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This is my first shomoir, which stands for memoir (autobiographical writing) and short story. I wrote it after a previous trip and publish it here now. It`s related to the whole collection of 70 shomoirs on cleaning topics. Enjoy reading.
"Come join us", I heard them shouting. While I was sitting with the men under a majestic mango tree, the women were nearby, next to a house, working, singing, chatting and occasionally luring me to join them. I smiled. They knew I was "busy" sharing Kava with the men. Kave is a national drink in Fiji made out of the Kava root, a plant that causes relaxation and is often part of gatherings. I presented the root to the locals as I entered the village as a sign of respect for their culture. Sitting under the wise, old tree, I enjoyed the community, the discussions, the questions, the silence and the songs sang. We almost started dancing at one time but the Kava probably made us too drowsy. We discussed how they had overcome the traumatic relocation of their village from the coast to a hilly area inland due to climate change. To them, time under the mango tree was essential to the well being of their community. The shared stories, the retelling of the stories, shared memories of the fishing village, of their anchestors. I asked what they would say to Donald Trump who dismisses human caused climate change. "He should visit us", they replied, "live with us for a few days. Witness our tragedy of forced relocation". I tried to imagine Trump under the Mango tree and failed, there was no need to imagine the deep sorrow in their voice, it was omipresent. When overwhelmed it always helps to focus on the next step, the "right in front of the eyes", so I joined the women. They were making brooms. Like my dad, who used to always make brooms for the stables, out of willow or birch branches. So I was eager to learn what materials they would use and what the production process was. My interest sparked their enthusiams and they explained every single step to me. With clumsy hands I tried to follow their instructions manually illustrated with ease and elegance. I caused some laughs. We used very delicate ribs from coconut fronds (a huge coconut leaf). The ribs had previously been prepaired to its current delicate state and now was "putting together day". Some women arranged the ribs around a stick and others then tied everything together by nicely weaving a rubber band around it. The rubber part eventually turned into a nice black and white dice like structure. Sasa, the name for the broom, is very popular in Fiji because the delicate ends reach every corner and dust particle. I was amazed by how much song, joy, laughter, time and energy went into a single Sasa which can be bought for roughly 5 dollars everywhere. Maybe we should combat climate change by weaving Sasas?