It was wild sleeping in an open room, listening to the sounds of insects and other animals, and hearing the drum beats in the distance. Simon's family kept an all night vigil in his honor. There was singing throughout the night.
Woke up early to get ready for the day. The children were arriving at school at around 8. Spoke to a young boy, Levis, who was one of the first to arrive. Cute kid.
At about 8:30 we started off toward Simon's homestead for the ceremony. How impressive. We were invited to enter Simon's hut, where he was lying, to show respect to the elders in the hut. The women were singing, and we joined in their dances, both inside and outside the hut. There were several prayers, then the ceremony moved toward the burial area behind the homestead. There was a lot of symbolism that we're still researching. Some people put sticks in the grave, there were 4 tree branches placed at each corner of the grave, we each threw a handful of dirt on the grave. I felt so honored to be a part of this.
The rest of the day was spent preparing food for the feast. We shredded about 12 heads of cabbage. Soup, cabbage, biscuits were all prepared by the women in the village. A cow was sacrificed for the villagers to have some meat. They hadn't had meat in quite some time.
Woke up early to get ready for the day. The children were arriving at school at around 8. Spoke to a young boy, Levis, who was one of the first to arrive. Cute kid.
At about 8:30 we started off toward Simon's homestead for the ceremony. How impressive. We were invited to enter Simon's hut, where he was lying, to show respect to the elders in the hut. The women were singing, and we joined in their dances, both inside and outside the hut. There were several prayers, then the ceremony moved toward the burial area behind the homestead. There was a lot of symbolism that we're still researching. Some people put sticks in the grave, there were 4 tree branches placed at each corner of the grave, we each threw a handful of dirt on the grave. I felt so honored to be a part of this.
The rest of the day was spent preparing food for the feast. We shredded about 12 heads of cabbage. Soup, cabbage, biscuits were all prepared by the women in the village. A cow was sacrificed for the villagers to have some meat. They hadn't had meat in quite some time.
We gathered for the final celebration luau, each of us reporting on the projects we had worked on. I really enjoyed the celebration. At around 5, we started serving the food. G
rade zero children (similar to kindergarten) went first, followed by the other grades, then the elders and people of the village followed. All went smoothly. The children were so hungry by that time that they were looking exhausted. I wish we could have fed them earlier.
rade zero children (similar to kindergarten) went first, followed by the other grades, then the elders and people of the village followed. All went smoothly. The children were so hungry by that time that they were looking exhausted. I wish we could have fed them earlier.
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