Kings Note

Automatic reply from student emails

2011-12-03T11:18:00.001+08:00

What a year it has been! It wasnt the best but hey it wasnt the worst either. There were some things that made the dull days much better. One of these things was 'automatic replys'. Sometimes, when i send emails to students I immediately receive thier automatic reply message that is programed in their email system. While most are formal and straight forward, some are just plain hilarious. Here are some of the auto replies that i got this year:

your message has reached its destination. THIS JOURNO WILL ATTEND TO IT WHEN VIEWED. thank you ,YAWO as in bye.

Hey thanks alot for the message n guess what you the best n will always remain the best......

Thanks buddy ....you relaxing hey!...Unavailable @ this instant but will read up ASAP!...Geeeee..,..!

Please Call Me!!!

Oh its you again! Dont worry I'll get back to you pronto.

Is somewhere on campus doing something very important so will get back to you asap

Thanks for the email. Much luv!

Iam currently unavailable so i will come to you right on the line later!

If I do not respond to this email in the next hour, that means Iam on a news hunting trip...I'll get back to you asap!

I hope i can get to some original and innovative one liners next year!

See you then....

Message in a bottle: From the Bismarck Sea to the Solomon Sea!

2011-11-28T08:01:00.016+08:00

Around this time sometime in December 2004, I had boarded a Lutheran Shipping vessel from Lae and travelled to Manus. Iam not sure which ship is was but it definately was either MV Manemba or MV Umboi which Iam sure many people who travel by ship know. From Lae it takes one full day and two nights on the open sea before we land in Loregnau town. As is the custom when travelling on long trip over the sea, we have lots of fresh fruits, home cooked meals and lots of water to keep stay on these cargo ships as homely as possible.

Anyway, we left the Lae port at around 5pm and began the journey. By 10pm people like myself were already sound asleep. I woke up at 5pm to the sound of the sailors pulling in yellow fin tuna and mackeral. During the day I had nothing to do but play cards and tell stories with however i met on the ship. Besides, the majority on the ship were Manusians so it wasnt hard finding people who told stories..lol

At around midday, we were heading full steam ahead, the sea was calm, the wind was slight and as far as the eye could see, there was no sign of land in all directions. After I had eaten salty biscuits and drunk a 500ml coca cola, I decided to try sending a letter in a bottle. I think i was inspired by a story that in the 1700s, a Japanese crew of 44, were shipwrecked and marooned on a small Island in the South Pacific. The captain scratched details of their story and fate onto chips of wood and put them into a bottle. The bottle was found 150 years later on the shoreline of Japan, reportedly, close to where the sailors had grew up.

Well i wrote i my name and postal address on the white inside part of the cocacola label and said that whoever found it should write to me. In the middle of the Bismarck Sea, I threw the bottle

I went home for the holidays then came back to Lae. It was the year 2005 now. I was working away when early in March that year, I received a letter. Here is the letter below:

And here is the exact letter that was written....

The coke plastic bottle with my note inside had reached Poroporo village at the tip of the Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands. It had gone international! WOW!!!!

It was picked up by a Mr. Andrew Silukana of poroporo village just across the Papua New Guinea border! It had taken almost two months from when I first threw the bottle in the middle of the Bismarck to when Andrew picked it up in his village. I dont know how it travelled there but my assumption is that it must have travelled past the gap between Manus and New Ireland and then the strong tides of the Pacific Ocean travelling south must have pushed it down past Bouganville right through to the tip of Choiseul province where Poroporo village is.
On that same day I quickly wrote a letter back to him on the address he had provided. But sadly, to this day I havent received a reply. If anyone in Solomon Islands knows Andrew Silukana, please let me know!

Leaving this place as a student...

2011-10-29T10:23:00.007+08:00

Well its October now. The school year has ended. Well for the students that is. Many have already left the campus and many will continue to leave the campus in the coming days. Then the campus will be quiet - too quiet for my liking...hahahaha.

The bad thing about leaving DWU for holidays is that if you are in fourth year - it will be very hard to say goodbye to your friends. It will be painful alright. The other day I was walking past the boys dorm area and I could see a young men hug a group of his friends -his bags on their shoulders and the PMV bus waiting by ready to go. I could see that a few were wiping tears from their eyes and then the other one walked up to bus, waved goodbye and the bus took off.

This made me remember two incidents that I experienced just before i was to leave DWU at the end of the school year in 2003. Now I may see them in a funny light but back then, it was no laughing matter.

My room mate or what was commoly known then as 'roomsie' was a tall higherlander by the name of David Gera. He was the typical Highlander, physcially strong, intelligence and a down to earth person. He took PNG studies and I took CA. We were both in 4th year and we had been roomsies at Cottage A room 5 for two semesters and had shared loads of laughter and good times. On the day he was to leave, his 'hauslain' had come to pick him up. There were about five or six of them sitting in the back of the care. They had come in a Toyata Landcruiser. He had already packed the night before. I stepped out of the room and let him take his things to the car - an open back landcruizer. Once he had packed all his things, he quickly walked passed said 'goodby mate', put up the last things on the car and they drove off. That was all he said. I think its a thing among us the male species - we dont like to show our emtions especially the going away type ones.
Well I stood on the cottage steps and with the other residents of cottage A waved good bye and wished them well. We watched them drive off.
Along the way past the timber workshop and student mess, all of a sudden I heard some of the passengers sitting at the back of the cruizer fired some wild words loudly and shouted something in their language to the driver. The car stopped. Then I saw it reversed back to the cottage area. As I stood I saw my roomsie jump down from the back of the car and run towards us. He came and grabbed me in a bear hug and together we cried like somebody had died! We let the tears flow freely for a good 15 minutes until his father started blaring the horn of the car and telling us to break it up. It sounded funny as Iam writing this but back then it was one truly a sad moment! To this day, I have not seen my roomsie. I hear that he is with the Royal PNG Constabulary but have never actually seen him yet.

A few days later I was again involved in another incident that I also clearly remember to the day as I was leaving on the bus to go to to Lae. The 15 seater bus had picked me and some other boys at the cottage area. In the bus too was the then DWU SRC President David Kitchnoge. As we drove slowly past the timber workshop and student mess, I could sense that many of the boys were tearing up inside knowing they would never set foot on this place again. You know we often say that PNG is a small country but when you depart from school, you know in your heart of hearts that you will never see some of your brothers again. So the last time you see them, there are bound to be strong emtotions all around.

Anyway, we were feeling the hurt and David was by the window of the bus looked out and said in a sad way: 'Displa em last time blo mi na mi wari ya' and then as we came to the junior dorm and some of the boys came over to the bus to say goodbye. The bus driver seeing the boys approach the care, stopped. David, while sitting in the bus, shook their hands and tried to hugg them but it was when he saw this young West Papuan student -Nelson, he could not hold himself and burst into tears. The boys inside and outside the bus were also choking up. The realisation had hit home: We were never going to be students again and we were going to leave this place and friendships behind.

One of the boys shouted to the driver, as if angrily: "Draiva yu take off nau ya! Em ol mangi ya bai nonap stop sopos yu stap yet." and the driver kind of revved the car to let us know and then slowly pulled to the road and we left.

There will only one time that you will ever be a student and share such fun and excitment with your friends. Once you leave DWU, you may never come back to visit or even see the place again. Even if you did come back, there will be the possibility that no-one here will recognise you and also the physical setting will have changed.

So sapos em last taim blong yu long DWU, orait pinisim olgeta aiwara na pinis ok yu ken go!

