Persona Non Grata

In this Sermon from Samoa I answer the question, “What did I do so wrong that I got beaten by and am now unwelcome from many of those whom I lived with and loved, and yet others love and appreciate me and my work?” Speaking the truth is a polarising act. The explanation is humbling. I simply didn’t understand.

I arrived in Samoa in early October 2009 just a few days after the Tsunami. It is just over 52 weeks later that I now complete this writing.

[Pic: Smiling Samoan girl. Children are the same the world over, happy to laugh, smile and see the world from innocent eyes. Oh that we could return to those simple days! The Good Book records Jesus exhorting us to this simple task - to become like a child. So easy to say, yet too humbling for most. Samoa can be a humbling place.]

In the preceding pages, I have shared the many (often painful) experiences of the last year. I’ve lived, loved and been loved and hated more than any normal experience of ten times this period. I’m not alone in this phenomenon. Many outsiders experience the same difficulty adjusting to Samoa. Now that I am unwelcome in two villages and only just avoided a ban from a third village, one has to ask what I did to generate so much ire.

I’ve joked that as the captain of my ship that I never see anything but smooth water from the bridge – the wake is behind of my vision. In Samoa, by the trailblazing nature of what I was doing I caused a lot of pain for people, mainly through misunderstanding. Return visits to villages were often stressful until the waters were calmed. There have been many reasons for this tension but as Tuila’epa, Prime Minister of Samoa so accurately pinpointed within seconds of his dispute resolution, I had failed to understand Fa’a Samoa.

Oh yes, I knew what Fa’a Samoa was even though I wasn’t Samoan, but matters of the heart are not matters of knowing – they are matters of feeling. Respect for a culture cannot be entirely intellectual but must come from deeper within.

Engaging with post-Tsunami Samoa as I did has cost me pretty much everything I own but I’m now very much wiser for the experience and this ‘Palagi coconut crab’ has climbed the coconut tree just a little higher, meaning of course that I have a greater vision or understanding than before.

I did a little favour to the family of a man who had been with me, like a brother, for a few months. He had fallen, again, and was lying and then stealing, and then making false accusations against my team and me. Upon making a complaint to the Police and seeking prosecution, I felt that it would be helpful to the family to hear from me; to hear that I understood; that I had tried to help the young man, but had failed. So I wrote a letter and had my PA deliver it to an Aunty who was a secretary to a Minister in Government.

I was wrong. The letter caused more offence and I am now banned from their village. This is the reply I received:

Dear Mr Smith

It is also with great sadness for me to have received your open letter (not in a sealed envelope) to our family regarding [name of the boy]. Talk of being professional.

For your information, [name]‘s choice to join and help you was entirely his without our knowledge or approval. Terms, conditions and pay for his employment, I would have thought you discussed with him and he would have understood, agreed, sealed and signed approved by both of you prior to his employment.

I was taken by surprise at your allegations etc. against him mentioned in your letter. I find it unbelievable and unbecoming behaviour from a member of my family. We have been brought up by God-fearing parents and that is what we are.

I am sorry for what has happened if it is true. However, I am sure [name] too has his own frustrations, grievances and evidence to rebut your serious allegations agaisnt him. I will also make and appointment for [name] with your patron [The Prime Minister, Tuila'epa].

First concern – a hand delivered letter not in an envelope. No thanks that I bothered or cared enough to contact them. Nope, I caused offence because somebody could have seen the contents and shamed her family. Fa’a Samoa: 1.

Second concern – They are innocent as a family. The boy did something without family support. We therefore must have known and realised this. Fa’a Samoa: 2.

Third concern – About conditions for her boy’s employment. Ummmm excuse me, we said that he was a liar and a thief. We never mentioned a job. There never was any job. Please don’t let the facts get in the way of things, OK? We’d caused the problem. Fa’a Samoa: 3.

Fourth concern – indignation and denial. Oh how dare you? It could never be! You must be the one lying! Yeah sure. I sold up and relocated at great expense to make false accusations against some innocent kid that I’ve used and abused for the benefit of Samoa? Too bad. Fa’a Samoa: 4.

