The contrast couldn’t have been greater. We approached the immigration area of the airport and there was no line. We walked to a machine that scanned our passport and took a photo of our faces and then the automatic door opened and we were through immigration! We couldn’t believe it— it had taken less than 60 seconds total! Compare this to the islands. On the islands, immigration can take up to an hour, with long lines, slow interactions, malfunctioning equipment and a general feeling of crowded chaos. But now in this different country— 60 seconds! Who knew that something like immigration could be done so efficiently.
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| At an English ceremony- not known for their efficiency |
What is your gut reaction is to the word efficiency? We have known people for whom efficiency is their highest goal— and they find great contentment in being able to arrange things and complete tasks in the most efficient way possible.
Efficiency strikes us as a positive thing— it is something that we value, appreciate and strive for when possible. Not that we want it at the very top of our priority list. For example, at a doctor’s office, efficiency could dictate that the patients are funneled through with quick consultations in a way that feels cold, impersonal and leaves them feeling uncared for. So we don’t want to sacrifice everything for the sake of efficiency. We would prioritize things like health, safety, comfort and relationships over efficiency, but otherwise we are irritated by inefficiency.
We have learned that most islanders are different. They seem to tolerate a huge amount of inefficiency. Until recently, we would have said that they are just resigned to the inefficiency that comes from mismanagement and corruption. But our colleague with the boat business has challenged us by saying that islanders actually see efficiency as a bad thing. This was a somewhat shocking statement to us, but he explained different situations where he has been fighting island staff and officials trying to make his boat business run more efficiently and how much pushback he has gotten.
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| Final outing of break |
Then we thought about the new electricity meters. We would tell our island friends that we understand that the electricity company likes the new meters because they are so much more efficient for them. But our island friends never seemed to recognize this efficiency as a positive. One friend pointed out that this efficiency means that people lost their jobs. The painstaking process of reading the meters every month and hand-delivering the bills employed several people. Now they aren’t needed anymore. Also, this efficiency means the process of getting electricity is less personal— you can’t argue with a meter or ask a machine for a little more time before power is cut.
We started to think about all the offices on the islands—typically there are a bunch of people sitting around doing nothing with only one person doing any work. We have seen this as a hallmark of island inefficiency— people being paid to do nothing. But islanders see that as a room of people with jobs. For a country where a vast majority of adults are unemployed, this example of inefficiency is therefore seen as a good thing.
Upon reflection, we were also struck by how much efficiency seems to encourage a more task-oriented approach. In a culture that is more relationship/people-focused like the islands, it is easy to see how efficiency would get a bad rap. Efficiency has us move quickly from one thing to another. It sees time as a limited resource. Islanders want to take their time and they see rushing as a sign of wrong priorities.
Thinking back to that 60-second immigration process— we didn’t have to interact with a single person. There was only one employee at the entrance if people had issues, but there was no one needed for crowd-control, there were no immigration officials, no small conversations or smiles with fellow travelers in line— it was incredibly efficient, but also completely impersonal and provided a lot fewer jobs.
We still value efficiency, but we can see where islanders are coming from— maybe we can meet in the middle and value both efficiency and people at the same time!
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our two older kids made it back safely to boarding school. They were able to get the schoolwork and college applications done! We had some nice final days as a family. An island sister was able to gather some of the people that didn’t make it to the potluck to study and enjoy a meal together. We’ve had a few rain storms that have helped break up the heat. Our annual English club party was very small, but we still had a fun evening. Our daughter got to share truth with an island neighbor friend.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
The women will be having a gathering this week, pray that the new sister would be able to come and that she would feel welcome and comfortable in the group. Megan broached the subject of Hashiri’s neurodivergence with her yesterday and it sounds like it was new information for her. Pray for Megan as she follows up with her and tries to find out what resources are available to help her. We have a couple interested in joining our team who are coming to do a site visit next week— pray for us as we prepare for their visit and for them as they prepare to leave their two young children at home.
