Robert@PNG

Thursday, 24th of November

Continued on from “Wagang Village : Series 2 (Part3)”

Day 4 : my last day in Wagang…

Got up just before dawn. It was very peaceful, just the rooster going off it's head at first and of course the insects. Then people slowly started stiring, the fires were being lit and the village was slowly waking to the start of a new day.

With coffee and ciggie in hand and a body that ached all over, I started to think about the day ahead. I didn't want to leave but I knew I had to. The cut on my left foot had become infected and it was a five hour walk back to the nearest PMV pickup. The coffee tasted real good. My head was going all crazy like, desperately seeking an alternative.

I would describe myself as physically, pretty lazy. It hasn't always been this way but certainly so the last few years. If there is ever a choice between sitting or standing up I will inevitably choose to sit down and…   if there is ever a choice between lying down or s down up I would prefer to lie down. The four days in Wagang took me into a level of physical discomfort that was unavoidable. Village life is hard work but there was also an element of “forgetting” that I was a white-man with a white-man's body, city born and bred. Could I physically adapt if I moved into a village for an extended period?

At 6:00am we started walking towards the “meeting place”. Every morning and just after dawn, people gather on the main road. Some will walk into Lae town that day and others might walk to the nearest markets to sell produce, some people gather to speak with and bid the walkers a safe journey. People from the neighbouring tribes also gather, they stop and interact. As we approached the “meeting place” there were probably about 12 people gathered. After some more greetings and sharing some news, it was time to leave and start walking.

As I walked off I turned around and there they were… waving and smiling. I have never particlarly enjoyed farewells and as I walked and looked back my eyes started to get watery. I kept walking. Up ahead a little further was Amos with his family, they had come to the road to bid us a safe journey. Farewells were exchanged and as I was shaking and holding hands with Amos, I felt the tears just swell up. We hugged.

There were three of us, Memase and Takue. Memase from a neighbouring village and Takue from the clan that I had stayed with for the past four days. Takue walked with us for about 30mins and then headed back to the village. Memase was to walk with me until I found safe transport back to Lae after which he would return to his village as well. Believe me…  I was dreading the walk, like I said before my body was sore all over and my left foot was starting to swell up with infection.

Along the way we passed many locals, many came out to wave, others just stood there staring, some ignored us totally. We walked and we walked and we walked. About 2 hours into the walk back to town I started to count each step. I would count to 100 only to start back at one again, each step was an effort, each step was painful. This body, city born and city bred body was now experiencing the aftermath of village life. I need to mention that I had not passed any “motions” since early monday morning and for four days I had lived on yams, banana and coconut juice. I literally felt like shit!

So Memase and myself eventually reach a river, a fast flowing one too. I said : “Man, I need a rest”. Memase cut open a coconut and we drank the juice, I have never drank anything as thirst quenching as that coconut juice I drank on the riverbed that morning. After the drink I layed down, no sand or anything else comfortable in the vicinity to lie on, just river stones and dirt. As hard as the stones were, I remember how nice it felt. I also remember how much I didn't want to walk one more step. As I laid there on those stones : I just wanted to go to sleep and rest and forget about the walking all together. I knew that the longer I laid and rested the harder it would be to get up and continue walking.

As we crossed the river I made up my mind to stop the first vehicle to drive past. About half a kilometer beyond the river a white four wheel drive was coming from the opposite direction, I got ready to get on my knees and start begging for a lift. The car stopped and I explained my situaton to the three men inside the vehicle, the driver was a national and the other two men filipinos. It turns out that they were heading back to the Pelgens piggery where they worked, I told them about my foot and asked if they were willing to drive me to the nearest PMV pickup. The driver hesitated at first and then said : “Go and wait by the main gate (to Pelgens) and they would come back as soon as they had taken care of some business. Yeeehaaaaa….. !!!  Memase and myself started to walk towards the Pelgen's main gate and sat, rested, cracked another coconut and shared some stories. After about half an hour of sitting and waiting we saw the vehicle approaching and I remember experiencing an incredible sense of relief.

In the vehicle was the driver (a national) and a filipino gentleman, they told as we were heading back to Lae that they thought I was a missionary!  Do I look like a missionary man? Heaven forbid! Who cares what I looked like….  got me lift back to Unitech. I was expecting a lift back to the nearest PMV pickup and as it turns out they drove me all the way back to the main gate at Unitech (Unigate). An amazing gesture of goodwill and generosity on their part and I will always be grateful for that lift on that Thursday morning. I did give the driver some money (K50) for petrol and also my business card.

When I got out that car, I started to head straight for the campus clinic. By this stage I could hardly walk plus I was hobbling along like a cripple. The sense of relief was still with me and as painful as the walk to the clinic was I also remember feeling ecstatic. I had arrived home!

There had never been a need for me to visit the campus clinic since arriving in April 2005, so after filling out the appropiate paperwork I sat and waited for about 30 mins. Eventually my turn did come up (as it always does) and the nurse attending to me mentioned that the doctor was presently on holidays and would no be back for a fortnight. You beauty! A clinic without  doctor?  In the end the nurse did not even look at my cut, it was pretty red and swollen by this stage, she gave some “Amox” and some bandages and told me to home and look after myself. And that was that! The thing that truly differentiates a developed country with a developing country is definitely the quality of medical services available. I was too stuffed to argue, so I picked my bag and started to walk towards my home in Purari Drive.

(Just one more thing about the clinic : I noticed a set of scales in the clinic and weighed myself…  95kgs!!  When I left Australia early April, I weighed in at 120Kgs. Eight months in PNG and 25Kgs lighter. The paw-paw, pineapple and coconut juice diet was obviously working!)

Hobble…   hobble…  hobble…     

…and eventually home!   Home sweet home!!

Remember how I mentioned earlier that I had not passed “motions” since early Monday morning?  What do you think was the first thing I did when I walked in the door? Yes!! I won't go into the finer details of that experience but I will say one thing : superb!   A shower followed and then a soak of the foot in Tea Tree Oil. I cleaned the cut to the best of my ability and then proceeded to make myself a nice hot cup of coffee (with heaps of condensed milk). After a coffee and a couple of ciggies, I moved to my bedroom and slept for a good few hours. Beautiful!

Later that afernoon and just as I was waking up I heard a knock at my gate and a female voice yelling : “Rob…   Rob….”   It was “Eli” !!!   Now, being single is a choice I have made and most of the time, this is the way I like it. Single, no commitments, minimal responsibilities and plenty of freedom and independence. There are times though when lonliness hits me very strong, mainly during times of personal illness or injury. I looked at Eli standing at that gate, she looked at me and I realised how happy I was to see her, standing there with a worried look on her face as I hobble out of my house. I don't know about Eli but for me…  that afternoon and evening was very special indeed.

For photos from this trip to Wagang - please view the “Wagang visit 21/11/05” photo album.