Fifth concern – He’s got a beef with me? Oh I see after the free food, cigarettes and fun stops, he has a grievance? Ah but the fact that he is not “working” for us any more has to be explained in case somebody thinks that their little angel might not have been an angel? Yup. Fa’a Samoa: 5.

So I’m now banned and hated by an entire family, and village. Why? Because I didn’t do it the right way. You can’t make allegations like that in Samoa. You go to the family and they will fix the problem, quietly, so nobody knows and everybody saves face. I didn’t. In this culture I was wrong. I pay the price.

In mid 2010 we entered into a contract with a rural village landlord for the lease of our land and buildings in Satapuala for The Airport Lounge. We assessed the realistic value to us of around $500.00 per month. So when we asked what he wanted for the rent, the guy offered us a rent for only $300.00 – $400.00. I said that I would pay $500.00 per month but at a flat rate for 6 years. He was delighted. I asked for a legal contract with a lawyer and he agreed, but something unusual happened. Later that day I felt led to by-pass this step of a legal contract and instead do business with a handshake “between two Christian brothers, with God as our witness” (exact words). He was enthusiastic about this and was clearly pleased.

For a Palagi businessman it’s well advisable not to do ANYTHING without a contract in Samoa so I wondered why I felt led to do something so “unwise”. I understood why later on when the wheels fell off because I learned first-hand that Fa’a Samoa can be more important to some people in some situations in Samoa than our word before the Lord is. Extraordinary, but understandable when you realiswe the power that Fa’a Samoa can have on people.

All went well until the sign went up on the road. The SAME DAY, the demands for more rent started coming in, mainly from the landlord’s wife. “Please pay another $250.00 per month for the sign.” “Please pay another $250.00 for [this and that]“, and finally settling on a written demand for $1,000.00 per month, a 100% increase in rent the DAY that the sign went up!

I’ve spent my life dealing with liars and crooks and I thought quite simply, “Like hell!” then moderated my thoughts to “Over my dead body!” and then to “We’re going to see about this . . . “

World War 3 had begun.

A written reply from us was the first real shot in the war. “We reject your increase outright and we demand that you honour the contract or we will go to the media, post the details on the Internet, their LDS church leaders, the Village Chiefs, and the Prime Minister himself” was the essence of our “communication from hell!”

Basically my thinking was pretty simple, I didn’t like investing $30,000.00 into construction and fit out just to have this “goon” up the rent on me before I have even made a buck. Furthermore they were CERTAIN to do it again and again if they had gotten away with it once.

So the second salvo was his. Four shots actually. I ended up with a Samoan fist in my head, four times. I don’t understand the Samoan language, even less when the speaker is simultaneously launching themselves and their fists at me and my head. I stood my ground however and let the witnesses explain this angry landlord’s rhetoric to me later.

My crime was that I had become a threat. Standing up to a Samoan man on his own land, and especially involving the Prime Minister was the most provocative thing I could have done – bar nothing. This was his land and he didn’t care for a minute about any contract or any words such as “God as our witness” or even the Prime Minister, he was just so livid that anyone could possibly assume any rights over HIS land.

He’s got different thinking; a peasant or village mentality with no comprehension of business reality for us. The people of the village had told his wife that she should be getting extra money for the sign (and other things) so she dumped on him relayed the essence of the message to him, they fought like crazy discussed the matter and then things got out of hand fast.

Very fast.

A Samoan fist always wins over a Palagi head – certainly mine, anyway – and I really don’t like people who punch me.

I vacated fast, lodged a complaint with the Police and trotted on off to the “big man” as they call the PM affectionately in Samoa. Confident that common sense and justice would prevail, I was quite taken aback when the PM spoke firmly at me in the reconciliation meeting that followed a few days later. He explained to me that I did not understand Fa’a Samoa and that this was the cause of the problem between us.

WHAT?????? The dispute was about money. EVERYTHING is about money in Samoa!

