Bamboo landing has been asking us to visit them for a while now. I saw an opportunity and I asked one of our PLA’s to accompany me. We went to C- Kumaka and parked the car. We asked Charles to guide us. We started the trek around 11:30am. The first hour of walk was on plain sandy tractor road. Surrounding us are Palm Trees. The second hour was inside the forest through a rough trail. I asked for 2 breaks to drink and eat biscuits. I walked longer than this trek but the pace of the two were fast for me. I also don’t have a regular exercise, that’s why. ////// Finally we arrived in the village around 2pm. The first house belongs to Halford (whom I met in the market the day earlier but he was intoxicated). I reminded him about what happened in our encounter. He just smiled, scratching his head. The second house belong to the “Father of the Clan,” Charlie Williams. There were a total of 6 households in the area, all family to Charlie. There were around 30 little ones who play around the house, or were with their mothers. The houses have no walls and were open to the elements. I notice the bulging bellies of children. Melinda, Charlie’s wife, working at the back on the cassava, went to the house to pay her respects. In no time all the others were there. I asked them if they want to celebrate mass in the afternoon or in the morrow. They decided to have it around 4pm. They offered us wild meat pepper pot for lunch. ///// I set my tent up and had rest in one of the vacant houses. The walk sent me to sleep at once. Then at 4pm, everyone gathered in Charlie’s house for the mass. I can only hear Uncle Mike’s (PLA) responses in the mass. I believe it is only Charlie who can read and write. And because they are very far from the schools, no single child knows how to read or write or pray for that matter. We held hands in the Lord’s Prayer but I observed no one is following me as I pray. No one took communion except Uncle Mike. No one was yet married in the clan. //// After mass, we had picture taking and they love to pose for pictures. I took pictures of the birds and the monkey that seem to be part of the family. They offered tea and baked for dinner. We learned that they settled here for over 40 years now. There live on cassava bread and fish they catch in the nearby creek. They sell some of their cassava in the nearby village. No priest had ever set foot on Bamboo landing. They go to C- Kumaka or Whitewater for baptisms. I baptized two babies in the mass. Now Charlie and Melinda want to be married. I told them that it would be better if all the others will be married on the same day with them. I suggested that we will come back and stay for a week. That time it will be a mission team: priest, catechists, ME couple. They were very excited by the idea. //// Darkness fell. We retired around 7pm. I used the other clothes I have as pillow and cushion. We prayed the rosary while lying down. The floor boards become very cold in the night. I have to turn many times to beat the cold, alternately sleeping on my side or on my back. I didn’t bring the sleeping bag because it will be additional weight. I survived the rainy night. That was a long night. It was still dark in the forest at 7am. That was 12 hours! Breakfast was served in Charlie’s house. After the fish pepper pot meal, they requested pictures of children with the monkey. I obliged. I also asked if I can have my own picture with the monkey. Then we had a group picture again and off we go. The trip back was easier and faster, maybe because we became familiar with the trek by now. My feet hurt and the razor grass scratched my hand. But all went well. ///// Back to Hosororo I still wonder why they chose to settle in so remote a place. Maybe they found “peace and prosperity” there compared to where they were. No complains. In fact when I left to them our sardines and sausages, Melinda in return, gave me 2 small bags of flour and noodles. Poverty, I learned is relative. If we are to use our standards, Bamboo landing will be destitute. But for them they’re okay. Maybe they are richer in many ways than us. Their resilience is amazing! Halford told us that he was up at 3am to catch fish for breakfast. Fresh fish is just nearby. The music of the forest lifts the spirit up as you hear different birds singing. We are no better people than they are because we can read and write (maybe it is the reverse). Their children are contented with playing “wooden marbles” from forest fruit trees, naked or half- naked. They run to the creek to bathe and wash their own clothes anytime they wish. They talk to the birds and the monkey. Their smiles and laughter brighten the place. The peace and tranquility in the surroundings gives you a well- earned rest. Poverty, after all, is not about what you do not possess, it is something about who you are. It is not about the “haves and have- nots.” It is more about being not about having (or not having). //// I think I have partly answered my own question, why they chose to live in such remote a place… With all these abundance in Bamboo landing, we end up being destitute… They are rich and we are poor. ////// EdBe, 14Dec07:John of the Cross