7 November 1973,
I arrived in Fiji for the first time about 10 days ago. Today I had my first Hindi class with Ms Uttra Singh in Nicolas House, the Archdiocesan Offices near the Cathedral. Travelling on the bus from Princess Road to the bus station I gasped at the beauty of the flowering trees along the side of Edinburgh Drive. We don’t have flowering trees in Ireland.
From the bus station I walked over the bridge where boats are docked and people sell fish from them. I crossed the road at the tree and entered Pratt Street. The Public Works Department had dug a trench beside the footpath on the right side of the road.
In the middle of the trench stood a fine strong Fijian man leaning on his shovel. He had a cigar in his mouth and a hibiscus flower over this ear and a mighty smile on his face. I could only smile at him in return and admire his style. We don’t have PWD workers like that in Ireland either.
by Fr. Frank Hoare
