bit of marketing will change that village’s whole future for the good. The country will get inbound nature tourism (no Tsunamis on the hilltops of course!) which they say they want. Palagi will experience real Samoan hospitality – which they all want to give, and one young Samoan man has a dream that has come true! That’s second phase giving at its best – a business engaging with a culture and giving something that a Palagi is passionate about.
Say for example you were into water sports – take Kite surfing for example. A steady 15 knot trade wind on a flat calm coral lagoon would be a dream come true for some – yes? Well get on up to Samoa and bring your mates with you. All you gotta do is scrape together a few bickies and build yourself a small accommodation unit in a village by the lagoon and you’ll be helping the local economy in the long term. A three or four room motel in the middle of a rural Samoan village where the locals will feed you and love you to bits just a hop step and a jump away from idyllic kite-surfing spots might sound far fetched but it’s not. And this second phase giving is starting to have a long-term positive effect on two cultures. This is a long way different from giving pots and pans and clothes, eh?
I know of an amazing village tucked away almost out of Palagi sight. They do handicrafts and work their butt off – I mean really hard work to make a few things to sell at the markets and wholesale in town. It would take nothing serious to bring tours to that village and help them sell retail. As a guest you’d “unfortunately” have to spend some time with them and their families, eating their food and watching them create the craft products, and you’d have to listen to the High Chief prattle on in Samoan for a little while about the history of their village and share their local stories, and then wait for a translator to translate his talk, but could that be an interesting experience for someone? You betcha! And there might be a little payoff for the people of that village too – they could sell their products at retail price from their own village, instead of selling at wholesale and having to go all the way into the Apia markets to sell what they’ve created. They would be hosting Palagi guests too – they all love doing that AND getting paid for it as well! The investment to make this happen is a year’s wages for a typical Kiwi and one person to spend a month or two or ten in paradise to set it up and market it! Again this is a business. It has nothing to do with encouraging the handout mentality or fattening the pockets of the rich.
I’ve previously called this concept goodwill investmentoring – a cross between giving, investing and mentoring. It’s a fourth sector concept – mixing philanthropy with business, faith and social justice issues. But rest assured – with second phase giving, business must come first.
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