That the other party had breached contract, lied repeatedly, changed their minds a hundred times over five months, been abusive, evasive, unfriendly, threatening, accusatory and generally everything you would find from a jail and not a church was beside the point.

I was also waiting for an apology for what he did (like breach contract, lie to the PM so that MY reputation was potentially damaged, and for punching my lights out), not what he said he did (like “I only held his chin and threatened him!”). But things don’t work that way in Samoa. I appeared to have been in the wrong!

I was very clearly missing something here, but I rolled with the punches, thinking that maybe the PM was all about show, to save face for the “enemy”.

I understand from my PA after the event (the PM spoke in Samoan to them) that the other party too got a grilling and he had told them what HE wanted.

Tui wanted me to stay in the country. He said that they were to look after me and my gears for three months. He wanted us out of the villages and into the city. He wasn’t worried about money things, and he clearly wasn’t worried about stupid contracts or deals or who said or did what or when.

Agreement sorted – we do what the PM said – all is well, certainly Fa’a Samoa style. In my first week in Samoa I had learned to go with the flow – to do it their way. The rule is simple. Palagi clothes; Palagi foods; Palagi anything doesn’t do as well as Samoan, when in Samoa. They say, “When in Rome, do as the Roman’s do”. Ditto Samoa.

It took a few days and a second meeting with the PM for the penny to sink in, but it did. So now, when the man at the top speaks, that is it. It is final and we’re all getting on with life.

And me? And my Palagi sense of justice? Get used to it Dennis. This is Samoa. Forget your losses, the fact that these guys lied through their teeth in front of the PM and that they are prepared to lie even more to get more money. I’ve built our business upon integrity, where our word is our bond. Implementation is sometimes a challenge but my heart is always straight up. All that is useful for here in Samoa is to open you to pain and to show the man above you who you really are. What DOES matter is what HE says about something.

Relationship is everything. It is too in Samoa but the relationships here are built around the Samoan cultural practices and values they call Fa’a Samoa (the Samoan way). A large part of this Fa’a Samoa is saving face – it’s all for show as one Samoan explained it to one of our Ambassadors. Causing offence is ultra easy to do for a Palagi. Even just talking to people when you are standing, causes offence and war can result from this if not dealt with properly.

Attempting to hold a Matai on his own land to his word, even when it was sworn before God as his witness meant nothing if offence had been caused. They simply do not care about anything if offence has been caused.

The Prime Minister knew and understood. The problem was solved Samoan style. And as for the injustices and financial losses? We won’t be staying on the land. We know that more trouble will be around the corner – an offence, a change of mind, another fight. Something bad for us is bound to happen. Already they have reneged on two of the promises made when the PM was doing the deal. Too bad!

I have now brought in a well-respected Matai from Faleasiu, Tui Tuigamala (Inga’s brother actually) who is standing for Parliament in 2011. His advice? Simple! Do what the Prime Minister wants. He wants us to get out of the village and come into town where normal business rules apply. So subject to funding issues and the PM’s support, it is very likely that in due course this will happen.

Just this week, Tuila’epa mentioned to me in chatting that he had “a little problem” with John Campbell from New Zealand’s TV3. John had run a story a week or two before that basically pinged the PM for embezzling Tsunami relief funds. The thrust of John’s story was that “using the Government’s own figures” large amounts of money had gone missing.

John had footage of a house without water and Samoan’s grizzling that they had to borrow water from their neighbour. Well excuse me, there is ample evidence of much new water infrastructure and reconstruction work around the worst affected areas; it rains every day in Samoa which makes roof collection very possible and I can show you hundreds of people who do not have piped water and they are nowhere near the Tsunami damaged areas. Furthermore, why would one house have water and another one next door doesn’t?

Not good!

Another key witness in the story was an overseas-based Samoan who stood proudly in front of her great big new home stating that all the money had to come from family overseas to rebuild her mansion (by comparison with those around her) because the government didn’t give her a thing. So she has a right to have a mansion rebuilt at the government’s expense? ALL families who lost a home received the same $18,000.00 WST in construction materials. Government policy. John knew that. Again, not good!

