By Sister Judith Malon, OSA

We are Agustinian Sisters Working in the Mountains of Taiwan

Yawee
When we first arrived we were introduced to Yawee, a close friend of Fr. Barry the parish priest of Ching Chuan. Yawee is in his late thirties now, married and has six children now, the youngest of which was given for adoption. He sometimes accompanies us when we visit families in the evening, giving a helping hand to my sister companion who could hardly manage to climb hills. Yawee had a drinking problem. He wanted to stop drinking and here’s his strange story.

Midnight Vision
One night, I was awakened by a loud voice calling my name. I did not answer. So the voice continued calling, sometimes softly, sometimes loudly. I look at my watch. It was past one in the morning. Who could be calling me at this time of the night? I was trying to figure out when, “Sister, please listen to my song,” the voice said. “Oh, that’s Yawee!” I recognized the voice. Yawee has a good voice. He used to attend our choir practice. My room happens to be just three meters from the goal of the basketball court. I couldn’t sleep till the dribbling of the ball, loud singing and talking of Yawee stopped.

Hopeless Case?
Whenever Yawee is drunk, he usually plays basketball. He could be heard from afar shouting, crying, laughing and talking load to himself. He used to beat his wife, Mali, even just after their weeding. When Mali was pregnant with their six child, he gave her a severe beating. She was hospitalized. Coming out from the hospital, she went home to her parents with all the children. She decided to leave Yawee for she could no longer endure his treatment of her. Yawee pleaded for Mali to return home, but it was no use. So with all the promises not to drink alcoholic beverages again, Yawee asked Fr. Barry to intercede for him and it was only then that Mali agreed to go back.

Chronic Alcoholism
It seems to me that the tribes here tolerate alcoholics because there are many of them even among the young, beautiful and married women Wine is served in all gatherings, parties, weddings, and funerals. One evening, after Mass was celebrated in the house of one of the parishioners (since we have Mass once a week in the one of the houses), a man who was drinking offered me a small bowl of wine. I refused for I never drink wine. He insisted and tried to hold the bowl near my mouth. Before I get hold of it, the wine all spilled on my cloths. This drinking problem has caused many car or motorcycle accidents; the drivers crash or go into a precipice.

Shame
One Sunday Mass, while the priest was almost through giving communion, Yawee who was drunk with one eye swollen and half –naked, though it was winter time, entered the Church Passing through the middle aisle, he went straight to the right side of the altar and begun yelling at the statue of St. Joseph. Some one motioned to him to go out but he did not pay any attention. Then, four men immediately moved and lifted him out of the Church. I happened to look at Hwei Mei, Yawee’s twelve years old daughter who was sitting at the farthest left of the front bench. Upon seeing her reaction, I was moved to tears and prayed silently for her. When she saw her father, she moved hurriedly to the back of the Church but later returned to her seat, covering her face with her hands. Feeling of sadness, disgust and shame were noticeable in her face. Hwei Mei and Hwei Hsing, the second eldest next to Hwei Mei, studied piano with for several months when they were first and second grader. I used to remind them to pray for their father, explaining that the Lord always hears the prayers of the children. “I pray before going to sleep.” Remarked Hwei Hsing, with wide open eyes and smiling.

Rare Medicine
Yawee sometimes visits the Blessed Sacrament before going to work. A majority of the people here earn their livelihood by farming. Some work in the factories in the lowlands; others cut their bamboo or pine trees. Yawee is among the few who hunt for medicinal barks of a certain tree; this is very expensive. If he is lucky, he can get fifty thousand Taiwan dollars for about two kilos of that bark. Getting this bark is a risky task. Two men usually get inside the trunk of tree. The tree is hollow and one could usually get inside from the hole at the top. The person who goes down, ties himself with a rope and his partner waits outside to pull him up.

Trapped
One morning, while Yawee was walking with his brother -in –law, Yubai, he saw a big tree. This was the kind of tree that yielded the special bark. “I’ll try to see if there are barks inside,” Yawee told Yubai. Yubai commented that he had already inspected that tree but found no bark inside. Nevertheless, Yawee believed that he could find some barks inside; so, after lunch, he went to survey the tree. It was two minutes walk from the road. The tree was very tall; so he decided to examine the roots. When he inserted his hands he came in contacts with some barks. He continued digging into the trunk and got more of the barks. Soon, he was inside the hollow part of the tree. He gathered the bark near the mouth of the hole. While he was pulling hard at a certain bark, all the rotten and soft parts collapse and filled the hole. Yawee was covered by the soft and wet things up to the waist. There was no way of getting out through the hole; so he climbed slowly to the top. There were three holes but one of them was big enough to allow him to stick out his head. Fear began to fill him. He felt the heat inside, and he began to perspire and grow weak. Many thoughts came to his mind. He regretted for not having been a good father to his children. He wept and prayed.

