Madang Settlement adjacent to UNITECH

I had the opportunity Saturday before last to venture into the settlement that lies adjacent to the UNITECH campus. Settlements are very common in PNG especially in the larger towns. Lae has a population of around 140,000 and there would have to be close to 120,000 people living in these settlements areas. If you look at a map of Lae you will notice many of these settlements or compounds. The Madang settlement adjacent to UNITECH is an example of one such settlement. Settlements are located on tracts of what is called customary land. Residents register their block of land by paying a nominal fee to the land owner. In addition to this registration fee they also pay a yearly rental. Settlements as a rule do not have any running water, no power and certainly no sewerage.

Settlements arose in PNG as a result of the population migration from the rural areas to the cities. People leave the village and head off to the larger towns such as Lae, expecting to find work and housing and a reasonable quality of life. Most of these people never find work and end up experiencing a standard of living far below what their villages are able to offer.

As a rule of thumb, these settlements are off limits to ex-pats, foreigners and white people in general. So when I ventured into the Madang compound Saturday before last I was probably taking a bit of a risk. I made arrangements to meet my friend Jerry at 9:00am around the gate leading into the settlement. Jerry turned up with a friend and the three of us started our walk towards Jerry’s home. We passed many of Jerry’s Wantoks and friends along the road. Eventually we turned up at Jerry’s home and there I met his wife and 4x kids and some of his relatives including his Mum. We sat, we drank coffee and shared some stories.

I am generally filled with a sense honor and privilege when invited into someone’s home. Jerry’s home is very basic and was built out of some poles, corrugated iron and sheets of plastic. The floor of the house is made out of dirt and earth. When we sat down and drank our coffee, we interacted, we laughed and we shared stories. Despite the poor living conditions these people live in I was welcomed with open arms. Wealth has little to do with money. These people are very poor when it comes to money but very rich in qualities such as human respect, decency and human interaction. I was awed and found myself on cloud 9.

To view photos of Jerry’s family and our walk back through the settlement towards the market/gate area please follow the following link :

Madang Settlement

As it turned out I only started taking photos at Jerry’s home and during the walk through the settlement back to campus. The photos in the Photo Album are therefore in sequence. I have also included a small caption with each photo.