Copra

My sister and I in Savo

A Solomon Island student once asked me why Australia had a Copra house in Sydney when we didn't grow coconuts. Ah, he meant the Sydney Opera House. Well there would be heaps of space inside that to dry truck loads of copra. Drying copra is a big deal in the Solomons. A lot of kids are in school solely because their families worked their butts off to cut enough copra to earn the cash for school fees.

Copra cutting contest

   When I was in Savo we happened by the Central Province Second Appointed Day celebrations. The highlight was the copra cutting contest. Now in Australia we have the woodchop at local shows where the crowd is kept well away from flying woodchips. Not so in the copra cut. The crowd inches closer and closer to the competitors as bush knives hack and coconut shells go flying . Scary stuff.