Negative comments were made about houses without walls but if you live in rural Samoa for three days you too will deliberately choose a house without walls over one with walls! You need it to get the cool breeze – day and night.

The story was so obviously missing key components of understanding that my wife felt compelled to post a comment on the TV3 website to that effect. I think the angle John took was wrong, and the story was a little shallow or emotive, but that said, he was actually asking good questions.

Samoa has been the recipient of large amounts of funding and I understand that there have been discrepancies, sometimes very large ones. I do know of one village that we are working in where international money has definitely gone astray and no questions are being asked. But also Samoans have a way of pulling their own down, and it’s a chronic issue so for the most part complaints between Samoans need a little salt!

Samoa is a land of “just a little bit of EVIL”. A good man stands out. Politicians are the same the world over . . . politicians are in power because they know how to play the game. Even Tuila’epa’s political opponents universally credit the man with strong leadership and a straight shooting style. In the short time that I have known him I have observed an extraordinary mix of leadership skills and a man with supreme self-confidence. I can imagine with his power and political acumen that things might not have gone they way Palagi would expect to have or like they would have back home, but if Palagi come to Samoa to “sort out ‘em out” my money will be on the Samoans in Samoa, every time!

So John had created the PM a little problem, with the emphasis on little. I understand that he had arranged for a meeting with the PM and was asked to provide a list of questions prior to the meeting. Something happened and the meeting was cancelled. John and his cameras rolled up to the tail end of an evening dinner with the PM and the SWAP team. He was rather annoyed at the PM’s snub and let rip. My staff were not impressed. A political and media storm has resulted.

“A wasted trip to Samoa!” his Executive Producer explains to me, “We’re getting the run-around and won’t be back again!”

In the preceding week or so, I calculated that the PM had spent somewhere in the order of 11 hours with us or dealing with our matters, it may have been more behind the scenes. Much of that time was dealing with a recalcitrant landlord in the proper Samoan way, giving him the space to lie apologize in the Samoan way. John Campbell has a high-ranking TV programme in New Zealand and couldn’t get 10 minutes with the PM even though he had flown a team in especially to a supposedly prearranged appointment.

The difference?

The approach.

“When you first met me [a year ago],” the Prime Minister said to me recently, “You will remember that I was cold to you. The reason is that I found your approach to me offensive [culturally that is]!”

But a year later and with a different approach, with a Matai in the team who understands the way things should be done and a bit of coaching by the big man, and the doors are opening for us.

A year later too and one high profile media personality is getting the run-around by the man in charge. History is repeating itself. I know too that there are many other hurt, wounded and disillusioned Palagi who have “got done” in Samoa. In the last 12 months I have been given the run-around like you wouldn’t believe, but when we Palagi get off our high horses, and try to understand the people and culture we are engaging with miracles can happen.

I was reacquainted recently with the head of the Samoan Tourism Authority who made mention of my blogging. She suggested that I shouldn’t mention about the rubbish in the streets or shouldn’t knock the churches so much. “We’re trying to build tourism here and it doesn’t look good if you keep talking about it” was the thinking.

My immediate thoughts are not publishable but they revolved around doing something about it so that I could then write about nice things! But fresh from the school of Fa’a Samoa, I simply said to her directly, “I’ll change any word anywhere you want that you think is out of place.”

“Do you really mean that?” she asked.

“Absolutely!” I said. And I do.

And I will probably have a friend for life as a result.

It’s the approach – from the low road, not the high road.

In October of 2009 I found myself caught up in a little rural village in the back of Safata, called Fusi. Never one to pass a new experience, I believe that the Lord opened a door. I entered.

It has been a wild ride, but with another door opening to the man on the sixth floor who wants us to work with him to help rebuild tourism in post-Tsunami Samoa, it may be that the Lord has another challenge ahead for the team, engaging with post-post-Tsunami Samoa.

It could be that we are moving through the persona non grata phase that seems to be so necessary in Samoa before we can get into bigger and better things.

The team is ready and waiting.