Robert@PNG

Meet Eli and Nime…

Eli lives next door with her family and Nime - well I'm not really sure where he lives - probably an area they call the Banana Block (a local settlement).

Eli is married to Scotty and they have four kids. Nime is a so called “Street Boy” and makes a living… anyway he can. Such is the plight of the street genre in PNG towns. Street boys are street boys until they get caught for a crime and then they become “Raskols”.

The street boy or street girl phenomenon is a sad state of affairs. As folks migrate out of the rural areas and into the towns - some find work but most don't. There are literally 2 or 3 generations of families that somewhere along the line have ended up in towns. Not quite adapting to the new way of doing things and unfortunately no longer able to go back to the land for a simple life in the village. I refer to these folks, the ones stuck in towns basically doing nothing, as the lost generation. And let me tell you, one thing is for sure, there's more of them coming! Literally… a social catastrophe in the making.

Nime is one of these men - grew up in Goroka… and learnt to survive  - anyway he could. Nime mostly sells black market stuff on the streets of West Goroka. Most afternoons he can be found out the front of Rainbow store or Bintamgor selling betelnut, smokes or cheap and crappy goods asian wares (batteries, watches, razor blades, medicines etc…). Nime is a survivor - essentially he lives from day to day and each day brings a new challenge, of where to find the money to buy food to put on the table in the evening.

I do not hide the fact that I have a soft spot for the local street boys - not sure why that is - but going back to the Lae days it was the same. When I walk the streets - I interact with them - stop and chat - shout a smoke or a betelnut - have a cackle. The boys love it and so do I. If I had a million bucks these are the folks that I would help. Either through education or some means to resettle them back to their rural areas - those lucky enough still to have a connection and some land.

The street lads of both Lae and Goroka have in many ways been my security policy to staying safe in PNG. It doesn't matter where I find myself in town - the street folks know me - I might not always know who they are but they sure know me. This can lead to the odd conman trying to take advantage of me - but in many ways I now have more street smarts then ever.  Whether it's Genoka for Banana Block, the Kakaruk or Chuave markets, West Goroka or top town - the street folks are everywhere - one of those PNG town peculiarities - the folks that just hang around - wherever I go or walk or shop - there they are.

And when I have the odd tantrum in public - the street folks love it. They see me as one of them as it's very much a Highlander trait to express one's anger anywhere and anytime, doesn't matter whose around. In the emotional outburst department I sure am a local to the bone.