Education- The Key to a Girl’s future

Under my mother’s care, I was educated
She taught me to wash, clean and sweep
She taught me falafala [the ways of living]
She taught me how to weave the kaufe (traditional mat)
With its many uses.
The kaufe was used as an umbrella
A sleeping mat
A storage wrap,
of all dried food
A wedding present
it symbolizes, tribe, clan, and wise teachings
This gives her the right
To train those who will arise in her future home
The bride takes the Kaufe to her new home
She laments the loss
Of her known environment
She reminisces her childhood
And remembers all she learnt
As her learning process replays
She remembers her mother’s voice
Her father’s training
It now dawns on me
As the world is changing
So are the ways of learning
Our education system has slithered away from home
into the classroom of the Western system
She laments, when she leaves home
The Boarding school awaits
My mother cried relentlessly
Her daughter is ready to be taught by another teacher
Mother dear may never have the chance to meet the new teacher
Her village is far away
She cries to the evening wind
As the sun sets on the sea
The boarding school is far, far away
And yet her daughter has left her side
To be learned at the boarding school
She is willing to accept this change
Because in the classroom is where
Her new future lies
What? What does her future hold?
Only education can tell
Her future lies in the efforts she puts
In reading, writing and learning
This is where her future lies
It will never be the same again
Life has changed
Mother laments
But now it’s a different kind of lament

By Ruth Maetala (Solomon Islands )