"On the Solomon's Islands, I have lots of fruit. I am sure that my pineapples and mango are sweeter than anywhere else! I have forty different types of bananas alone! However, the people here don't eat fruit! They believe it to be food for children because it is considered sweets!"
The crocodile is a holy animal. Should one eat you, it would be considered an honour!

   

These are only a few examples of the animals which live on these islands. Sister Marinka visited us and gave a two hour presentation at our school. The grade six classes listened, looked at pictures on slides, asked questions and sang songs. All who were interested were invited to attend. In this way we heard a lot about Catholic missions, about the order ''Sister's of Mercy“, and of course about the people of Solomon. The Solomon Islands are situated in Melanesia, in the southern hemisphere, near the equator. Volcanoes and corral exist in this area. There are about 535000 inhabitants here aswell, (which is many fewer than in Zagreb). More information can be obtained from the attached presetation. Sister Marinka works on the island of Malaita.
Here are some things we found out:

Many solomonians are fishermen. They go out into the ocean in small wooden canoes where they face many dangers. We heard one horrific account about two brothers who were out fishing. They were attacked be sharks, and one brother had to sacrifice himself in order to save the other!  There are many tribes on the islands. Some of them are small while others are very large, in this case they sometimes split in two. Each tribe has a leader or chief, while the tribal union has a paramount chief who oversees all of the tribes.  The chief is the supream authority in the tribe and judges any disputes. Priests and nuns in the area also fall under his jurisdiction.

If a man is hit by a car, the purpritrator is judged and fined. If the victim is injured in such a was that blood is present, the penalty is much greater. However, if the victim is seriously injured, but there is no evidence of blood, the penalty is less.

Tribes create their own money. It is made of sea shells found while diving. (No air tanks are used in diving.)

Marriages are arranged. Once the dowry is agreed upon, the wedding can take place the next day. The church ceremony occurs much later and frequenty the couple already have children.

The concept of time is very different there. Someone may say that they will visit you in the morning, and show up in the afternoon. We would naturally ask them why they are late. However, over there, the people would not understand your question at all! For example, there was once a man who's daughter had broken her leg. He took her to the hospital, but he was so late in comming that the injury had already begun to develop complications. This was all because the man had not hurried.

On Solomon Islands, you walk a  lot. Some villages are a five hour walk from the main road.

Children love school.  It is not difficult for them to walk 12 km to shcool in one direction because they know that education can offer them a better life.
War broke out a few years ago: the people had no weapons so they recovered them from ships sunk during the Second World War (there had been a large battle in the area). They dove down, brought up whatever they could find and dried the gunpower in the sun.

The capital city is Honiari. A lot of white people live there. They are the descendants of British colonists from the time of the British Empire. Prices there are just as high as in the rest of Europe.



The villages have no electricity. The occasional person may have a mobile phone, but very rarely do the charge the battery. Inhabitants listen to a battery opperated radio so the are aware of what is going on in the world.

The church roof often leaks, and birds sometimes build their nests on the pictures by the alter. But this is all part of the atmosphere. At each Sunday mass, a different tribe sings. At mass everyone sings from the heart, and believers are feverent in their faith. Sister Marinka says that it was a bigger shock to return to Zagreb, than to go to the Solomonian Islands. ''The people here (in Zagreb) are never satisfied and are always complaining“, she says.

After sister Marinka's picture filled presentation, we asker her many questions. Then we gave her two baskets from which to draw additional questions. One basket was tittled ''What, for you, was the biggest...?“ and the other one was tittled ''What does ... mean to you?“ Here are the questions she drew out and her answers to them.



What, for you, was the biggest gift?
''Well, the first thing that comes to mind... for me the biggest gift as a nun and a nurse was when someone on Salaminia would recover, with the knowledge that we ourselves weren't able to help. We had done all that we could, but we are aware of the fact that we all have our limits. But when God grants someone the grace to get better, I must say that for me, this is the greatest joy and the biggest gift ever.“

What does song mean to you?
''Song is a double prayer. In other words, when you sing, you pray twice. I love to sing even if people say that I have a terrible singing voice, so I try not to sing in public!  But songs are a joyful expression of one's heart, especially in liturgy and prayer. Songs are a holy form of prayer for me.“

What does school mean to you?
''Well, I don't know, I think I should be asking you that question! I believe that it is the classical, formal education of my past, but school is also a holy time and the period of grace in which you are now. I wish that all of you spend every minute of it the best that you can because for each day that you are lazy or for each day that it is difficult to go to school, later you will see just how important it  was for you to learn even the smalles things. I can tell you somehthing from my school days that my mother teases me about even to this day. I wasn't at school the day they learned about fractions. In high school, and later throughout my whole life, I have had problems because I have never felt sure about fractions. You can see that even little things can follow you your entire life. So STUDY!

What is your biggest secret?
''I believe that for every Catholic, the biggest secret and the greatest mystery is the Holy Trinity. That means, that however much you believe, love or hope, it still remains a universal secret to everyone regardless of how hard we try to understand it. It will always remain a neverending and universal secret.
At the end we learned a simple song with koreography.
In Solomon Islands, there is a different concept of time: the words ''late“ doesn't exist!
Socializing continued in the library, and would have been without end except for the fact that sister Marinka had to be back at the monestary for lunch.