Meet my friend Nelson…

Meet my friend Nelson. I have known Nelson for the past couple of months. I met him through Goasa (my office mate). Nelson’s mum lives on campus and works in the library. Nelson stays on campus sometimes. Mostly he lives and works in Wagang, a coastal village about 1/2 drive from UNITECH. Nelson is from the Sepik province (nth cost of PNG) and is married to a lady that comes from Wagang. They have a little farmlet at Wagang where they grow fruit and vegies. Nelson’s wife goes to Lae main markets most days to sell their fresh produce. Nelson and his wife have a little baby.

The above photo was taken last friday night at my place. Nelson popped in and we had a coffee, shared some stories, laughed and chewed some buai. The quality of human interaction is something I am really enjoying here in PNG.

I don’t see Nelson very often as he spends most of his time in his wife’s village. Well guess what ? This Friday afternoon (tomorrow) I am of to Wagang for an overnighter. Wagang is a traditional coastal village without any running water or power. People wash in the local river, the women downstream from the men !! I questioned this tradition with Nelson and he said that women in PNG have always washed downstream from the men. So I guess, when I go to Wagang tomorrow and go for a wash, I will be with the men upstream from the women. Tradition !!

Thought I might take both my didjeridoo’s with me and play some music with the locals of Wagang. A story or two will be in order and lucky me, Nelson has a matress for me to sleep on. The big question is : will I take one of my pillows ? Sleeping on a matress in PNG is a luxury and most nationals sleep on a mat on the floor. I suppose that my cultural transition still has a long way to go. Certainly looking forward to a wash and a swim in the local river (upstream of course).

This past week has been mayhem in a way. The mibile phone network has been down for about 4 out of the last 7 days and as far as the power, between yesterday and the day before we have had around 8 blackouts with a total of 5 hours outage. Very disruptive to work and classes. Also frustrating how people seem to sit back and accept this as the norm. Why is’nt the UNITECH management putting some sort of pressure on PNG Power to rectify this situation ?

There are many things to get frustrated over here in PNG. The challenge for me as a volunteer and Australian is to preserve some sort of a positive attitude through all of this. It would be very easy for me to go negative and start complaining like the others. Remember that for the world to change : I must change 1st !!

I hope you are all well…