Falealupo-Tai #2

Falealupo-Tai, the most western point if land on earth, is our second stop.

The morning began with uncertainty due to the funeral going on up the road. We were able to hunt down about 15 people and that is enough to satisfy me. The program went as planned until we got to the section where we ask the audience for their ideas on how to eat and live healthier. This group was ready to talk. They had a wonderful discussion about how diets have changed in Samoa and how it has been for the worse. I tried to facilitate the discussion but Mose the nurse did most of the work. The participants came up with a great list of lifestyle changes that they can relate to. This was the section of the seminar were I had originally planned on only myself and volunteers providing suggestions. This is way more effective. They want their ideas heard too. It is just a matter of getting them to talk about it.

For example, an older gentleman suggested they go back to drinking cocoa with coconut cream to sweeten it up as opposed to using sugar. According to him there has never been a time where so many people were sick.

Today we even gave the opportunity to the audience members to make sure we were healthy as well.

After the seminars we got some fresh coconuts to drink. I thought to myself that the immediate effects of drinking this compared to a cold coke are not to far off. The thing is, I know the health consequences of drinking both. So I chose the coconut. Many people here do not understand the differences, so they make a choice based on convenience. It is more convenient to drink a coke than get a coconut. So they choose the coke.

Luckily, it's not too late as you can see from the following picture.