Missionaries’ egalitarian instinct does more than spread the message

A NUMBER of years ago, I was part of an Irish delegation to the United Nations. It was my first time in the Assembly Hall, and a fascinating place it was. To my surprise, all of the delegations were arranged alphabetically.

I had expected the big powers, like the US and Britain, to be dominating the front. Instead, they were right up at the back. As I looked around to try to find them, I noticed that they were positioned right beside the Vanuatu desk.

I was intrigued to see a single black diplomat manning the Vanuatu desk, and made my way up to where he was sitting. He spoke perfect English, and as I discovered, perfect French. Like everyone else from Vanuatu, he was also fluent in pidgin.