More photos from my visit to Finschhafen…

A few more photos and a “liklik” story…

I have posted some more photos from my visit to “Bamata”, a small village not far from Finschhafen (3 hour boat ride north of Lae). I had the opportunity to go to “Bamata” with Jerry and his Dad around the 19th of last month (May). When I returned to Lae I wrote a post about the walk : To Finschhafen and back in two days..

The above photo was taken in a small village we walked through on our way to “Bamata”. The young girl in the picture was very shy and initially I had trouble getting to to stand still for the photo – she kept on ducking in and out of her classroom.

One of my reasons for coming to PNG was (and still is) to experience the “old” ways. The tribal or extended family thing. The few times I have visited villages since coming to this beautiful land has certainly satisfied this need. There is something about village or traditional life which words cannot describe. There is something about the way village folks live and interact that we seem to have lost in our so called civilised world. Physically, life is hard “yakka” but from a spriritual perspective it holds a substance and a meaning that has all but disappeared from the “west”.

When I walk into a village and interact with the locals, I know that I am experiencing a way of life that was once common on this planet. It’s a way of life I believe that most humans once upon a time knew well. The peace and love and compassion that one finds in these remote places is special. I always walk away with a sense of privilege and yearning. I feel a sense privilege to have been given safe passage and hospitality through these “old” places. I also feel a yearning, a yearning to go back to this way of life.

The developed world seems to have evolved existence and being into a meaningless experience with everything looking so “cool” on the outside. Like an aboriginal elder once said to me many years ago as we were driving through ther heart of Sydney : “See those people – he said – all those people – they’re all dead and they just won’t get down and die”. When I head into a village and interact with the poeple – I sense an aliveness of spirit. A simplicity and a beauty and an inherit meaning in life itself.

The photos from this trip can be found in the Finschhafen visit (19/5/06) photo album.