A visit to Globe Manufacturing factory in Madang

2011-10-06T21:07:00.003+08:00

Globe Manufacturing Limited is a part of the WR Carpenters (PNG) Group of Business which is one of PNG's largest employers.
I was very priviledged to have a look around the company's production line and packing section at Globe Manufacturing's factory in Madang. I went along with first year Communication Arts students and their lectuer to have a look at what they acturaly do to make thier well known products such as Sita Corned Beef, Globe Cooking Oil, Globe Curry Chicken and many other popular products.

The company's tobacco smoking zone for employees

Br. Micheal introduces to our tour guides..

Part of the CA1 group

Uncooked meat that is imported from Australia is grinded and then sent to a cooker

Globe Corned Beef tins ready for the production line

A stack of tins

Unused or faulty cooking oil plastics stored in this container

The plastic bottles being labelled on one side before they go in for filling

Tins already sealed, lablled and then prepared for packing

the tins again...

Earlier in September, Globe Manufauring took over the Coconut Oil Production Madang Limited (COPM).

16th September 2011

2011-09-16T20:17:00.001+08:00

Do you remember where you were and what you did on September 16 last year? What about the year before? An the year before that? The 16th of September is a very special day for Papua New Guinean. Each year, September 16 marks our country most important calendar day - Independence - a very important day for Papua New Guineans and individuals, social networks, families, clubs, schools and many other groups get together to celebrate this memorable day. I could go on and on how why it is important for us to celebrate.....but i wont. Today Iam putting up pictures of my celebration this year - 2011. The Health management Department here in the DWU main campus took time out to celebrate this day with a combined staff and student ’Independence meal’ or a get together meal or as we say it in Pidgin, a 'bung kaikai'
I was sitting there in the shade of the gum tree next to the classroom when the the Head of the Health Management Department, Ms. Margaret Samei to ld the group of staff and famlies and students that the idea to have this celebration was to remember the day we became a sovereign nation and to not forget that we are a free nation of over 800 language groups guided by one constitution that encourages freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and the right to come to school and be educated among many good things that many other countries around the world do not have. She said that despite many difficult struggles that a lot of Papua New Guineans face, we could also be thankful for many things that we often take for granted. At the same time, at this small meal, the HM Department also took time out to acknowledge and farewell the year four students. I think it is an achivement itself to start a program and keep at it over a four year period then come out off it on top. Now with just a few days before to go, they are content but know in their hearts that they will miss their friends terribly. I guess it is just one phase of life that students go through from being a student to working in the field. I, too, did feel the same thing many years ago.
The HOD said: “ These 24 young men and women have just a few weeks to go before they move on onto the PNG workforce. “The have been here for four years and have learnt a lot both in theory and in practice. “I wish them all the best and encourage them to never forget the good values they have learnt in Health Management and Divine Word University. The HM Department also said farewell to one of our more influential lectures Mr. Albert Sika who left the HM Department earlier this year to join the Modilon Hospital as the Director of Corporate Services. After all the short speechs and a gift and poem reading by the second years to farewell Mr. Sika, Mr. Ambang prayed for the day and also blessed the meal.
The food was really good, the cake was beautiful anf i jsut loved the happy smiling faces of the students.
Mr. Peter Sion who organized the event said that he was pleased the students responded well with the idea. He hoped that this event would become a tradition and help the students and academics staff feel part of the DWU community and work towards a common good for PNG. Well em tasol and I hope we get to celebrate this day again next year!

Below are the pictures on that day!

Planti piksa tumas na hard tru long putim olgeta go antap long hia...

A Reason

2011-07-29T23:46:00.003+08:00

Sometimes, things in life do not fall in the places where I want them to fall. I guess that is the way it is. There are some things I can control but sometimes I just cannot seem to have a grasp on it. Be it petty things like walking in the rain or wearing a wrinkled shirt; things that put my day into a bad mood. Other things like paying for school fees or taking care of family are activities that demand more of me and sometimes causes me to stress over it.
But whatever they may be, they always, and i say always...become pale in comparision to the sight of my daughter. When i come home each afternoon, her face is the one i want to see. She is the world to me. She is ten months old and is the brightest spark in my life. When i have very difficult days and everything seems to be a blur, her smile just makes me want to hug and kiss her till her skin is red all over...hahahha. She is developing quickly physically and each day she is learning about new things - shapes, colour, taste and hearing. I hope she starts speaking soon, takes her first steps and can call my name. I know it wont be too long now.

Microsoft Access Database Design for NGOs

2011-06-09T07:44:00.005+08:00

For everyone who works with a non-governmental organisation, faithbased organisation or community based orgnisation in PNG, this four day workshop on creating simple electronic databases is one huge key building block for the organisation's project sustainability, future funding and resource management.

Their information brochure reads:

This dynamic four day workshop run by Divine Word University is intended for people working with Non-Governmental Organizations in Papua New Guinea.

It aims to help organizations gain the capacity to create and manage their own electronic databases. Examples of how this skill could be useful include:
• Keeping records of clients who come to a NGO clinic. Their personal details like age, weight,
medications, residential area etc can be kept and be easily retrieved by a single push of a
button. This saves time and money spent keeping manual records
• Keeping records of types of publications distributed by the NGO. Names of organizations
that received your publications in bulk, locations of distribution points, numbers of publications
distributed etc can be kept to monitor usage and justification for future projects.
• If your organization already has a small database created, the information kept such as:
how many people visit your organization for help or for services etc could be easily turned
into statistics thus reproduced into professional reports such as Annual Activity Plans or
Project Reports.

Although less extensive, this four day course offers a budget-priced educational experience designed to help stimulate your creative mind. This hands-on workshop will provide you with effective new ways to extend Access 2007 in creating electronic databases.

The workshop will provide participants with illustrative examples, notes, and sample annotated Access files, as well as suggestions for ways to adapt the techniques to your own needs. Particpants will utilise Microsoft Access 2007 to create these databases.

You will learn how to exploit Access storing and retrievingcapabilities using SQL to retrieve informationin Queries, Tables, Forms and Reports.
Your electronicdatabases can be a tool you can use to storecommunity project information and other vital datathat would become beneficial to your Organizationand your partners. Such features will include:• Data tables• Queries• SQL parameters• Interactive Forms• Reports.
This workshop will provide participants with Access foundation and after completing this workshop, they can be able to create their organization's database system. Participate who wish to gain further training on how to maintain their database system can attend the nextworkshop which is a special workshop in advanced Access later on in the year.
Note: One of the requirements of this course is that participantsmust have strong background in the use ofcomputers especially the use of Microsoft office.

