One morning after we ate breakfast, Pita announced that we had a service project to perform. He explained that Be’Nug needed a new house built and we were going to be the builders. I didn’t really feel like building homes on this particular day and wished there was a way to postpone the project, but Pita said it needed to be done today because Be’Nug was desperate. He had begged, borrowed, and stolen all the materials needed for his new home; all he wanted now was manpower to put it all together.
Be’Nug was kind of a simpleton and he had a club foot. One foot was pointed backwards, so when he walked and moved about, it took a lot of extra strength and energy. So many activities, which included home-building, were nearly impossible for him.
Pita and I found Be’Nug at the designated location. He was sitting under a tree and had a stick in his hand, waiving it around and chanting. He was performing a Black Magic spell which was designed to ask the underworld if his guests were going to be on time. Black Magic was part of the Yapese tradition and many people used it, especially the older generation.
Anyone not familiar with Black Magic or think it is hocus-pocus have probably never witnessed its affects. It is very real and very dangerous. I kidded Be’Nug, telling him that we had forgotten to call in our daily schedule to the underworld, thus, they wouldn’t know it. He gave me a concerned look and said, ‘Oh no, the spirits said you were coming; you were just going to be a little late.” Chilling…
Anyway, Be’Nug had some odd sized sheets of rusty corrugated roofing, four or five wooden posts, a coffee can full of bent and rusted nails, a few 2x4’s, and a ball peen hammer with a broken handle. Be’Nug showed us where he wanted his house positioned, and Pita and I went to work.
We sank the posts in the ground, tamped rocks and mud around them for strength, laid out a floor and toe-nailed it to the posts, put in a top plate, studs, and rafters, nailed the tin to the walls and roof, and finished the project in about three hours. When we stepped back to admire our work, Be’Nug started to cry saying he now had the nicest house in the village and was very thankful. His new home kind of reminded me of a fort my friends and I built back home when we were kids.
At that moment, I had a sudden epiphany. I realized wealth was a relative thing. I felt a tinge of guilt for the huge place I had grown-up in back home – and we were far from being rich.
Be’Nug was kind of a simpleton and he had a club foot. One foot was pointed backwards, so when he walked and moved about, it took a lot of extra strength and energy. So many activities, which included home-building, were nearly impossible for him.
Pita and I found Be’Nug at the designated location. He was sitting under a tree and had a stick in his hand, waiving it around and chanting. He was performing a Black Magic spell which was designed to ask the underworld if his guests were going to be on time. Black Magic was part of the Yapese tradition and many people used it, especially the older generation.
Anyone not familiar with Black Magic or think it is hocus-pocus have probably never witnessed its affects. It is very real and very dangerous. I kidded Be’Nug, telling him that we had forgotten to call in our daily schedule to the underworld, thus, they wouldn’t know it. He gave me a concerned look and said, ‘Oh no, the spirits said you were coming; you were just going to be a little late.” Chilling…
Anyway, Be’Nug had some odd sized sheets of rusty corrugated roofing, four or five wooden posts, a coffee can full of bent and rusted nails, a few 2x4’s, and a ball peen hammer with a broken handle. Be’Nug showed us where he wanted his house positioned, and Pita and I went to work.
We sank the posts in the ground, tamped rocks and mud around them for strength, laid out a floor and toe-nailed it to the posts, put in a top plate, studs, and rafters, nailed the tin to the walls and roof, and finished the project in about three hours. When we stepped back to admire our work, Be’Nug started to cry saying he now had the nicest house in the village and was very thankful. His new home kind of reminded me of a fort my friends and I built back home when we were kids.
At that moment, I had a sudden epiphany. I realized wealth was a relative thing. I felt a tinge of guilt for the huge place I had grown-up in back home – and we were far from being rich.
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