A different perspective

I don't have a picture for this story. However, it was an interesting experience and worth noting. Yesterday after work I was heading out to the bus that takes us from the airport back to Ukarumpa and I noticed that one of the carts we use to carry luggage to and from the planes was outside the fence near the bus. Normally, they are put away at the end of the day. As I got closer to the bus I realized that the cart had a casket on it and a national man was standing close beside it. I learned from one of my coworkers that the man's wife had died and he was trying to find transportation to her village to bury her. It is our policy not to keep bodies in our buildings overnight for sanitary reasons as well as cultural problems that have occur ed in the past. There is a lot of cultural implications surrounding death here that I do not fully understand. However, it is always an expensive affair and lots of family members and friends are involved. We could not offer any financial assistance but one of our national employees at aviation offered to allow the man to spend the night at his house and bring his wife. My coworker and I volunteered to transport them to the house a few kilometers away. The truck quickly filled up with about 20 people and we began the drive. The drive was eventful with deep mud, very small narrow "bridges" made of various sized logs spaced roughly tire width apart. We were pretty nervous about getting stuck as well as losing some of our passengers including the casket as we four wheeled along the small jungle road. Eventually we made it and the man was grateful for our help. Even so, he has a long road ahead of him to find money to get to his wife's village and make the journey. The people here have difficult lives.

The Crawling Eye

In the morning there was this patch of mist that was moving along the river devouring everything in its path. Which would have been fine if we did not have to cross the river to get back home and if I had not watched the crawling eye. :) Thanks Dad.

pre-moth

Just another example of crazy bugs here. I really liked the hairy back tuffs. What an amazing creator.

Speaking of Bugs

This one found a nice spot to hide out from the morning mist. We tried to do the same thing under a tarp and were relatively succesful. I am not sure what that bug was. It looked a lot like a mosquito but it wasn't. Whenever I leave my house, I feel like I am discovering new species everywhere I look. It is great.

The forest

Once we were in the trees, it reminded me a lot of the forests back home. Except the underbrush was filled with passion fruit vines, giant ferns, bread fruit trees, lots of types of grass and millions of spiders. We also saw really cool lightning bugs that looked just like little L.E.D.'s.

Lone Tree

Our destination was the hill they call "Lone Tree." That was 40 years ago when there was only one tree on it. Now there is a forest. It was planted by villagers to have firewood and the trees grew faster than they could cut them down.

Out of Ukarumpa

In an attempt to better give you a feel for where Ukarumpa is, I took a short hike Friday night to the top of one of the nearby hills. I spent the night with Mike and Ian Patrick and Daniel. They all grew up in PNG and we had a great time sharing stories around the fire that night. As we were leaving the center, one of the guys who mows lawns on center offered to be our guide as far as his house in the village just off center. He was very helpful to show us the most shallow part of the river we had to cross that was waste deep and moving swiftly. From then we just followed the path through the grass that has been hiked for hundreds of years. Lighting was crashing on several of the surrounding hills but we were in the sunshine. It was beautiful.

This is for you Eugene and David

Thanks for the comment Eugene. I will say Hi to Bev tomorrow when I see him. He is still flying helicopters and I have really appreciated getting to know him. David, your folks have been awesome. They have had us over twice for dinner and a movie. I keep begging for a ride in the King Air. It looks like we might get one on the flight out of here with him. Also, Eugene, say hi to Emily Cline at school if you know her.

Buy and Sell

Here is Leslie buying some bell peppers, and no, those tomatoes in the foreground are not stacked very well. This market t is different from almost any market I have ever shopped at. All of the prices are fixed and there is no negotiating. In fact, there is virtually no conversation at all. Look at the product offer your money, take your food and say thank you. Even so, highlanders are very relational and it is important to never criticize their food and they really appreciate complements.

Produce

Here is another isle of the market. In all there are probably 60 or 70 people that show up three times a week to sell their goods. Some of them walk for miles.

Strawberry Stacking Competition

They were evenly matched and the competition was stiff. Any moment now, one would emerge as the winner. Actually, this is the market and just like home, all produce must be stacked geometrically. Whenever you buy something, they rearrange the remaining fruit or vegetable back into an even geometric pattern.

Dog in the way

Dogs can be very helpful here. They are great for guarding the house and many of the nationals use them for hunting. Sometimes, they can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This dog wondered out in front of the king air right as it was powering up to take off. After a few seconds of sizing up the noisy airplane, the dog yielded and ran off the runway. Good decision.

Roadside Scenery

I thought I would also point out that this is a beautiful place. Another interesting piece of trivia is that most of the now green highlands looked like this just a few hundred years ago – very few trees. From what we have been told, only recently with coffee and other light sensitive crops have people began to plant trees to provide shade. It has become a massive reforestation project.

Truck Full

The main way of getting around in PNG is to catch a PMV – public motorized vehicle. Some are vans, others are well, vehicles. As long as it has a blue license plate, climb aboard. Here in PNG the motto is: “There is always room for one more.”

C-Shop

On the way home we saw even more great stuff. Roadside stores are no exception to Papua New Guinea. This is one such store. If you look close, you will see the Coca Cola logo and next to that…nope this is not a Coffee Shop, this is a Coffin Shop. I was confused too, nevertheless you can still order a single tall.

Pictures

We mentioned the significance of taking a picture earlier. Here was one such excited gathering after a roll of film was developed. They were having a blast seeing the pictures they had taken, especially the ones with them in it.

Goroka Crowd

We traveled to Goroka accompanying Stephanie Campbell and another clinic staff member for a medical meeting. While they were meeting we checked out the local shopping. Here’s main street. Just like 5th Ave. The shopping was considerably better, and safer than Kianantu, and only 2 hours further awa., Goroka is known for its annual Highlands Sing Sing. It is sometimes referred to as the Goroka show, where many villagers from around the highlands gather to sing, dance and show off their traditional ways of celebration.

Long Road

It was a long road to Goroka. We traveled there today with the Campbells and a few other people from Ukarumpa. The road is one of the longest in the country and can be treacherous due to the rascals as well as the potholes. We were very grateful for a safe trip both ways.

New Edition

You can see in the background the new edition to our fleet here at SIL aviation. Just kidding. That plane belongs to the government and only visits our small dirt strip for unique medical evacuations that we can’t perform and to transfer money to various banks around the country. The roads either don’t exist or are not nearly safe enough. It was sure something to see a jet like that both land and takeoff from our airstrip, although they did have to do a go around.

Time to Go

Then it was time to leave. It was hard to say goodbye to our new friends. The word we used is Koneo. It means I am sorry. They us it for hello too, in the sense "I am sorry that life is so hard." Often the old women great the other people in the village with a short phrase that means "I am dying..." in a rehtorical sense of "do you care?" Life is hard in the jungle, but we could tell as we left that this next chapter for the Folopa people could be very different. I am anxious to see what the people do with the word of God. It never returns void. By reading it they can now know just how much God does care about them and that He loves them very much.