Cost for this workshop
Participant cost: Cost: K 450.00 per head

Cost will cover:
• Duration of the workshop
• Use of computer facilities
• Lunch at the staff mess

Cost will not cover:
• Accommodation
• Travel
• Additional meals

Location for the four day Workshop is at the Divine Word University Campus in Madang Province.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Thadreina Abady on
Phone: (675) 422 2937
Direct Line: (675) 424 1882
Fax: (675) 422 2812
E-mail: tabady@dwu.ac.pg

15 weeks of transition

2011-05-27T20:17:00.001+08:00

Friday 27th May
Well today marks the last day of the first semester. It also marks the end of my first semester as a teacher here. Wow…I really did survive this transition from being a student to becoming a teacher of other students. You know a few years ago, if somebody had said that I would be teaching university students, I would look at them strangely and then burst out laughing. My unbelief coupled with my very limited years of experience in the workplace guaranteed me ample ammunition to suggest that I was unfit for this endeavour of teaching in a tertiary institution in Papua New Guinea. Besides, I would be as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I mean I had no teaching experience whatsoever and here I was trying to lecture students on how the world should be viewed, accepted, critiqued, laughed at and even loved. Well, I took the plunge in January this year into the life of being a academic and here Iam – still alive!
Now 15 weeks later, I look back and say with heart filled with confidence that I took a very important step along this path. Even though I have bumped, skidded, fell or pushed myself over the weeks, today ensured that I had gone into and come out on top. I had set out to give my best to teach students about why the world goes round and how they could contribute to our country’s development (as cliché as it may sound, I actually tried to impress this idea upon them). However, there were little things I saw along the way that put my heart down. Such was the case when I saw a few students who do not really appreciate or understand the fact that there were in university and have access to high quality learning resources. Seriously, if only you were very bright yet could not secure a place at a university and were out on the street, you would understand how a person like that would feel. There were others who didn’t have time to read or do independent research and just wanted all things to come from the lecturer. There were also others who were to lazy to even attempt assignments. Yet in each of these students, I did see a picture of myself when I was in university –someone who just wanted to be average and get out of here. Now as I sit and look back, the potential to do great things is just around the corner for these young Papua New Guineas. Iam in a privileged position because for 15 weeks I get to mould their minds and teach them how the world works not only in class but also out of the classroom too. Today’s student is much more equipped then those previously and has enough ability to go further then before and so much be encouraged to do so. I believe that it is also part of the lecturer’s duty to instill confidence in the student to seek out higher learning.
I think one of the greatest lessons, I have learnt these past 15 weeks, is to be true to yourself. If you do not know something or an idea or theory is beyond you, you need to acknowledge that in class, come back, do your research and then go back and tackle that issue or idea. It is no use pretending to know something you do not know. Be true to your students and peers because they deserve that respect.
Another thing I have learnt is to be creative in your teaching methodology. Most students hate being in the position where the lecturer talks all throughout the lesson and they have to listen. This process is painful for the student as his or her ability to gain knowledge is lost through frustration of not being able to participatein the learning process. I have been at fault in this case and the key for me is to think of different ways to teach ideas rather then just lecturing to the students.
Well I got another 15 more weeks next semester and Iam already looking forward to the challenge. I dread the workload but I guess I just have to prepare well and make sure I get all the unit outlines and resources ready. When the students arrive in July, it will be on again.

Media matters

2011-05-20T17:41:00.006+08:00

I was really happy this week becasue I had some very important people come talk to my students about the media in PNG.

My students, who are in the final year of their program, have a unit called "Working with the Media' and were most fortunate to hear from public affairs officers from Oil Search Limited and the Mineral Resource Authority.
The speakers—Ms. Ruth Waram and Ms. Celestine Ove from Oil Search Limited and Mr. Kenneth Avira from Mineral Resource Authority, talked about their respective organizations and their roles in these organizations especially on how they dealt with the mass media.

Even though they had come to attend the the 27th Australia-Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo held here on campus, they took time out to come talk to the students.
The students said they were pleased to hear from people who worked in the media industry and their experiences of dealing with journalists and the different media organisations in the country. Mr Avira and Ms Waram both worked for The National and Post Courier respectively before they joined their current organizations.

Pictures above show Mr. Avira (seated), Ms. Waram speaking to students while Ms. Ove (right) taking some pictures.

Eight women die each day in PNG through pregnancy and child birth complications

2011-04-19T17:25:00.006+08:00

Eight women in PNG die every day through pregnancy and childbirth complications.
This was revealed by Ms. Jelilah Uniah who is the Program Manger of Pathfinder International at Divine Word University’s CHIDS forum in Madang a couple of weeks ago.
CHIDS which stands for Contemporary Health Issues and Development Strategies is a forum created by the Health Management Department of Divine Word University as a venue for partnership building and collaboration amongst service delivery organizations and development agencies in Madang province to address health and development issues that currently have an impact on PNG’s socioeconomic and development status.
The theme of the forum was 'Population control strategies: Realising Vision 2050 through Family Planning Approaches' and Ms. Uniah, being the guest speaker, presented a powerpoint slide highlighting this disturbing fact that high risk of maternal death still plagues women in Papua New Guinea.
She said: “Eight women die in PNG each day. In Madang District alone, 480 mothers have died last year with 12 mothers reported to have died at the Modilon General Hospital. What about those which are not reported?
“Most women in PNG don’t have access to family planning services meaning they don’t have access to contraceptives thus they have very little choice in regards to family planning. “Even if they have access to the contraceptive, the church, relatives or even husband refuse its use.
“Because of this, they have unplanned pregnancies and this puts them at great risk of death pregnancy and childbirth complications.
She also called on the Government to fund family planning programs in the country saying that i the government was serious about acheiving MDGs and Vision 2050, they had to fund this vital area of health.
I thought about what she said about mothers dying when trying to give birth and know that this is one of the great tragedies of our country. Statistics are just numbers but for every mother that dies there is another child that will go through life without another parent. I have witnessed a mother giving birth on the side of the main road in Lae, I have seen government maternity wards that have holes on the floor, I have seen two women loose their newborn in the space of just a few hours just becasue there is no gynacologist available at this major referral hospital and I know that it is common throught this country that women give birth on the floor in public hospitals in this country. What a sad scenario we have in this great country of ours!
Family Planning approaches, whatever opinion someone may have of it, has its merits and can surely save lives.
Pregnancy and childbirth are a time for great joy, reflection and happiness but this public health issue contiunues to put us all into misery.

Some views on the PNG Health Care System

2011-03-08T18:44:00.004+08:00

A news story by Mr. Henry Nayam and Ms. Winsome Nenewa who are fourth year Health Management Students in Divine Word University.

The PNG National Government recently passed the 2011 National Budget with a record spending total of K9 billion. The Government’s highest priority is implementing the new Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2011 -2015, which will underpin the achievement of the objectives set out in the PNG Development Strategic Plan (DSP) 2010-2030, and PNGVision 2050.
According to the National Health Budget for 2011, Volume 1, in the Development Appropriations for Primary and Preventative Health 2005-2011, the Health Department received K274 million in 2010 and in 2011 this amount will increase to K311 million.
So, what does this mean for our hospitals, health centres, rural hospitals and the people who go to get services from them? Does this money really translate to improved health services? Is the country’s health status improving? Well, we asked some of the students in the DWU campus to gather their views on how they see the country’s health status.

Name: Susan Simeon (HM4)
Our country’s health status is deteriorating slowly due to the health budget being mostly spent on the health care rather being spent on the population’s health.

Name: Peter Lanovene (PG1)
The health status is the deteriorating because I have been to the hospitals and I saw that there is shortage of medical supplies and no improvement in the health facilities.

Name: Natasha Lagani (BS2)
It is slowly improving because there is a lot of awareness from the Health Department on concerning health issues but there is still need for more improvement.

Name: Sis. Marceline Pokah (SRS2)
I think that the country’s health status is stagnant for the past years. The main issue for no changes is that the people in the community do not participate in improving their health or health programs.

Name: Malakai Thomas (BS2)
From my opinion the health status is very low, comparing with the other countries. At most hospitals, more patients are waiting longer hours to be treated and sometimes are not treated well. The government has to provide more funds to the Health Department.

Name: Ellison Toriki (Jnr) (EH4)
The health status of the country is badly deteriorating, because most people do not have excess to the basic health services especially in the rural areas. My question is who is to be blame, the government or the health system?

Name: Dr. Clement Manineng
There are two parts of the PNG Health service – private and public. The private health service is a booming industry while the public health service continues to decline due to a gross mismatch between rapid population growth and the inability of the Government health machinery to sustain it.

