Domestic Violence in Samoa

A couple of ladies came to our safety and security lesson today. They were talking about domestic abuse. Samoa does not have any laws again domestic violence and apparently it is pretty common here. They showed a video in which a man came home drunk and his mother was yelling to him about his lazy wife and how she doesn’t know how to cook, clean, etc. The man beat up his wife and at the end of the video the women were putting the blame on the mother because she got her son mad. It was upsetting to us trainees because it seemed that they were making excuses for the men for beating their women. It made us realize that the mindset is so different here in Samoa. One of the volunteer's sister was beat up by her husband last night and some other volunteers have seen children get beaten up (which is also fairly common apparently). I am very fortunate to have a host family that is very loving to their children and don’t beat them (to my knowledge).

I talked to my mom again and she said that she was talking to a friend telling her that I was having a hard time adapting to the culture and she said that she felt God was calling me to be obedient. I know that God called me out here for a reason – probably many – and it is important for me to be willing to hear Him and allow Him to move me which means that I must be able to sacrifice things that are familiar and comfortable to me.