Robert@PNG

It is just now that I am starting to get on top of work. Work, meaning:
work-work (Hospital), emails, blogging etc… The laptop “crash”
combined with an almost obsession with Linux things got pushed back so
to speak.
Having said that - I now like to share about the two weeks we had out at
the “Hut” (Wara-guma) over the xmas/new year break. I'm going to do this
in point form and therefore will just share the highlights.
These highlights are as follows:
- I finally got to see the “Bamboo” man in action. We hired him to find
a torch that was given by Mum, on her recent visit, to an old man living
at Kau. The torch unfortunately was stolen and all evidence suggests
that it was taken by a family member of the old man. This really peeved
me and therefore the hiring of the “Bamboo” man to find the stolen
article. Essentially the “Bamboo” man makes a piece of bamboo and with
his magic empowers it to find stolen or lost objects. In the end and to
cut a long story short, the bamboo did enter the home of a relative of
the old man but unfortunately the torch had found it's way to another
location. I have told the relatives that unless they apologise to the
old man and give him some form of compensation in the form of money that
I will be taking the whole family to court. I have already spoken to the
local magistrate and will find out more on our next visit. If you would
like to know more about the actual “powers” of the bamboo and what it
actually did or didn't do please let me know.
- A sight to behold! Fire flies are common around the “Hut” and up until
this visit I had seen many of a night but what I saw over xmas during
our stay was something else! A tree nearby the house must be a gathering
place for these insects and on one particular evening we were standing
outside and saw this tree light up like a xmas tree! On-off-on-off…
There must have been thousands of these insects (”Due” in the local
lingo - Tok Ples) gathered at this one tree and all working their magic
in unison. Certainly a xmas gift from nature!
- We took a volleyball and net with us to the village and gave this to
the local youths. Volleyball is a very popular game in the village and
the gift was really appreciated. Simple things in life are often the
best!
- Went for a walk to a nearby village called “Pene”. About a two to
three hour walk further up and into the mountains. I went with Uncle
Joel and Pastor Joseph and the reception by the locals was magnificent.
The friendliness and hospitality by Papua New Guineans (especially
village folk) is definitely something to be experienced. We were given a
tonne of fruit and vegies to take back with us and of course there were
the mandatory speeches and stories in the local “Haus Man”.
- The work on the Association is slowly progressing. A structure has now
crystallised and I did a fair bit of work on this during the break. The
challenge is to devise a model of governance which includes existing
decision making processes whilst adhering to local legislation governing
Associations. Have a bunch of documentation (constitution) to work on
but we are now almost ready to commence the registration process. I have
become a sort of a Peace Chief in the eyes of the locals and I feel
privileged at the level of trust and confidence that the local folks
(including elders) are placing in me. Having said all of that it's
certainly not an easy road and in a way it's hard yakka. The Association
will cross two Provinces (Eastern Highlands and Simbu) and language
groups (Tapasi and Keto), includes eight clans and a couple of dozen
sub-clans, and falls within the boundaries of three Local Level
Government boundaries. Trying to get consensus within one clan his hard
enough!!
- The process of learning “Tok Ples”(local lingo) has begun! I now have
access to a vocabulary of about 30 “Tapasi” words!! “Yel wagai we
motno”. The locals find it amusing and my pronunciation certainly gets a
snicker but it's appreciated by many. The connectionis slowly getting
closer!!
- Locals are now starting to refer to me as a landowner! Not sure where
this will lead but I would like to think that it's for the benefit of
the locals. Note that Eli's pops (Bubu Kessna) was the last chief of the
“Bolku” clan and there's acres and acres within the family. There is
talk of “gold” and it would seem that there might be a lot of it. If
anything, I will aim to use my influence to ensure that any projects otr
work undertaken is sustainable. Extraction and destruction is far from
sustainable - giving the locals prospecting skills perhaps is. More to
be revealed!
(To be continued tomorrow)
-