The National Government has made a commitment to fund the PNG National Health Plan with total cost of K14.7 billion over the 10 year period from 2011-2010…..We all hope that this plan will be well funded by the Government and it, in turn, translates to real health services that reach all Papua New Guineans.

An example of a Public Health serivce: Parents continue to wait in front of the Madang town clinic becasue there is only one baby scale. The can wait up to almost two hours in the sun before they can reach the entrance to have their baby weighed. Pic by Kingston Namun

HIV em stap!

2011-02-08T18:53:00.008+08:00

Statistics from 2008 show that PNG has over 25,000 people who are now living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA)
This was revealed by the Provincial Program Co-ordinator for Madang Provincial AIDS office, Mr. Conrad Wadunah during the Divine Word University students orientation week at the SVD Auditorium yesterday.
Mr. Wadunah told the first year students that the latest statistics from the National AIDS Council Secretariat (NACS) which are from the year 2008 showed that HIV/AIDS had over 25,000 people with HIV/AIDS.
He said: “The highest reported cases are found in Western Highlands and the National Capital District. This does not mean that HIV is more prevalent there but because more people in this two provinces are going for tests using Voluntary Counseling and Testing.
“Madang has over 310 PLWHA’s and if you have young people as such one reported case of a 9 years old girl in Madang having sex and other reported case of a girl as young as 13 year old giving birth, then you have to see that HIV is a problem that does not discriminate age and gender.”
Mr. Wadunah urged the news students to be proactive in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the province and one way of doing that was to join and take part in the National HIV/AIDS debate among tertiary institutions that will be taking place later in the year.
Mr. Joe Mocke, who is a senior project officer with the Tingim Laif project in Madang highlighted at the same meeting with students, that statistics from the NACS showed a trend where girls and women in the country aged between 15-39 years old acquired HIV/AIDS while the men in the age group of 40 -60 years old acquired HIV/AIDS.
He said:” This points out that men who were much older were going around with young women who wanted material needs that could be met by the older men.
“Please young people, you are now in university so you must understand that HIV/AIDS is a problem that does not look for you but you look for it meaning that if you take care of yourself then you do not have to worry about HIV/AIDS”.
Mr. Mocke said the Tingim Laif project aims to reduce the vulnerability of HIV/AIDS in communities or settings throughout the country with over 36 project sites around the country.

Top: students listen while Mr. Wadunah and Mr Mocke give their talk.

'Sic currite ut comprehendatis'

2011-01-30T12:05:00.033+08:00

Sic currite ut comprehenditis has been the motto every graduate of Divine Word University keeps in mind when they think of their days in Diwai. Yes DWU has grown so rapidly in the last five years that if one who is a graduate of this school were to come back, he or she would be surprised at the developments that have taken place. Gone are the 'karanas' roads and buai markets and in its place are brick roads and a mini supermarket with ATMs.

Despite the small size of the campus, I think DWU has collectively strived to complete higher education learning with the changes in gobal technology. Buildings have also sprung up from places which were once open spaces and students given laptops for personal learning. However, one of the most important things i think most former students would agree on, is the 'Diwai Spirit' - a common bond of lifelong friendships, luksave long save pes and comraderie. Okay gees, i feel like Im writing a public relations script here so i'll stop now and put up some photos of the DWU campus in Madang now.

For those of you who have not visited the school during the last few years, here are some latest buildings and offices....

The ITS office looks after all things related to IT

Global Travel which is responsible for all airline ticketing and bookings for DWU staff and students

Diwai Post Office next to the Library

The famous pikus tree next near the library

The front of the DWU library

The new DWU school bus

The student servcies office which is now next the admin building

The front of the admin building

The road leading to the main gate. On the right side is the Library building.

The Flexible Learning Centre

The Postgraduate and Research Centre

The new Bell Tower next to the chapel

The Physiotheraphy Research and Rehabilitation centre

The new mini-mart building which also has BSP and ANZ Automatic Telemachines (ATM) outlets

The boys dorm (Feehan Hall)

The SVD Auditorium

Road leading to Mechanic workshop

The Mathematics and Computer Science building

The middle of the classrooms on a dull Sunday morning

ends///

The road less travelled

2011-01-19T18:45:00.000+08:00

Sometimes people take a road less travelled because they believe that it is the the true way. Once they firmly believe in their heart that this road is true, they make a decision and they will never turn back.

This words ring true for a couple known as John Mula Namun and Itong 'Zipporah' Mula who decided a long time ago to follow the Lord and have never turned back. The left everything behind and came home to Liap village, a tiny village on the northern coastline of Manus Island in PNG to somehow share their newfound love. It has never been easy for them but i can say that Iam forever grateful that they are follwing this road less travelled.

The started a ministry called 'Kingdom Breakthrough Ministry International' and have been ministering to the people of the Kurti language group ever since. They have travelled to villages in Kurti such as Liap, Derimbat, Lomei, Sou-uh, Kari, Patlok, Wamandra, Pundru and to other villages in other electorates such as Burlondrau, Lowa and Pitiluh.

I recently made a video of KBMI and posted it on youtube. Here is the link below:

Sunrise in Madang

2010-11-25T06:38:00.002+08:00

Took this photo of Madang town habour early in the morning.

Isnt the place just beautiful....!

Adolescent Smoking in PNG

2010-11-16T07:26:00.011+08:00

Papua New Guninea, like so many countries in the world today face growing numbers of adolescents who take up tobacco smoking

But why should we be concerned? Well the World Health Organisation reports that the use of tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world with more than 5 million people worldwide dying from tobacco use annually (WHO 2009a). It also says that the burden of tobacco use is greatest in low and middle-income countries and is predicted that, if very little is done to curb tobacco use and current trends continue, tobacco use will kill more than 8 million people worldwide each year by the year 2030, with 80% of these premature deaths in low-and middle-income countries (WHO 2009a; Anderson Johnson et al. 2006; Devlin, Eadie, and Angus 2003).

According to the PNG National Statistics Office, from the 1990 Census, the projected number of young people in 2010 would stand at 1,243,138 who are aged between 10-19 years old and they would make up 22.6% of the total population (NSO 2004). So this means that 2 out of every 10 people in PNG today, is aged between 10-19 years old. This age group of young people are at a time of transition from childhood to adulthood and are most vulnerable to developing smoking habits that lead up to adulthood (Mitchell, Rosenberg, and Wood 2008).

As experienced in other countries, adolescents in Papua New Guinea can be vulnerable to the tobacco use due to factors such as stress (Byrne, Byrne, and Reinhart 1995; Anderson Johnson et al. 2006), sensation seeking (Urban 2010), experimentation, peer use and peer perception (Krisjansson et al. 2010) or even with parents smoking (Melchior et al. 2010; Hiawalyer 2002).

• Prevalence of tobacco use
Although there has been little done to find the prevalence of tobacco smoking among this age group of 10-19 year olds in Papua New Guinea, WHO statistics show 43.8 percent of young people in PNG aged 13 to 15 years old were reported to ‘currently smoke tobacco products’ (WHO 2009d) and in that same age group, the current cigarette use prevalence among boys which is 52.1%, is considered as the highest in the Western Pacific Region (CDCP 2008).

A significant research which was carried out by Gilbert Hiawalyer from the National Health Department, exemplified the grave situation on tobacco’s impact on adolescents in the country. His research on 3,000 young people aged 8-20 years in Manus and Central province showed that young children, as young as 8 years of age had began smoking. He also found that out of the 2000 adolescents in NCD, the capital city of PNG, only 10% of the males and 37% of the females were non smokers and proportionally, there was an average of two male smokers to one female smoker (Hiawalyer 2002).

