Independence Celebrations!

 Independence Celebration!! Just fantastic to be involved with this. My group were great at kitting me out with custom dress and were uber keen to learn a haka (I don't really know any hakas....). But was great fun teaching them to sing Pokarekare ana and then changed e te ariki into a haka and whammo! Maori item in the middle of a PNG culture night. (As one group member said "We longer eating flesh and are glad that other countries are safe to come here now so we celebrate their culture too"...!)

 Akia painting us up...

 And spot the white girl....

 I swear I'm not actually this white but it is an extreme flash photo!!

 Following the cultural night we had a day of sport which started well. Classics such as Coconut shotput, and then this relay of running to collect a coconut, husking it and then scraping. Despite my practicing at husking and scraping I was still added to the kids race (kids and foreigners) and then delegrated the running leg. I completed this complete with an epic slide finish as I delievered my coconut to the scraper person. Running in mud isn't a problem but stopping is!

 Firelighting and bow and arrow competition were followed by the not-so-traditional tug of war and limbo. Tug Of War would have made a southland easter camp proud as it was torrential rain and nothing but mud to stick your feet into, and much yelling and yahooing!!!

Finally it was flying fox time, which everyone LOVED! Certainly wasn't OSH approved and I lamented that I have been corrupted by OSH safety standards but then thought it was ok as Im still alive....anyway, no-one died and i only had to look away a few times as kids fell off the ladder and dropped into the creek below.

Heading out to Port Moresby in 2 days time to wait there for a few days until i fly to Australia. Have had a mission trying to organise this but are thankful that we have just found out we can go. The other option was a 4 day boat trip! 

Th story of Wowobo Village

I recently had the priviledge of heading to a small village called Wowobo about 4hrs away from Kapuna. It was a great boat ride, going from one major river system to another through a network of narrow waterways and different size rivers. Our mission was to support a group of mothers who have started teaching the village children. 15 years ago the government run school was closed down and the village told they were not allowed to build any new buildings or get any new services. The village is the proposed site for the end of the new Highlands-Gulf highway and deep water port on their front doorstep. Hasn't happened yet. So, in true spirit of when you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, these mothers have marched down and lit the light themselves, offering a new enthusiasm for school along with new opportunities.

 Our first activity was a very entertaining game of mud soccer. One of the favourites in this province!!! Fantastic to watch and I wished I had joined in, although i don't think the kids would have been so into it if there was a white female adult playing with them! I stuck with paparazzi photography.

 Evening the whole village turned out for a game of Volleyball which was a fun way to spend the rest of daylight after meetings and the days work.

 The next day we had about 30 kids in the village long house for school. They were excited to show off their alphabet, numbers, shapes, colours and singing to us. Those who didn't have paper got a stick and drew their letters in the clay ground. We only had to turn a few 5's around and get them doing some letters in the correct way. On the whole though very good and a few bright kids!

After about 4 hours of songs, games, alphabet, maths and reading we were ready to call it a day (us more than the kids probably) and we wandered back home for some lunch and to wait for our dinghy to come and collect us. 

I loved being in the village and will remember it as a highlight of my time here i think.

Swamp day and Children's Day!

 Thursday was a school field trip up th river to the swamp! Great fun!! This is a fishing camp on the bank of the river. So not a permanent village but people will spend time here fishing before returning to their village.

 How many men can you fit in a canoe? Apparently this was a rugby team going downriver for a game! They didn't have much freeboard!

 Some of my students (from left Ken, Issachar, Abel and Shem). I think the favourite part of the trip for them was seeing of they could shot birds with the slingshot.

 Exploring up a river into the swamp. Great fun, with crocodiles, creeper vines, funny looking Dr Suess trees and torrential rain.

 When it wasn't raining it was lovely. Saw a few crocs poking their heads up in this spot.

 Saturday was a kids day for the surrounding villages which was good fun. Here te older kids are doing some bible quiz games and getting ready for some relays.

All the kids learning "Jesus got heaps of lambs". I didn't teach them the verse about ninja turtles as they had no idea what ninja turtles are but we made up a few verses that were more relevant to PNG. Went down a treat.!

Off the a village for a few days this week to check out a school. Should be great.

Epic Storms, playing in the mud and a mystery animal in my house...!

 Well, last week was learning how to cook Sago, this week I tried making Granadilla and Guava Jam. Boo-jah!! It is delicious, so much so that Uncle Colin, who grew up here and still lives here wants me to tell him how I did it! We have just introduced a new food to the diet! Very happy.

Exciting thing of the week: Watching my kids go outside during break to frighten away a flying fox. It involved one kid shooting a slingshot and then all the others charging the tree, screaming and yelling holding sticks and then chasing the bat away. Very amusing and made me think of tribal wars. Kids vs Bat.

 Thought it was about time for some pics of where I'm living - note the mossie net above the blue chair - an excellent spot for reading in the evenings by torchlight safe from biting insects!

I am feeling stoked to be getting to know some of the girls my age here more. I have had dinner with them and have plans for more. They are great, although I am gutted to only have 3 and a half weeks left here! Time flies in this place.

I had a breakthrough with one of the patient kids who watches me walk to school everyday but who has so far said nothing back to me when I say hello. My class and I sung E Te Ariki in church on sunday with me on ukulele and afterwards this wee kid jumped onto the path in front of me, mimicked playing a ukulele and sung 'ga-link-a-link-a-link' and then ran away laughing. I'll take that as progress!!

