When Words Fail

"I can't play with the kids here," Marley told Dad as they washed dishes after supper. "They don't understand anything I say!"

Marley's family had gone overseas to help some missionaries in Papua New Guinea. They were living in a village in the mountains, and making new friends hadn't been easy. The village children spoke a language called Pidgin, but Marley's family spoke English.

Dad plunged another plate into sudsy water. "You'll have to find another way to communicate with them."

The next morning, two girls from the village spotted Marley outside and ran to her. Beaming, one of them timidly held out a short stick that looked like bamboo. Marley reached for it uncertainly.

"Sugar cane," one of the girls said in accented English.

The other girl pointed to the side of the sugar cane with its bark peeled away. The inside of the sugar cane was yellowish and packed together in coarse strands. "Gut." She grinned and rubbed her belly.

Marley tried to take a bite out of it, and th