Table 1 Smoking prevalence by age group

In Manus province, which is the smallest province in PNG in terms of population and land area, Hiawalyer found that of the 1,000 boys and girls he interviewed, 5% of the males and 40% of the females were non-smokers. From 2,245 smokers, he also found that the number of smokers increased with age. This, he described, was that as he moved higher in the grade levels, the number of smoker also began to increase. His study also found that smokers were influenced by their friends, parents and the media respectively (Hiawalyer 2002).

Table 2 Factors influencing smokers to smoke

Another study carried out by final year students of Divine Word University on 200 children in five primary school in the Madang Urban District found that 18% regarded themselves as smokers while 10% of them smoked three to four times daily (Ongogo, Gabuogi, and Varip 2010). The DWU researchers also found that 63% of the smokers were aged 13-15 years old, 30% were between the ages of 16-18 while 7% of these primary school children aged between 10-12 years old smoked (Ongogo, Gabuogi, and Varip 2010).

• Tobacco Uptake Factors
The Global Youth Tobacco Survey, which is a school based survey aimed at finding data on smoking among 13-15 years olds, indicates that the environment is a significant factor in young people’s uptake of tobacco products (CDCP 2007) and adolescents in PNG are no exception (Hiawalyer 2002). The environment may include family and social support networks who can influence adolescents’ smoking uptake (Mermelstein 2003).
For example, Onguglo, Gabuogi and Varip (2010) found that although 49.5% of the 200 students in Madang five primary schools indicated in a questionnaire that they knew that smoking caused lung cancer, 53% of total students who smoked said they did so because of peer pressure.

The home where a family lives can also influence smoking habits (Betson et al. 1995; Krisjansson et al. 2010). The GYTS done in PNG in 2007 also show that 73.9% of young people aged 13-15 years old are exposed to smoke at home (WHO 2009c) and Hiawalyer found that adolescents in NCD (34%) and Manus (39%) smoked because their parents did so at home (Hiawalyer 2002).

The low cost of tobacco products in Papua New Guinea is also a factor for adolescent up take of tobacco (PNGMOH 2004). An example of this would be the smoking of the ‘roll your own’ (RYO) tobacco that is being sold on almost every street corner. The situation in PNG, as in Malaysia and Thailand, the ‘Roll your own’ tobacco use is associated with living in rural areas, older average age, lower level of education, male gender, not being in paid work, slightly lower consumption of cigarettes, higher social acceptability of smoking, and positive attitudes toward tobacco regulation (Young et al. 2008). This also holds true for the PNG situation but the RYO cigarette has significantly increased in urban areas and has popular among adolescents that are in school or out of school and do not work (Lipset 2005).

This is because it is the cheapest of all tobacco products in this country as it is home grown and sold locally (FCTC Convention Secretariat 2010). It costs 10t (5 Australian cents) for one stick, isn’t taxed and carries no health warning (FCTC Convention Secretariat 2010).

Another example of cheap tobacco products would be that of the practise of selling loose cigarettes. Factory made cigarettes that come in packs of 20 that cost K11.40 are sold individually at roadside markets for 70 toea. This practise of buying single or loose cigarettes is cheaper than paying for a whole pack of 20s and young people can easily afford this factory made cigarettes for a fraction of the total price.

.........In my next post, I will highlight what WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) means to PNG and how we can do to minimise smoking rates among adolescents.

Learning about patience...

2010-11-01T17:12:00.013+08:00

Parenting is tops…only if you have loads of patience...LOL

Im a really proud parent of a six week old girl. I love her to bits and wouldn’t trade her for zillion bucks! But I make this statement because just six weeks into having sleepless nights, im beginning to form the conclusion that if you want to be a good parent to a child, you have to be really, really patient.

Why do I say this? Well she cant talk but only feeds and sleep but if she cries, you have to figure out why. Is she hungry? Is she too hot? Is the breeze too cold? Is she too full from feeding? These and many more are things both parents have to figure out. Its is good that as we go along this journey of parenthood, you get to learn of the signs..if she is awake and too quiet, she is doing the toilet thingy; if she squirms a lot, then she may want to be washed or carried around…You have to be patient enough to go through the guess work and learn quickly what she likes best. For the past weeks, she has been keeping us awake late at night. We take turns checking on her and carrying her. You have to have patience to want to do this over a long period of time...lol...look at me, just six weeks into it and i think i've mastered parenthood...LOL. Im learning all this as i go along this journey too like so many others before me and many more after me...

I believe that parenting starts at birth but never ends. It is a life long relationship with someone you have brought into this world. They grow from an infant to toddler to young childhood to adolescents. In that time, you as a parent will be a central figure in their life. You will teach them what is wrong and what is right. You will teach them why certain things are so in society and how we should approach situations in life. We draw from our own experiences, social exchanges, cultures, formal education etc to form a structure of learning and discipline for them. In order to be better parent, you have to draw up all this and be patient enough to train them and to encourage them to live purposeful lives.

But here comes the most important part about parenting….you will love it! I have loved holding this fragile human being; I have loved squeezing her rosy cheeks and playful feet. I have loved it when she smiles and you can see the gums shining…hahahaha..She is definitely the best thing that has happened to me and I plan to enjoy being her father for a long time more!

The Masuros

2010-10-26T13:13:00.005+08:00

The last time i bought a CHM cassette was a 'Demas Saul' album at CHM Kokopo in 2001. The reason: well it was mostly because i missed Madang so much after completing my 2nd year at DWU Madang...

Well this afternoon, close to nine years later, i bought another CHM cassette. This time it was cassette titled ' the Masuro's ' from the Madang Christian Book Store. They had recorded under the CHM label in Port Moresby. I had listened to one of their songs called 'Hobi Hobi' two weeks ago while was inside the store. I waited until i had some coins, which was like today, and then went to buy it. It wasnt cheap at K17.00 but hey, somehow i just wanted to have that cassette. The Masuros are a family gospel group from Garaina in the hinterlands of Morobe Province and were formed in 2002.

Having just listened to it now im impressed by the Donna Masuro, the lead vocalist. The musical arrangement is simple and the vocals are outstanding. The song 'Lovely Lord' is a song I've heard a long long time ago in my high school days by an American band called 'Petra' and it was good to hear it again. The other songs 'Hamamas long haus' , ' Hearts' , ' Hokeetemi ' and ' Gates ' are simple songs but Donna's voice makes it easy on the ears. The song 'Hobi hobi' is still my favourite and is sung in Pidgin and Garaina.

If you have the chance to, please buy their cassette becasue im sure you will really enjoy listening this lovely album.

Kumuls!

2010-10-24T15:34:00.013+08:00

I sat on the floor looking at the tv screen. The Australian Kangaroos had beaten PNG Kumuls by 42 points. In rugby league terms, that was a total flogging.

I felt sad, angry, ashamed and even foolish. I wondered why i was so pumped at the start of the game, when the defence was outstanding and the big hits were bone jarring. I knew we had hope for an upset. When they got a penalty, i was elated. The referee was clinical but didnt have a feel for the match. I shouted everytime a huge hit was made on the kangaroos by PNG players. But by the end of the game, i felt deflated...why did i care so much for this rugby league team called the Kumuls? Did i have to feel so hurt and demoralised by the end of the game? Did it even have to matter to care?

