Had the opportiunity last night to attend a Rotary meeting in Lae. There are two clubs in Lae – one that meets at the Melanesian and the other at the Lae International. I was invited by my vollie mate Geoff to attend the weekly meeting of the club that meets at the Lae International Hotel.
Not long after arriving in Lae April 2005 and after a couple of social outings at the local yacht club – I decided that that scene just wasn't my cup of tea. Truthully I was overwhelmed by the over abundance of “jobo” elements around these quarters. Plus I knew from the beginning that I had not come here to meet other whites but rather I wanted to meet, get to know and interact with PNG Nationals. This stance still holds true today after being here for over a year – probably even more so. When the opportunity arose to attend a Rotary meeting in town – to be honest – I was sceptical (very). I also had this preconception that I would bump into many of these “jobo” types at the weekly Rotary meeting.
Well, it turns out that my preconception was incorrect and I had a jolly good time. I was to find out last night (surprise, surprise) that Lae has a white community that is good hearted, comapassionate and able to converse on topics other than beer, women and fishing (or other things that jobos talk about). Quiet frankly I was very impressed at the work that this club is doing in their local community. Many of the members are business owners or leaders and give heaps of their own time in helping the local community with wothwhile projects.
With my UNITECH contract due to expire at the end of this year I can certainly appreciate the need to start “networking” if I am to stay on beyond December 2006. So I will certainly aim to attend future meetings although I'm not sure how regularly or even if I will join. Food for thought.
I did hear one story last night that really touched my heart. A young boy by the name of “Junior Lakau” was severely burnt late last year. The Rotray club is in the process of assisiting “Junior” to get him access to a burns specialist somewhere possibly downunder. What really touched my heart was the circumstances of his accident. Very similar to my burns accident when I was 8. I was roughly “Junior's” age when I received over 65% burns to my body and we were both got trapped.
I have decided to make arrangements to go and visit “Junior” and his family as I am told that the family is suffering immensely from an emotional point of view. The kid copped burns to his face which I didn't but I certainly know the emotional trauma that goes along with receiving major burns. I'm no counsellor and no doctor – but I can offer a shoulder, an ear and understanding.
I also connected with a gentleman by the name of Larry who founded an organisation called “City Mission”. My understanding is that this organisation workw with the youths from the settlements and provide them with some basic vocational training. The City Mission in Lae apparently is located out at 11 Mile and have arranged with Larry to go out for a visit in a couple of weeks time.
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Dear Robert, This is an email to you, rather than a Post. I just couldn’t see where to send personal emails from your site. Great site by the way.
If there is someone in your organization who could spare a moment, could you possibly provide me with some research leads.
I am researching for a possible documentary about an Australian man who went missing near Lae.
Some timber workers found a dying man in a canoe and subsequently took the body to Lae.
These are the details I have: (approx 1997)
I am informed by the Australian High Commission and believe that they were told the following information by Mr Phillip Cullen as set out in their letter to me annexed marked H to this affidavit:
(1) That a Mr Timothy Yongon who provided security for the Timber Producers Marketing Cooperation which is located on the river at Kui Village near Salamau south of Lae first sighted the man believed to be VICTOR.
(2) That a Mr Stanley Nemdeks the security supervisor at the logging camp advised Mr Phillip Cullen the man was Caucasian and was found lying naked in a canoe and this canoe was brought ashore at the logging camp.
If there is anyone in your organization who might be kind enough to give me some direction how to locate anyone mentioned above or others who have info, I would greatly appreciate it. The body was inferred to be Victor Flanagan who walked ‘naked’ across Australia and canoed to New Guinea. He gained worldwide notice when he was declared dead in 1998 and it was learnt that he had walked away from an estate worth 4 million dollars Australian. Fascinating story. contacts from the timber camp where the dying person was found, or others, would be of great assistance to our story.
Any leads or ideas would be appreciated
yours sincerely
–
Peter Strain
giant.tides@gmail.com
http://www.gianttides.com.au
PO Box 2998, Broome. Western Australia, 6725
+ 61 407926827
Hi Peter,
Interesting how you have the impression that I have an “organisation” behind me. This blog is a one man “show” and there is no “organisation”, no secretaries, no research officers nor any other staff.
I do have a couple of ideas for you to follow-up but these would involve actually you visiting Lae and talking to some of the old-timers as well as a trip to Salamaua to chat with the locals. My guess is that this is going to be difficult a la remote control unless you already have reliable contacts around Lae.
I can be contacted directly via the contact form on my blog (top of the right hand column – there is a smallish icon that looks like an envelope and when clicked will take you to: http://www.trupela.com/contact/
Cheers,
Robert