Smoking Inside the Tree
Yawee is fortunate enough to be able to sit down on a flat edge, though he had to bend a little. Even if he had had bolo, it would have been impossible for him to chop and make a big hole because the wood was very hard. He tried to relax and cheer himself up. He knew that when he was not home by five o’clock in the afternoon, Mali would phone Yubai and inquire about him. This feeling of trust gave him strength and hope. “I can still last till tomorrow,” he told himself. He got his cigarette from his pocket and began to smoke. He blew the smoke alternately through the tree holes, watching at the direction to which it went. When the smoke went back to him he felt happy knowing that there was air coming from outside. He continued doing this till he consumed the cigarette.

I am Yawee
At three o’clock in the afternoon, Yawee heard conversations right down below the tree. He felt excited. “Anybody there?” he shouted. “Who are you the voice below asked. “I am Yawee,” he answered. Since the men saw no one, they fled for fear. Yawee felt they mistook him for an evil spirit. Oh no!” Yawee sighed, hearing the men footsteps going further. His excitement turned into sadness.

Which Yawee
Soon the sky, which Yawee could see through the whole, grew darker. He watched the light slowly becoming faint. He looked at his luminous watch. It was six o’ clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, he heard the sound of motorcycles coming. He thought that these must be people coming from work. Yawee held his arms out of the hole and waved with his flashlight. The three men who were going home from hunting flying squirrels and birds saw the light. One of them remarked, “Oh, that’s a bird,” Yawee then shouted for help. “Who are you” the men asked. Yawee mentioned his name. “Which Yawee?” the men asked further while approaching the tree. This was because several persons had the same name. “Yawee of Sansalu,” he answered. Everybody knows each other in Ching Chuan since there are only about three hundred houses.

Escape at Last
Two of the men climbed to the top of the tree. Yawee related to them how he was trapped inside. “We don’t have any bolo or knife,” the men told Yawee. “I have a bolo here,” Yawee replied, holding out his bolo. When they started to chop the tree, Yawee was tortured by the sound of the bolo striking the wood above him. It was like being inside a drum which somebody was beating. At nine o’ clock, Yawee heard a long sound of Yubai’s motorcycle. Yubai arrived with his brother, Malio. Now, there where men cutting up and others digging the earth covered the hole at the roots where Yawee had started. The tree was about two yards wide. It took the men almost four hours to make a hole bid enough for Yawee to pass. At last, Yawee was able to come out. He brought home the barks he gathered and got more than twenty thousand NT dollars for them.

Alcoholic Anonymous
A few months later, Fr. Barry organized the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). He invited the married alcoholics men, and women, to join the meeting every Friday evening. They were exhorted not to drink when they came to the meeting. Those who joined AA should have the honest desire to stop drinking. The moderator should be a person who experienced drinking. The chairs were arranged in a circle with nothing in the middle. At the beginning, each one introduced himself or herself saying, “I am so and so, and I am an alcoholic.” Then each one shared what he or she felt when drunk, his or her drinking problems and all kinds of experiences. About fourteen people joined the meeting but not at the same time because some were irregular in their attendance. Yawee was the only one who was always present. He was made the leader of the group, being a smart guy. He was the only one who stopped drinking. There were two young women who tried their best to avoid wine but returned but returned to their drinking habits later. Their meetings lasted only four months because Fr. Barry went to the USA for Medical treatment.

Yawee’s friend helped him find a good job in Taiching, This city is quite far; it is three hour’s ride from Ching Chuan. So, Yawee decided to bring his family there. Before leaving Ching Chuan, Yawee invited us, the priest and sister, to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family. In the leaving room, we saw a big poster of a young boy in front of a microphone. One of us asked Yawee’s three year old boy, what the boy in the picture saying. The boy answered shouting; “Papa, don’t drink wine.” We all laughed. Yawee patted the boy on the head saying; “this boy is really naughty.”
Yawee’s life in Taiching has improved. He gets a good salary and lately, was able to buy a second-hand car. The whole family sometimes comes to visit Ching Chuan. It’s already two years that Yawee has stopped drinking. I am sure there are many other alcoholics like Yawee have overcome their illness because it is a disease.  We can always help with our prayers and by attending an AA group.