Yes it did have to matter! We wanted to prove to the world again that rugby league was all about passion, bravery, camaraderie, skill and style. We wanted to show the world that this was our national sport, something that we cherished and to play for ones country was something to be cherished forever. We wanted to show these Australian 'professional' players who had huge salaries that money couldnt buy our love for 'the greatest game of all'. We wanted them to know we knew how to play the thinking man's game too. Above all, we wanted respect on the field.

But alas, we let the game slip out of our hands and got a 42-0 flogging. We were much better than that but we didnt get to show it. We let our mistakes ruin every oportunity we had.

I guess my post about the kumuls is a symptom of me wanting to see PNG succeed in sports at the international level. Over the years, there have been patches of brillance from individuals such Geua Tau, Ryan Pini and Dika Toua, Lynch Ipera but teams sports havent made their mark too often.

Success by PNG at the international level, in any sport, is and always should be our ultimate goal. Why? Because, as cliche as it might sound, success in sport goes a long, long way in uniting this country. The last time i celebrated and had tears in my eyes was when Ryan Pini won Gold at the Commonwealth games. He sure did make me proud to be a Papua New Guinean that night in 2006. We shouted and danced in the corridors and talked about it for days. That night was special for this country. I wanted all nights to be like that...

There are only a few sports that are played in almost all parts of PNG. Rugby league is one of them. For a sport that is well liked, it pains me to see us get 42 put aganist us.

To the Kumuls, we love you regardless because you wear the red, black and gold. Play strong in the next game against New Zealand and put some respectibility back into the jumper!

Kalu-u Caves of Kurti

2010-09-29T12:44:00.033+08:00

Manus Province is home to about 48,000 people spread across many smaller outer islands, along the coast and into the mountains. It has some of the most picturesque sandy beaches, stunning coral reefs, pretty thatched houses, striking waterfalls and the smiles of the locals can cut your heart right out. Don’t get too excited yet because the real beauty lies in the highlands of Manus.

The highlands of Manus is often mountainous, rugged and cold. In mornings, the cool mist covers the mountains and in the evenings, the water in the streams is cold as ice.
The highlands of Manus hosts a great number of people and villages. The National Highway starts from Lorengau, passes many villages including Rosun, Lundret, Kawa, Pundru and then comes to Kari village and then goes down to the north coast to Dromalmal station and Lomei village.

I live on the northern coastline so when we visit relatives at Kari, we walk uphill for four hours. Some years ago my uncles told me about three huge caves in the mountains of Kalu-u. This place called Kalu-u is about a kilometer outside of Kari village. These three caves called Lehlia, Poko-oh and Mada Worei and there are many traditional stories about how these caves came to be and who lived in them.

During one of my hilodays, I decided that I should visit these great limestone caves to see for myself once and for all the place and the legends it mysteriously held. One has to actually visit the caves to understand the uniqueness of these caves they said because these group of caves are not found anywhere else in the province.

My father and I and plus a guide left Liap, crossed over to Derimbat village and then started on the 4 hour walk from the coast up to the mountains. The mountains were steep and slippery. The earth was red and claylike. The tropical vegetation casts a spell of silence around us. We walk and rest. I was exhausted by the time we arrive at Kari. We rest and overnight at Papu Kaku’s place at Lolep.

Next morning we start for the caves. It takes about an hour to walk from the main village to where most of the caves are. There is a light shower but that did not deter us as we walked quickly through the mud and water. The air is quiet and everything around us is wet. My father said that soccer boots were the best for this type of bush track as you wouldn’t slip and I definitely didn’t argue. Along the way we had to walk over sharp limestones. It is sharp and pointed upwards. Most of the boys that we walked with just climbed up them and over the other side as if it was flat land. I knew that if I slipped, the stones could pierce my flesh like a hot knife through butter.

A small creek cuts through the mountain forming a pathway

We walk between a passage of hard black stone that cuts through a mountain. If you are claustrophobic, don’t venture down here. The dark passage has water running though it. It is also about a meter wide and 30 meters long. The hard stone walls on both sides run all the way up to about 30 meters. You can still see the sunlight above. We walk along the way with the water just above our ankles.
We then crossed over shallow streams a couple of times. The waters were cold and clean. We followed another stream and finally stand in front of a huge opening of a cave. This is the Poko-oh cave. The pebbles are numerous at the entrance of the caves. Many are round and smooth.

My father and the guides stand in front of Poko-oh

The cave itself is hard solid rock and ferns and other vegetation grow on the cave’s entrance. The cave itself is dark. We had torches to light the way and walked carefully. We enter it and the first thing I notice is the quietness. Nothing but drips of water falling from the roof onto the ground. The air is damp. I walk quickly to catch up with the others.. We walk through the cave and in a few minutes we are out on the other side. The water runs through the cave and out again.

My father just about to enter the Lehlia cave

The interior of the Poko-oh is pitch dark so we use torches to find our way around.

Our guide walks quickly and we follow on. We climb up dead logs and walk in the mud again. Then we see another cave. This is the Lehleah cave. We go in again, walk through it and out again.

The serene beauty of the cave is spectecular looking out of the cave.

One of the guides standing a log that was washed through the cave.

In some caves, the ground to the roof top to is 40 meters, in others, it is just 6 meters. The length vary from half the rugby field to about 15 meters. The air is damp and cold in some of the caves. The stone roof in some caves is flat like the belly of a gigantic serpent while in others the roof look like dripping wax from huge candles. There are puddles on the ground formed by water from the stalactites.
It gave me goose bumps just by looking at the interior of the caves. As you walk in the middle of some of the caves, you feel as though you are in another time. A time when my ancestors walked in these caves; carrying pig meat from their hunting trips and taro from their gardens. A time when they rested in the caves as it rained outside and told stories to their kids. A time when the families were strong and warriors were honoured.

The stalactities hang fromg the top of the cave creating an errie look

You think you hear voices but realize that it is only the cold water falling from the stalactites, hitting the stones below then disappearing into the ground.
In some caves, there are holes which are dry and dusty. In others they are wet, cold and slippery. I shudder to think what crawled in them. Sometimes when the river floods, huge trees are pulled by the force of the flood and they come through the caves and out the other side.

Entering the huge Lehlia cave

Outside the caves, the river banks have stones that have rounded holes causing them to look like a whole village walked on them. I imagine that it has been shaped by the river over a long period of time.

Making our way out the other end of Lehlia

The Kari river joins the head of the Worei river, flows through a cave at Mada Worei then runs quickly into a small cave on the side of a mountain. The cave then falls deep into the earth. They say it runs underground and then comes out again a few kilometers on the south coast of Manus to what is known as the mighty Worei river.
It is after midday when we make our way back to Kari. There is a market on.

The eroding state of the government road from Kari village to Dromalmal station on the coast.

We gobble up huge slices of pineapple which cost ten toea each and then follow the road down to Dromalmal station on the north coast. The government road has been reduced to a bushy track over the years.
Along the way, my father tells me that there is a water that actually comes out from a stone. The water is called ‘Wo Drahal’. I said I would only believe if I saw it.
And I did see it. The stone is located just a few minutes walk off the road. Yes, the water comes out from a stone.

Wo Drahal runs unabated. Natural water at its best!

Many travellers like myself have come here, drank from it and even filled a bottle to take away. The stone has a small hole where the water comes out, and come rain or shine and long dry periods like the one that Manus experienced during 1997 El Nino weather pattens, this one kept flowing like it had been for thousands of years. Some villagers tried to find its source so by digging around the stone to see if it flowed from somewhere. All their efforts have been in vain to identify its source. They just say it comes out from the stone and I say so myself too. The water is clean, cool and very refreshing.

