Five young men by the name of Ben share the streets of Laie, a love of international culture, the gospel, and gardening foods specific to their countries. From Tonga, Italy, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States, the Bens share one name and have gathered to this campus.
Ben Papeo, a junior from Italy studying psychology said in his experience, all people by the name of Ben are “good guys. Whether it’s when I lived in Utah, in Italy, in Germany, any time I meet a Ben – Benjamin or another kind of Ben – it was always just a nice guy.”
Papeo was given the name Ben Enos. “My name Ben is actually not Benjamin, and it’s not any Italian equivalent such as Benito, Benionito, Benvenuto. It’s actually just Ben.”
His Latter-day Saint father was studying Hebrew when Papeo was born, and “he felt inspired to give me that biblical name,” said Papeo. In Hebrew, “Ben” with “Enos” means “son of man,” he said.
Benjamin Fa’oliu, a freshman from Tonga studying math, said he was named after King Benjamin. “I’m trying to reach his standard because of my name.”
For Fa’oliu and his Tongan heritage, a name has great importance. “If I become a great Benjamin, then hopefully my kids can learn from that and not only try to become more like me, but exceed what I was.”
Benjamin Dowda, a former student of Pacific Island Studies from Florida working at the PCC, was also named after King Benjamin, though he said he doesn’t read very much into that significance.
Benjamin Kaivalvatana, a sophomore from Thailand studying accounting, said, “Benjamin brings two words together in Thai. ‘Benja’ means five and ‘min’ means great or power. A person who has five great things.”
Kaivalvatana said he loves his name for the convenience of English speakers and because it is Thai. “In Thailand,” he said, “it’s very unusual, but here all my teachers easily remember my name. I love it.”
Anything but unusual in New Zealand, Benjamin Coffey, a freshman studying psychology, said his dad had several friends named Ben, “so he kind of wanted to pass that on,” said Coffey. The doctor who delivered him was also named Ben, “and so my mom liked that name, and they decided on that there.”
Growing up, there were two other Bens in his close friend group. “I didn’t adhere to the name Ben as much as I did to my family name, so I went by my last name, Coffey.
“It automatically instilled a greater attachment” to his last name, his family name.
Fa’oliu said a surname “identifies not only your family, where you come from, history, ancestors, lineage.”
Working at the PCC and dancing in the night show has been a chance for Fa’oliu to explore other cultures and learn each day. Fa’oliu said, “There’s something valuable that each person brings from around the world.”
Dowda said he has incorporated values he learned from the Fijian people on his mission. He said, “It definitely defines me more” than his own American culture. Dowda uses three dialects of Fijian each day at the PCC as he talks with his co-workers in the Fijian Village. He plans on majoring in Pacific Island Studies, becoming a professor of Fijian culture, and possibly even moving to the islands.
Similarily, Papeo said he tries to “take the best from different countries and combine them together, eliminating all the rest that’s either not needed, or not something positive.”
Papeo explained Italy “is very worldly. That’s something that’s very common around all of the countries of Europe. It’s not a healthy environment, spiritually speaking.”
Papeo said he had to find a religious connection amongst all the noise of an extremely modern society. He said he has done that through his study of Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Wushu, and Sanda–Chinese and Japanese martial arts.
Since the age of 13, Papeo has been studying Asian cultures and martial arts. Papeo said his trainer required him to learn Chinese medicine, study Taoism, read traditional Chinese religious books and study the words of Confucius.
“The religious books became a pleasure,” Papeo described. “It was so deep, so philosophical, so different from the western view of the world that I found it extremely fascinating and I just devoured the book completely.”
He also served a mission in Germany, the culture of which has also contributed to his identity.
Fa’oliu agreed with Papeo that it can be necessary to eliminate some things from your culture, especially those things that don’t conform to the standards of the church. “There are a lot of good things and good values that you find in Tongan culture, but there are some things that kind of goes against the church and their beliefs.”
One such thing is drinking kava. Fa’oliu said, “It’s a really important tradition back home, especially with nobles and royalty.” But because the church advises against it, “none of us drink kava,” Fa’oliu said of his family.
One value in Tongan culture Fa’oliu said he misses is friendliness. “Back home, no one is a stranger. Even someone that you don’t know will talk to you, and when you talk to that person, it seems like you’ve known that person for your whole life.”
The Thai culture is similar in that it promotes showing respect to strangers, Kaivalvatana said. “Thai people are known as [one of the most] respectful people in the world. I’m pretty sure we respect everyone.”
Kaivalvatana said regardless of skin color or race, they are always kind and welcoming to foreigners. “That’s one thing that really shaped me. That’s why I’m being nice to everyone.”
Kaivalvatana said his confidence – which stems from his knowledge of the gospel – and his culture has set him apart in his job as a tour guide at the PCC.
Fellow tour guide and friend Kilisi Finau, a freshman from Utah studying international cultural studies, said of Kaivalvatana, “He’s always fun, patting you on the back and making sure the day is going well. He’s willing to listen to you, no matter the problem. He’s one of my closest friends.”
“I grew up in Thai culture and gospel culture,” Kaivalvatana said, “so it’s like 50-50. Not like 100 percent Thai because I was born in the church.”
Fa’oliu experienced something similar in Tonga. “Even though I grew up with a lot of the Tongan culture around me, what shaped me more into who I am now is more the culture of the church instead of Tongan culture.”
Coffey echoed Fa’oliu. He was raised near the Hamilton New Zealand Temple and said he was influenced more by the LDS Church than by New Zealand cultural beliefs.
Besides being grounded in the LDS faith, each of the Bens share a special connection with their culture through growing things from the ground up.
Coffey said he would always help his Californian mom with her rose garden. He would also help his Maori dad with his traditional New Zealand vegetables. Coffey said he and his seven siblings would spend hours weeding the gardens. “Hard work was definitely something my parents instilled in me most.”
Kaivalvatana said although he did not always enjoy it, he would spend hours weeding and watering amongst the mango, banana, lemon grass, Thai chili and basil in his family’s garden in Bangkok, Thailand. Kaivalvatana said he did it because his father asked him to.
Dowda said, “I’d be happy to go back [to Fiji] and have my own farm. Actually, I grow tomatoes here. I have a small garden.”
Fa’oliu grew up working hard with his family to grow yams. “We had what you would call a farm – we call a plantation–so we would always go to the plantation and grow crops. That’s what a lot of people like to get [in Tonga], so we grew yams.”
Papeo said he dabbles in gardening as well. He said everyone in Italy knows “how to make your own food – the whole process from gardening to serving on the table.”
He said, “Most people know how to make a basic sauce. If you go back home – usually the mom – if she sees you not being able to do that, she’ll give you a nice slap and say ‘I taught you better than this.’”