South Seas – Samoa – People
On March 1, 1900, the German flag was hoisted in western Samoa. Although the Germans protected their interests and even deported armed insurgents to the Mariana Islands, they were very popular with the population. They built schools, hospitals and the only road that existed in Samoa until 1942. And many Samoans still have German names today. The Minister of Tourism is called Hans-Joachim Keil and an employee named Huber works in his anteroom. Both speak little German, but have unmistakable European facial features. In the capital there is still a hotel called “Insel Fehmarn”. Like all colonial masters, the Germans also brought foreign workers with them to Samoa. In this case, there were 2000 Chinese.
Planters taught the population how to create plantations and irrigation systems. Even today, you can admire palm groves that have been laid out accurately like espalier fruit. Laundry is still washed in the rivers, which also function as a bathing establishment.
Civilization dropouts have an extremely difficult time in Samoa, because they can practically only settle down if they marry into a Samoan family. This may sound funny and interesting, but it is only to a limited extent, because then you have the whole family on your neck, which expects financial advantages from the foreigner by marriage. Male singles will soon find that the local girls and women have little inhibitions about hooking up and matching. The age of the men also hardly plays a role. The main thing is wealthy foreigners. The inviting smile can therefore boomerang. Samoa is, to put it mildly, a state that is permanently on the verge of bankruptcy. The unemployment rate is the highest and the average income the lowest in the entire South Seas.
Without development aid, the country would have been bankrupt for some time. There is hardly any industry (coconut oil factory), boat building is primitive, skilled craftsmen are missing, only the beer factory “Vailima” (Samoan = water from the hand), which is under German supervision, is flourishing. In 1989, the banking system was liberalized. Since then, Samoa has been considered a tax haven for large companies. Tourism seems to be the country’s main source of income in the near future. About 60,000 foreigners visit Samoa every year for trekking, biking, cycling, diving, sailing, canoeing, volcano expeditions, deep-sea fishing and simple swimming. The smallest share comes from Europe. Only a few Germans have made it to Samoa so far. Mostly they are divers, hiking tourists or globetrotters.
