Harmony thrives in Pacific isolation @ BBC NEWS - 0 views
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Island harmony The Anutans have their own word for this, "aropa", which means love and compassion. It is an ideology that is applied to almost everything they do. You can see it at work in the way food and tasks are shared, but it goes further than this.
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Bizarrely they even adopt each other's children. Joseph's oldest daughter was adopted by a couple who gave him their son in return a few years later. When I asked Joseph about this, he simply said that it was not an issue as Anutans saw children as communal. What was important was that everyone who wanted a child had one. So if a couple was childless for any reason they would be perfectly entitled to ask another family member or friend if they could have their next child. Both mother and father have to agree but requests are seldom refused.
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We worry about our children getting in with the wrong crowd, taking drugs, drinking, teenage knife crime. Anutans worry about their kids playing homemade ukuleles.
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The lyrics had a point however. Anuta's isolation has meant that few visitors ever return. But then this is probably just as well. The beauty of the Anutan way of life comes from the relative absence of outside influence.