There was a strong cold wintery gale blowing  in Wellington. I was cold and miserable. My phone rang. It was a Professor  Bewley from Massey University in Palmerston North.  “We need an emergency lecturer to go to the University of the South Pacific to teach agricultural extension. Some of the staff  have cleared off home after the cyclone. Would you be interested to go to Samoa for five months?  We would put you on the Massey staff as a senior lecture and seccond you to USP.”

          I said Yes. And when I told my wife Joyce,  I blamed it on the weather.

         A few days later I signed a contract . I was told you only need take your clothes and your lecture notes, everything else will be supplied. You will be met at the airport and a fully furnished house will be supplied.

         I should have known better. No one met us at the airport. It took many weeks to get accommodation. All the houses build by the New Zealand Government for visiting staff were filled by a team of Americans from Cornell University.

         Ultimately a house was found for us in the middle of a village some three km from the Alafua College. It had been empty for over a year.  It was very dirty and fully equipped but few of the appliances still worked. We did have a fridge and a shower and the top of a stove worked when we had power, and that was not very often.

         As soon as I arrived at the university I was thrown  straight into the deep end. I had nine lectures a week and 39 mature final year degree and diploma students. They came from a dozen countries and English was their second or third language. One student was going home to be the Director of Agriculture as soon as he finished his degree.

         Food was very short after the cyclone. We were three kms from the markets. Joyce would walk into the village with a basket and hire a taxi to return home. There  were no footpaths  only a grass strip. What food was available was very expensive. Green bananas were selling for over two dollars each.  

         Knowing how ineffective lecturing was, I decided to try something different. I put the students into national teams getting them to compete for best solutions to my questions.       

         At the end of the session I would give each a handout covering the solution to the topics covered.  This was popular and very competitive.       

         After five months my notes were collected and published by the Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture.

         I learned much from my students, including the differences in the way the Pacific people do things to the ‘palagi way’. A palagi is a Samoan term for a white person. The term is useful for frightening small children. “If you don’t stop crying the palagis will get you”.

         The Pacific students saw themselves as more friendly; a caring sharing society where religion, tradition and feasting are very important. They thought palagis were selfish, independent, money-oriented un-religious(their term), and far too serious. “Palagis think time is important, they worry too much and are forever wanting to change things.”

           Perhaps they were right. They are better at supporting each other and looking after the elderly than us.

         One day I asked the students to put on a demonstration for a field day for farmers.

         All went well until The Fijian team started to demonstrate how to ear-tag young goats. The goats were not tethered well enough and strongly objected to having holes punched into their ears.        I shall never forget the sight of the Fijians disappearing over the horizon in pursuit of the kids.

         The Pro-Vice-Chancellor sent for me and said “You used to be a manager. All our final-year degree students will be managers next year. Will you give them some lectures on management skills?”

         This was a new subject for me. Joyce and I searched all the Samoan libraries hunting for information. We found nothing suitable.      

         Before I became a manager in New Zealand I had been given, at great expense, five months of training in management skills and I had worked at the Staff College a few times.

         I accepted the task and carried on using the same training methods, giving a handout at the end of each session.

         At the finish of the series, I was asked to recommend a book on management skills.  I was unable to do this. I said I would put my notes together and write one for them.

         If they wrote to me in one year and tell me what they were doing I would send them a free copy. Many did.

         I kept my word and wrote a book titled,  “Survival Skills for New Managers”.  Much to my amazement it was published in eight countries and in many languages.

         The Singapore Institute of Management published it, and wrote and asked if I could convert it into a three-day workshop for Asian managers. I flew up to Singapore 31 times to do this and into many other countries.

         The book was dedicated to my students at USP.

          I often wondered what readers thought of it in such countries as England, China, Hungry, and others. I owe a debt to Cyclone Ofa and my trip to Samoa.

         The next time I was invited back to Samoa to help in an aid programme for the Australian Government  I invited Joyce to join me.    She said; “The last time you took me was for five months. It takes half an hour to see Apia –  I’ll stay home and look after the cat.”

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

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