Kiribati...A country about to disappear

Kiribati...A country about to disappear

Found memories

As a teenager in Ireland, unaware that I would spend most of my life in the South Pacific, I chanced to read two fascinating books by Sir Arthur Grimble – a Pattern of Islands and Return to the Islands. Grimble was a British colonial official in charge of the Gilbert (now Kiribati) and Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) in the early years of the 20th century. His stories of life on the Gilberts, of the courage of this sea-faring people and of their communal lifestyle left indelible memories in my mind. So it was with great anticipation that I travelled to Kiribati in May, 2015 to test the reality against my nostalgic memories.

Purpose of my visit

It was because of Betero Atanibora that I got the opportunity to visit this most unusual country. Betero is a 32-year-old Kiribati man who spent almost four years at the Pacific Regional Seminary (PRS) in Fiji. Before Betero left Fiji in 2012 to help his family for one year, Fr Pat Colgan, a Columban lecturer at PRS at that time, said to him, “Be sure to send some young men from Kiribati to join the Columbans.” Betero began teaching scripture in the Kiribati Pastoral Institute (KPI). During the year he fell in love with a young woman and decided not to return to the seminary, but he continued teaching at KPI. He advised a young student at KPI to apply to join the Columbans. Three others applied to me later by post. So I visited Kiribati to see if these young men would be suited to missionary work. I also did vocation promotion at a Catholic Secondary school and made a presentation on the life of Saint Columban to two parish youth groups.

Kiribati...A country about to disappear

Kiribati - a unique country

Kiribati is situated on the Equator and consists of three main groups of islands thousands of miles from each other. South Tarawa, the capital and seat of government, has 50% of the population, about 50,000 people. South Tarawa is about 15 miles long and consists of thin strips of land (400 to 900 metres wide) connected by causeways. It is like a necklace of islands. Villages run one into the other along the main road which is like a spine running the length of the island. Public transport up and down this road is by minibus.

Tarawa is an atoll with a big fish-filled lagoon. The sandy soil is poor and can produce only banana, papaya, breadfruit, coconuts, a few vegetables, and a little cassava. People rear chickens and pigs but fish is the main source of protein. Nowadays supermarkets sell imported foods. Rice and fish are the staple food for everyday but the families try to make Sunday lunch special by having meat on the menu.

Poverty is a big problem and fundraising by families for education or other necessities is a common concern. Women weave mats to sell. They also buy fish from the fishermen and smoke them on makeshift ovens by the road side, hoping to sell them to passers-by.

The Maneaba

The Maneaba is a big open hall. Traditionally they were thatched structures but are now built with concrete floors and pillars, and roofing iron. They are used for village meetings, communal celebrations and bingo (a very popular past-time, especially of older women). I could hear a choir practicing for hours in the maneaba across from the house where I was staying.

Kiribati...A country about to disappearThe children of Kiribati

Kiribati is full of children and young people as it is not unusual for couples to have 10 or more children. They have a carefree energy for life. I noticed one young boy balancing on the raised kerb of a footpath that was under construction as cars and minivans passed dangerously close by. A small lorry travelling in front of our car one night had a tray packed with standing youngsters. Some were also sitting on the rim of the tray. I sighed with relief when we passed it.

An accident

As Betero and I travelled from the airport along the potholed road made slick by rain we came to a halt at the site of an accident. A motor bike lay sprawled in the middle of the road. One young man was lying unconscious but shaking in the tray of a van. Another young man was still stretched out on the side of the road with an open gash the length of his calf. Neither had been wearing a helmet. They were rumoured to have been drunk and riding too fast. We heard later that both died in hospital.

Sketch of Catholicism

I arrived in Kiribati on May 10th, 2015, the day that the catechists Betero and Tiroi are remembered by Catholics there. They brought the Catholic faith to Kiribati in the 1880s, first to their island of Nonouti and later elsewhere. They had encountered the faith and were baptized in Tahiti. On their return they taught the people prayers and used to face toward Tahiti to join their worship with Catholics who were attending Mass there. Kiribati is now 50% Catholic but is being targeted by some other denominations. The bishop has appointed a group called Guardians of the Faith to strengthen the faith of Catholics against proselytization. Catholics in Kiribati are devoted to Mary and say the rosary before dawn every day, especially during the month of May.

Kiribati...A country about to disappearCatechist retreat

Betero was asked at the last minute to give three talks to 60 catechists on retreat. He co-opted me to give one of the talks. Despite the noise of the heavy thunderous rain I gave my talk and Betero translated. We were both then invited to the final Mass on Friday and the party to follow. The Mass was notable for a group of catechists and their wives ritualizing with song and dance the procession of the bible, the offertory procession and the thanksgiving after communion.

The Catechist party

The party was held in the Maneaba. Some ladies entertained us with hip-swinging dancing and invited us to join them on the floor. The catechists and their wives were divided in three teams of forty, distinguished by the design and colour of their clothes. Each group sang a number of songs relating the story of their predecessors, Betero and Tiroi. After the prize giving we tucked into a fine buffet of food. I had raw fish, grilled red snapper, chicken, cassava and breadfruit.

Kava Kiribati style

On my last night in Kiribati Betero and I went to a kava bar. Kava, imported from Fiji, is made from the pounded roots of a species of pepper plant suffused in water. The bar had long tables to sit at and a stage at one end where the local talent sang the night away. For A$10 we got 10 plastic bottles filled with kava. One took a bottle, shook it and drank. To someone used to the Fijian ritual surrounding kava this seemed almost blasphemous. We chatted with a local diocesan priest and as we were leaving another priest arrived who had been my student 20 years previously at the seminary in Fiji.

Kiribati...A country about to disappear

Climate change challenge to Kiribati


Kiribati, which is only just above sea level, is very vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by global warming and the melting of polar ice. I saw workers building a wall along a causeway that was completely flooded by strong rain and heavy seas a few weeks previously. A home- owner next to the Marist Brothers’ house, where I held a vocation seminar for 8 young men, had men building up a sea wall with rocks to prevent the sea eating away their property.

The Kiribati Government bought a property of some thousands of acres from the Anglican Church in Fiji for resettlement of people in the future. The President has said that the sea will cover Kiribati by the end of this century. Government officials have asked Australia and New Zealand to accept Kiribati people as permanent refugees. So global warming is not a matter of inconvenience and of changed conditions for the I Kiribati people. It is a matter of losing their homeland and being cast adrift to find shelter in different foreign countries. This would threaten the survival of their culture. This is one example of those causing least damage to the environment being made to suffer most because if it.

During our vocation seminar the electricity was cut off all day because of road work nearby. We sat in a small traditional maneaba on mats made from pandanus leaves under which there were rougher mats made from coconut leaves. These were placed on a base of small pebbles and sand. The thatched roof and the breeze from the sea kept the maneaba beautifully cool despite the hot sun. I remembered Arthur Grimble and an era that was simpler and kinder to the I Kiribati.

Columban Fr. Frank Hoare first went to Fiji in 1973.

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