 The view out my kitchen window. Haven't had to close the storm shutters yet although we did have an EPIC thunder/lightening and rain storm over the weekend. It was incredible. Thunder just rolling and rolling around the sky and brilliant flashes of lightening that lit the whole sky up.

 My resting place! (note mossie net again).

Me off to find the mysterious animal that was doing poos in my shower for two mornings in a row. I was imagining a giant gecko/lizard like creature (apparently one lives somewhere in my house), or a family of frogs, or giant  (giant!) insects. Turned out to be a hen roosting. NOT LIKELY!! She was very stubborn when i ushered her out and I had to resort to actually hitting it and sweeping it away. This is MY shower!!!

I've had my first game of mud volleyball - badly reminiscent of an embarrassing Year 10 PE lesson. Didn't do much for my quest in getting to know the locals as I'm so bad at Volleyball i wasn't much help. It was fun finishing with mud all over my arms (proof that i did at least touch the ball on several occasions!) and mud splattered up my legs.

An important chief died here at the hospital over the weekend. I was woken about midnight by the wailing starting which continued for several hours. Then Sat morning it started again and most of us went to sit in the church singing songs until the coffin was made and we had a service for him. He was then taken down to the village where the traditional thing to do is wail and throw yourself in the mud. Pretty full on apparently. Very sad for the staff here as he was a guy who has done lots for the hospital. Another baby died during labour so was a pretty hard weekend for the hospital.

Otherwise things going well, am constantly learning about PNG culture and things. Am hoping to head up or down river at some stage to check out another village or two before i leave. I have just this week left with my class and then I'll be spending the last three weeks observing the primary class and trying to help get that running better.

 

 Kids playing in the wee stream outside my place. Much laughter and screaming.

It has been a pretty good week - more rain, lots of reading and playing ukulele when I'm not at school. Students are doing well and are enjoying learning some Maori songs. Me being here has allowed their normal teacher to go into Port Moresby and try to get the school registered so they receive government help and PNG textbooks. That has been going well which is great. It will be fantastic for them if that all comes off.

Culinary delights of the week:
Learning to make Burupae - a sago and banana soup which is pretty yummy.
Sifora Juice ( Lime juice) - have a tree outside so I get my hunter/gatherer on and squeeze me some sweet juice!
Thai curried beans - thanks to my new skill at husking and grating coconuts I can make my own milk and with the help of the curry powder someone else bought it has made a nice change from eating kumera, banana, sago and rice.

The westerners are few and far between this week - Barb is in Port Moresby, Dr Val and Dr Nell went to the next closest hospital for a week (there are no doctors there so they do 2 weeks here and 1 week there). Just Colin, Grandma, Jennie, Eva and me.

Hope all well for you guys - time is going fast here - only 5 more weeks.

Short skirts on men, coconuts and the sun!!

 On Saturday night we had a community night for the unmarried staff and students. It was good to see guys dressed as girls is just as funny in most other countries. This is Uncle Bob in the middle - the quietest, most unassuming guy. Except for when he is in a drama and he transforms to the funniest guy out! The guy beside me fell off his chair he was laughing so much!

 Sunday night we said goodbye to the 3 other young westerners who have been here, so we set out to host a curry party. Here I am, scraping my coconut to make milk for the curry. Took a good hour to husk, scrape and squeeze 3 coconuts. Apparently I will make a good PNG house wife.

 Somem dark clouds about the place - been raining for about a week but the sun has come out today which is great. Still a pretty fun place in the rain and mud!

 My walk home form my classroom. On the left are the patient kitchens where family members live and cook for the patients in the hospital. Far right are some of the hospital wards. My house is way down the other end.

 Add to these pics the sounds of babies crying, coughing, laughing, running and shouting kids, roosters, frogs, cicadas....thats the general vibe!

The boys who play round my place - Zacariah, Malachi, Tom and Jeremy. They are little rascals! But fun. When I do my skipping I have to do it in secret otherwise these kids and all the others come over and want a turn, which is fun but not so good for getting exercise done.

Has been a good few days - getting well into the routine of things. Not sure I really love being the only teacher as you miss out on all the other interactions with other staff etc but it is definitely good practice at teaching everything and doing it in a different context. Training the primary teachers (2 and 2 students) is going well. I am having to figure out which bits aer most important to try get them to do. DOnt think i will have much luck insisting on AO's, SLO's and the like. But I am blowing their mind with the concept of week and unit plans.

Thanks for prayers - am still healthy, and mostly infection free from mossie bites. I love the church services here - very fun singing and dancing and some good solid messages. I am taking a devotion with all the nursing staff on friday. Hopefully will go ok.

Peace,
Miri

 Out the back of my classroom - where I send the kids to cut grass with their machetes if they misbehave!

My classroom - from left Issachar, Koivi, Ken, Abel, Sharlene, Shem and Alice.
The boys outside the classroom at break time.

I have been given the task of organising these kids to perform a drama at a special dinner we have coming up this saturday night. Should be a bundle of laughs.

We have mastered the breadmaker, and this afternoon I am learning how to husk and grate my own coconus so I can make my own food a bit more. Yum...coconut milk!! Bring on some curry!