Candies and Culture

I laid out pictures of several women from the village for my next language-learning game. Then I put 1–4 pieces of candy next to most of the photos, leaving a few without any. In the simplest Indonesian I could manage (since my language helper’s Indonesian is very limited), I explained that she should tell me to take one, two, or three red, green, or orange candies from one person and give them to another.

I was happy when she seemed to understand right away. In Murkim she told me, “Take one green candy from Abelia and give it to Tanias.” I did as she had said then after a long pause, during which she quietly mouthed numbers to herself, she continued, “Take two candies from Omokos and give them to Metefina.” Each instruction came with another long thoughtful pause, but she pressed on.

Then suddenly she looked up at me with a big, proud smile and declared, “Mesain swain.” I had no idea what that meant, so I just nodded and smiled back. She repeated it a few more times, clearly wanting me to understand. Finally, I looked at her son and asked in Indonesian what she was saying.

“Sudah pas,” he said, “It’s good. Perfect.” He pointed at the pictures.

I glanced down and realized that every woman now had basically the same number of candies. I burst out laughing and agreed, “Yes, it’s very good.”

Once again, I got a sweet little glimpse into something that feels deeply woven into Murkim culture: sharing. If someone kills a pig, everyone eats meat. If one household has cooking oil and another doesn’t, there’s no shame in asking, because tomorrow the situation might be reversed. If one person has something, everyone does. Personal property is a very loose concept here.

Like most cultural things, it holds both beauty and challenges. Yet moments like this remind me how thankful I am to witness the unique beauty God created in the world’s many cultures.