Well thanks for reading this short story of mine. Hope you liked it as it was just a simple story of how God has truely blessed this country with wonderful and pure places like this.

A night at the labour ward

2010-09-22T20:01:00.002+08:00

Its late at night.

The place is quiet as if only ghosts walk the dimly lit corridors. The tiled floor smells of disinfectant, the ceiling fan spins lazily and the mothers are sleeping on the green leather covered beds. The bleached white bed sheets and pillow cases have blue letters – MGH - written on them. It is late at night at the Modilon General Hospital’s labour ward. Close to 30 mothers are in the labour ward, some having already given birth and sleeping next to their babies while others are just entering the labour process.

I sit on a wooden bench next to the nursing sisters table. I am waiting.

The nurses talk in hush tones and scurry along the corridors to expectant mothers. There are a couple of women who walk past me with their bellies protruding infront of them, their hands at their backs and the pain is written all over their faces. The pain is so unbearable, so relentless, so sharp, so unjustified! They hang onto posts and bed frames begging for the pain to stop. The nurses tell them to keep on walking. I am surprised at how the women in the labour ward don’t scream when they have birth pains. It’s as if there is silent understanding that you do not scream until you are on the delivery bed or maybe the women are afraid the nurses might scold them.

However, inside the delivery room, I hear women shouting from pain and agony. My partner is in there too behind the closed doors. I can only look down the corridor and imagine what they are going through. My mother has been with my partner throughout the afternoon and now it is night and i can see that her eyes are bloodshot and tired from the lack of sleep. I sit still. Worried, tired, apprehensive, and biting my finger nails for the umpteenth time today. My mother comes down the corridor and signals me to follow her. She pulls me closer and says that my partner wants me to go to her. I walk past her to the delivery room.

As soon as I enter, I feel the air is cool. The air conditioner is running in the background. There are four beds and one other one for the intermediate is on the opposite side of the room. The first bed is occupied by a woman who is sleeping in the foetal position. Only her feet are visible under the hospital issued blanket. They are as pale as a bed sheet. I only later on learn that she came close to dying because of the lack of blood. I turn to the last of the four beds and see my partner on one of the bed. She lies on her side. She is the only one from the group of mother who came today, that has not given birth yet. I can see that she is in pain. She opens her mouth and screams. I have known this woman for seven years now and never heard her scream and shout like this. Tonight, these terrible and agonising screams I hear carry a terrible pain and rock me to the core. She cries out but the nurses tell her not to but to breathe and exhale when the contractions come. I hold her hand and don’t say anything. What could I say. I didn’t know what to say. She had been in terrible pain for the past 20 hours. I rub her back with a wet cloth and hold her quietly. I read in the papers that 2 babies had died in this very ward last weekend and I witnessed two more die this weekend. To further compound my uneasiness, I have heard that nine mothers have already died from child birth complications this year in this very ward.

The nurse comes in for the umpteenth time today and checks to see if the baby’s head is ready to come. This time she finally nods and says ‘its time’. They instruct her take a deep breath and to push when the contractions arrive. She does so but the baby doesn’t come. She does the same thing for almost 20 minutes. The nurses wait on her and keep instructing her on how to push. She feels weak from each push. I see the blood from her hand go back up the water drip. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that the nurses are eye signalling each other and at the clock. Earlier one the nurses had told me that if the labour prolonged from up to 24 hours, they would induce the birth or use the vacuum the baby out, both methods not without their risks. After a few minutes, they look at me as if to gauge my approval for the use of the other methods. I quickly turn away and look at my partner. I think she quickly catches on and asks us to wait for the next contraction to come. I know that in the next few minutes could be very crucial to both the mother and baby.

She waits and then when the next contraction arrives, and through the urgings of three nurses and one to-be father, she gives a mighty push and my daughter arrives. The nurse clips the cord and cuts it and gives the baby to the mother. I am left stunned. I mean this is another human being that is removed from the body of another human and is a person of its own. She is complete in every way yet she is so fragile. She is beautiful in every way possible and her spirit is impossible to numerate in words. One look at her face is enough to light my whole week. She has my cheeks, my nose, my lips and, I dare say, my eyes too! She is perfect! They quickly take her to a machine and quickly drain the mucous from her nose, mouth and eye. I hear her cry and then a few seconds later, my mother comes in, holding her in a warm blanket and she is silent as the rising sun.

My life has surely turned for the better. If there is anything with which I was ever proud of, this would be it. The moment my daughter was born beat my every other achievement in life by a mile. This is surely what life is all about.

Mt. Pawih Digicel Tower preparation

2010-08-31T02:40:00.026+08:00

Since the introduction of Digicel to Papua New Guinea a few years ago, the country’s communication especially that of the mobile phone system has dramitcally shifted another gear. Digicel's key strategy of installing transmitter towers in almost all regions of the country, especially those in rural areas has helped people in these areas communicate to the ‘outside world’.

For the N’dritian clan of Derimbat village who are located in the North Coast of Manus Province, theirs is a dream come true for a Digicel tower to be erected on their land. The Ndritian clan is one of the largest clan in Kurti language group, whose members numbering into the thousands who live in the villages of Liap, Souh, Andra, Mundrau, Patlok, Mundrupudeu, Wamandra, Pundru with the largest group living in Derimbat. Each member of the N’dritian clan lays claim to be a landowner of Mt Pawih. Mt Pawih is next another mountain called N'druturu, both mountains famously known in the Kurti area and can be seen as far as the islands lying in the north coast area of Manus.

The clan leaders have come together, applied to Digicel and been given the go ahead by the company to start clearing the base of Mountain Pawih for the Digicel tower construction. Pawih is located in the hinterlands of the mid-north coast of Manus Island and is roughly around 700 meters above sea level.

The N’dritian clan members showed tremendous passion to climb the mountain, about 4 hours walk from the coast. It is so cold at night that sometimes the mist and dew covers the green and lush forests. Mt. Pawih is a place where tress such as Rosewood and Kwila are too many to count. This mountain has no bush tracks, but filled with bush vines that have thorns, is humid but quiet as still waters.

Mountain Pawih also hold significance to the N’dritian Clan and also the Kurti people because of cultural and spiritual events that took place during ancestoral times. This included the story of Lapam Pawih, a demi god who lived in Pawih. He had magical powers that saw the world through a clear pool of water that was at the top of Mountain Pawih and worked similarly to a television set. Many believed that these events foretold what would happen such as now which is happening to the construction of the Digicel tower.

Looking back to the sea from the mountain

I, as a member of the N’dritian clan, took the pilgrimage up the mountain to see and take part in this historical event in our place. I say ‘historical’ because land use in Manus, as in many parts of Papua New Guinea is a very contentious issue. Customary land (97% of the nation’s land) is outside the existing system of land law. This is where the majority of Papua New Guineans live. The existing system is inappropriate for promoting national goals through the various levels of government – national, provincial and community. Sometimes because of land disputes concerning ownership or usage, there can be no development whether for personal use or development purpose for many years. However, for this clan in Manus, it was a conscious decision by its leaders to come together and make this land available for this tower for Digicel.

Having a rest midway towards Mt Pawih

It took us about three hours to walk from the our home on the seaside to the top of Mt. Pawih. We started off by climbing small hills, then walking up mountains and as we got nearer the mountain, it got steeper, the bush tracks became narrower, filled with bush vines and thorns and my feet hurt. My father and brother walked and talked as if we were walking along a sandy beach but my body was screaming silently. My feet had cuts, my knees ached, my skin filled with sweat and I wanted to just lie down then and there. They kept saying “its just around the corner” on every corner just to keep me from falling off the trail. Eventually we arrived at the base, there were quite a few people already, about 40 men, women and children who had just arrived before us and were setting up camp.

