A Strange Welcome
Fr. Alvin Parantar, msp
I arrived in the Solomon Islands on February 25, 1998 and since then I have been working in Tangarare Parish in Guadalcanal. My first program was to visit all the 28 villages that belong to the parish. One day, I went to the first village by canoe. As we approached the seashore, it appeared there was nobody around in the village. There was no movement whatsoever. A strange feeling crept over me. I found the situation very odd for I expected the people to welcome me on my first visit.