Yaqona would be considered the national drink of the iTaukei — the traditional landowners of Fiji. But it is drunk not only in Fiji but in Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa and other Pacific Island countries.
An article in The Fiji Times (September 16, 2016) says it is estimated that Fijians spend about $750,000 a day, $5.25m a week and $276m a year on kava.
The article added: “A random interview with about 50 people carried out by this newspaper revealed that they spent about $100 a week on kava while some in one sitting spent up to $150 in one night among them, which is more than the estimated three bags a day.”
The editorial the following day said those figures were probably conservative and were “shocking”.
“Based on these figures, individual drinkers could most probably be spending about $1092 in a year. Questions will be raised about accompanying issues such as a sedentary lifestyle, possible rise in expenses for a household, and ultimately priorities.”
It also mentions the possible connection between the high consumption of kava and NCDs.
Traditionally (we are told), it was only used on special occasions and not everyone was eligible to consume it. However in more recent years it, has become a regular drink for any group of people — including women and non-iTaukei as well as some youth.
It still has special significance for important occasions — funerals, weddings, times of seeking forgiveness etc, but it is commonly used as an everyday drink much as beer is consumed in bars in Australia, UK and Germany.
Thus, its original “sacred” nature has been turned into an everyday drink for whoever wishes to consume it.
Positive and negative aspects
There are positive and negative aspects to grog drinking.
On the positive side:
* It brings people together to celebrate important occasions.
* Also night or weekend sessions are an opportunity for friends to get together and discuss family issues, rugby wins and losses, politics and local events.
* It helps to create good relationships and build lifelong friendships.
* Moreover, yaqona also helps to overcome stress and relaxes the body and possibly cut down blood pressure.
However on the negative side it can create a number of problems:
* The lengthy hours spent night after night with a few friends can take men (and women) away from their families and their responsibilities to their wives and children. When men spend all night almost every night around the grog bowl and then get up to go to work, they hardly see their children let alone spend quality time with them;
* There is a lot of money spent on grog (and the cigarettes which have become part of grog-drinking). Some men have been amazed at the amount they spend on grog and cigarettes once they stop and start calculating their expenses. This often means that they don’t have enough money for nutritious food for their families and for the educational needs of their children. They then come begging organisations to help them pay education costs or electricity and water bills. They want to appear poor yet they have squandered their money on grog and cigarettes;
* The Health Ministry regularly reminds people about the excessive effects of grog and cigarette smoking on their health. Excessive grog can cause liver problems and smoking can cause lung cancer etc etc. Even if you don’t smoke you inhale the smoke of your companions who do;
* Long hours of grog-drinking can cause people to become drowsy and affects sexual performance;
* People who have shown little concern for a person during their life still turn up in great numbers to drink yaqona at the funeral. It seems they go to the funeral just for the grog; and
* When people go to work or university the next day they are often drowsy and tired and cannot perform well. Consequently, many workers lose their jobs because of poor performance or for being late for work. Many students fall off to sleep not because the lecturer is boring but because they cannot stay awake after too much grog the night before.
The church and grog
While some churches forbid or strictly limit the use of yaqona by its clergy following religious celebrations, other churches tolerate or accept the use of yaqona by its clergy and as a follow on to religious celebrations.
The Catholic Church in Fiji has come in for quite a bit of criticism for not setting some limits on the use of grog by its clergy and as a necessary follow-on from religious gatherings.
Some of the things we hear are:
* When Father comes to visit, we have to have grog to welcome him because he likes drinking grog — sometimes for hours.
* Some church committee meetings have to be held around the grog bowl and go on for long periods of time.
* After mass in someone’s home or following Sunday mass or the carrying of Mary’s statue to a home, it is understood that there will be grog served by the men (and it can go on for hours).
* On some semi-religious occasions such as weddings, funerals etc, grog sessions can dominate the occasion and go on endlessly.
Again it is a matter of setting limits and not making Father’s visit or a home mass or a celebration around the carrying of Mary’s statue an excuse for drinking grog.
And if yaqona is going to be used should not a time limit be set? Surely a few bowls can be enough.
Of course the clergy should play an important role in seeing that limits are set and that they themselves are not made an excuse for people wanting to bring out the tanoa.
The solution
People need to find their own solution but it is a matter of setting priorities and establishing limits.
Does the family and family responsibilities come first or is grog always the number one priority?
Is quality time spent with the family or is grog an escape from family responsibilities? An article on grog-drinking in Vanuatu was entitled The Daily Dissolution of Life in Vanuatu — when everyone in the family was supposed to be quiet and allow the men to drink themselves to sleep.
Do people value their work and studies and try to excel in them or are they not so important — just pastimes?
Can individuals establish limits to their grog sessions — just on Friday and/or Saturday nights for two hours and no more?
Can they be satisfied with four, five or six bowls at each session?
Can they think of the serious financial, health and family consequences of over-indulging in too often and too lengthy grog sessions with smoking as part of the session?
These are important questions if a proper balance is to be established and it is up to each individual to think hard and long on this important issue.
Many admit that the drinking of grog is becoming an important issue and has a number of repercussions on daily life, family life and health. All good things need to be used in moderation and limits set.
(Note: These reflections came from a number of concerned people and were written down by Fr Kevin Barr. The article was put together based on the ideas expressed by a number of reliable women, men and experienced youth. All of them were not biased or anti but showed a good balance in their assessment)
* Fr Kevin Barr is a consultant for the Peoples Community Network Fiji (PCN). Views expressed are his and not of this newspaper.
