Kava judgment
Savenaca Vakaliwaliwa, Canada
Lately, we have read some facts and opinions through the dailies and this column regarding our national drink called yaqona or kava/grog.
We were told by the iTaukei Affairs Board, that the feedback they received from our iTaukei villages was that the over-consumption of kava by women, which can go on till the early hours of the morning is a trend that continues to be a concern in villages (FS 24/1). This is why the proposed village bylaws would address these issues.
Tevita Seruilumi brings up a good point in response to the above news, which women kava swipers will applaud, saying that men also have an equal responsibility role in looking after children and that women should not be limited in the enjoyment of their rights and leisure (FS 25/1).
Lately, Dr Apo Aporosa, a Kava Health Researcher, from the University of Waikato, New Zealand stood by the recent World Health Organisation (WHO) kava risk assessment report that “excessive or over-consumption” of yaqona does not cause “liver problems and associated health issues”(FS 27/1).
He maintains that our local report on liver abscesses in young male yaqona consumers were the result of poor quality water and ‘not’ yaqona and also that kanikani – ‘dry skin and rashes’ is not a ‘health issue’ or ‘concern’ as kanikani subsides after kava cessation without lingering effects. Dr Aporosa concluded that Fijians needed to be challenged to increase productivity, be more productive and care for their families, but do not make yaqona, our icon of identity, the scapegoat in the drive for betterment. So which side of the fence should we be? Fiji having a Christian majority need to have faith and believe that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). The Spirit of God transforms the life and empowers people to change their lifestyle and be a blessing to their family and others around them, enjoying life to the fullest without the use of kava etc.
The decision is ours individually and I believe that our NCD statistics and associated social issues will reduce considerably, when we decide to either quit or consume our national drink sensibly.