My Malaitan Song

By Harold Maesulia. Follow me on twitter.

The children of Malaita.
 Photo courtesy of corbisimages.com

Malaita.You have so many children!

Out of the lot, some strive to become tradesmen. Others find themselves in government offices working as public servants while others become key figures in private companies. I can see pride in your eyes when your children excel because not only do they create new lives for themselves but in their on ways, many are making an impact in others' lives.

Oh how I wish we have the power to reverse time. We want to go back and wipe the tears from your loving eyes brought about when some of us took the law into our own hands. The deeds of the black sheep portion of your family often bring you disgrace. And look at the names people are calling you now!

Oh how forgiving you are Malaita. You have children who've turned against you with their disgraceful attitudes but never at any moment did I see you disallow them from stepping on your shores. Many run away from you to other islands where life is lived with ease, but you forget them not and when they stepped out  from the MV Pelican Express on their return home, you still have your small but bustling Auki awaiting them to shop and mingle with their own kind.

We could only pray that people out there don't judge your entire family from the naughty acts of some. There are still kind hearten people in your villages. So kind that they can still smile and give anyone food without asking from them any money. I can still see people who doesn't return wrongs with wrong in some of your villages because the love of God has mold them into peace makers. Oh how I wish that others would come to see the genuineness of the love that thrives in the hearts of some of your children. They take the other road. The road you want all your children to take. The road has Malaitans who  have no discrimination in their hearts. In their eyes, Malaita, Guadalcanal and all the islands that make up Solomon Islands doesn't exist, because everyone is a brother and a sister to them.

Who will question the self reliance that exists in the hearts of your Polynesian decents? On the atolls of Ontong Java and Sikaiana, you still houses people who ask little from others let alone their will power to strive for a living with the little that they have around them.

Malaita, as you celebrate your 28th birthday we could only wish that the good found in some of your children will flourish, become infectious so that it'll get to infect everyone.

Happy birthday Mala!