This is a true story of a little village girl by the name of Kainga who enjoyed growing up in a humble village setting. Her mother comes from a lovely coastal village while her dad comes from a village little inland nestled by the river side.
Her early childhood was spent in her dad’s village but she periodically visited her mother’s village to see her mother’s relatives. Her visit to the coastal village was always fun as she enjoyed playing on the beach and going swimming in the sea with her cousins. The ocean really fascinated her.
Back in her father’s village she enjoyed playing with her little friends but under the watchful eyes of her parents. She and her sister were taught discipline and to be generous at a very young age like most of the children in her village.
One day a relative came to their house to ask her mother if she had any betel nuts. Her mother’s answer was “sorry, I don’t have any as I did not go to the garden today”.
Betel nut is the coastal people of Papua New Guinea’s equivalent of chewing gum. Commonly called “buai” in Tok Pisin, betel nut was often chewed to refresh one’s mouth after a meal as many people did not have the luxury of toothpaste and toothbrush.
Well, little Kainga had other ideas as she checked in her mother’s bilum or string bag to see if she had any betel nut at all. There was just one nut left in her mother’s bilum. After the relative left their house she quietly went to her mother’s bilum and got her mother’s only betel nut.
Little Kainga ran after the relative to give it to her with great joy in her little heart. She wanted to show her relative that she was thoughtful and kind toward other people especially to people who were related to her. To be thoughtful and generous is a quality village people admire and talk about. If you are one of those generous children or people you often get good compliments from the village elders and relatives, and your parents can be very proud of you.
But poor little Kainga did not realise that there was to be severe repercussion for her action. After the family meal her mother was now going to chew her betel nut. But to her great surprise her only precious nut in the bilum was not there.
“Has anyone seen my only betel nut that was in my bag?” she asked. She was furious and wanted to know who took it. Knowing that there were only four members in her family, there was no one else to blame. Now the father, with his Melanesian style discipline, took charge of the matter.
Well, sadly enough it had to be either Kainga’s big sister or little Kainga who took it. But what would they do with it? They were not allowed to chew betel nut when they were small. “So what happened to it?” the parents asked each other.
With his authoritarian voice Father said “own up or both of you will be punished!”. Up went the hand of little Kainga. At least she was honest as to avoid getting her big sister into trouble and then be unpopular with her sister later on. She nervously told her parents what she did with the nut. The father was very angry saying it is good to be thoughtful and kind but not your mother’s last betel nut. “You heard your mother saying she had none to spare. Why did you do that?” She was too scared of her dad to say another word.
It was a very sad evening for little Kainga. As her punishment for giving away her mother’s only betel nut, her father mercilessly put her into the 44 gallon drum of cold rainwater. The drum was full to the brim. Little Kainga tried hard to stay afloat to avoid being drowned and to stay away from the numerous mosquitoes that were breeding in the same drum of water.
After that she learnt her lesson well: never ever to take anything out of her mother’s bag without asking her permission.
Now she gets into trouble with her husband for giving away his hard earned money to Charity organisations. When will she ever learn????
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