Setting up camp and boiling water for coffee

My small brother and uncles quickly set up our tent and made a fire before it became dark. That night it rained. We had fried sago and fish and downed it with coffee. I couldn’t sleep. There was no comfortable place to sleep. It was good that I brought a blanket. I wrapped myself around it and sat down, telling stories about anything and everything till around 3am when I dosed off. I woke up at around 5.30 when the church groups that had come to the mountain too began praying and singing. I just sat in the tent with father staring towards the ocean watching the morning sun come up. It was just perfect.

A young man already starting up the work

After the announcements and break up of people into groups, most people had breakfast. Then the work began. There were two men who used their chainsaws to cut the bigger trees, while the young men used axes to cut the other tress. The women cleared the roots and clean the tower base. More people from Derimbat and Kari villages arrived. They brought fuel, another chainsaw and the woman brought food such as sago, cassava, fish, turtle meat and greens. Some young women went down the side of the mountain to fetch water for drinking and cooking while other young boys went to get betelnut. Everyone worked till the afternoon and tower base was cleared and the helipad was also cleared. A few days ago, this was thick forest with no bush tracks, now a place cleared and ready for the tower. As I stood up on the very top of the mountain, I could see as far a Ponam, Harangan and Sori villages to the west and Pitilyu, Hawaii and Momote island to the east. I imagine that once the tower is complete and functioning, it could serve 75% of the people on the west coast of Manus Island.

Everyone working to clear up the tower base and the helipad area.

One of the saws (090 STHL chainsaw with a crosscut chain) that was used to cut the huge trees

Others using the axe to cut a tree down

The tower base being cleaned up

The women remove roots and vegetation fro mthe area

The base being cleared. In the centre of the picture are containers of fuel for the chainsaws.

The boys camp during the night.

The girls and mothers sleeping area during the night

Having coffee and telling stories under our tent at night.

Looking further inland from where we were. At the bottom of the photo is Kari village while the mountain peak in the centre is Mt. Dramsel, the highest peak in Manus Province with a height of maybe 800 meters above sea level.

In the afternoon, when everyone had eaten and rested, certain people spoke. Some spoke about the land and sacredness, others spoke about the good and the bad of what developments such as this Digicel tower would bring to the locals, while others spoke about family and people. Then everyone rested for the night. The next morning, we all walked back down to the coast.

I wrote this story to say how proud Iam that my people have come together and mustered up the courage to say ‘yes we need this and it will benefit all of us’. To even get to this stage of clearing the top of this mountain, is itself and achievement because people don’t give away their land that easily. The process of identifying the landowners and making sure they understood the purpose of such a development on their land was vital to achieving the cooperation of all the clan members. There was no payment of people or of manpower but each family gave something of themselves to contribute towards the work. Some families gave their chainsaws, others contributed fuel for the chainsaws, others were appointed to cook food for the workers, some contributed sugar, coffee and tobacco towards the work.

This was community participation at its best. When good things happen like this, I believe it is also a sign that people in the village do not want to be left out of the opportunity for development and to be involved in nation building as is happening in other parts of PNG too.

Lorengau locations

2010-08-30T21:54:00.014+08:00

I visited Lorengau town and the place is as nice as ever. Apart from the existing stores, a few new stores (mostly Chinese operated) had set up in town. I must admit they had many things such as torches, mobile phones, files etc..these little things that many manusians need, were in huge supply.
Anyway, the town was a bit sleepy....not too many people in town and i enjoyed it that way. I uploaded some photos of this small town and some of more famous icons.

The Provincial Government headquarters.

I think this signboard in front of the provincial office has to be repainted.

The new City Pharmacy shop next to the Post Office.

Manus vocational centre at Ward six

One of the many PMVs running on Lorengau roads. This bus belongs to Lucas Kanath.

The new Court house at the back of the Post Office.

MV. Tawi at anchor next to Rara Island.

Wara Lorengau...looking inland.

The Catholic Mission centre at ward five.

The Lorengau Market's 'brus' (tobacco leaf) section.

Entering the Lorengau market from the Papindo end.

I enjoyed eating mumu tapiok and fish from the markets. See you all next time in Lorengau.

Madang Night @ DWU

2010-08-07T22:39:00.009+08:00

The Madang Students Assoiation of Divine Word University came together to put on a show with a theme titled: Madang aste, na and tumoro'.

They put on a traditional parade, played popular Madang songs from Patti Doi and Demas Saul, had traditional dances and drama. It was held at the DWU auditoriam and the place was filled to capacity.

Sir Arnold Amet was the official guest speaker and he spoke about Madang and the need for young people in tertiary institutions like DWU who would be leaders of their people in the coming years.

The traditional parade highlighted the traditional dress for men and women in the six districts of Madang - Raicoast, Bogia, Sumkar, Madang, Usino-Bundi and Middle Ramu. The explained why each item such as beads, shells, grass-skirts, head dress etc were worn, what is was made of and what it represented.

I enjoyed myself but wished i had a better camera to capture the events as they unfolded. Well maybe better lucj next time. Hopefully by my next posting, i hope to put up a video of the events that happended that night.

See yous later.

NIPs Celebrations in Madang town

2010-07-28T23:48:00.002+08:00

Each province in Papua New Guinea sets aside a day to celebrate its heritage, culture and people and is widely known as a 'Provincial Day'. For New Irelanders, it falls on July 23 of each year. For New Irelanders living in Madang, they all congregated at the Madang International School hall and celebrated in style and colour.

Prominent persons such as Sir Arnold Amet, the Governor of Madang, Br. Andrew Simpson, the Vice President of Divine Word University and many other digitaries attended to witness the New Irelanders show their culture and songs.

I went along to see their unique dances and witness groups from Bouganville, East New Britain and Manus who were invited to showcase some of their dances too. I shot this video and hope it does justice to the many colourful dances that were on display. I really enjoyed the day!

Many thanks to those who took time out to organise this day.

See you all New Irelanders living in Madang again next year for more colourful celebrations!!!

Graduation!

2010-07-16T16:56:00.012+08:00

What a day!

Today was graduation day....a day set aside to celebrate a milestone...an academic milestone that is. For the endless nights spent in the computer labs; the lonely 3am nights staring at words that make you pull your hair out; sleeping less hours than the time it takes to order at Macdonalds; listening to lectures that seem endless; working with group members that are hard to get along with; when a cup of coffee is considered a meal; saying 'huh' instead of saying 'could you explain this again (for the third time!); when the brain seems to work better at last minute work than at earlier times in the semester...etc and all those things that i did for the past 18 months to be here today and to say 'Yes i did it'

You know as I was sitting there, all dressed up and listening to the speeches, i kind of felt a tinge of sadness that none of my family or the people i really value could here. Sometimes, the things in life you desire the most cannot happen because...because....thats just the way things are! I really didnt know what to feel. There was a sense of accomplishment and success and also a tad bit of fear too. I was happy that i had completed the course but what would happen after here? One year from now, what would i be doing? Oh well, as Jon Bon Jovi once said 'You've gotto keep the faith'

As a was muching on the spring rolls and sweet cakes for tea prepared by the Curtin International Office, i kind of let my mind wonder what the next six months would hold for me. Would i get a job? Which part of the country would i work in now? Was I employable? At the back of my head i wondered what i would be doing a year from now....who knows what he future holds. But one thing is for certain...I have had a really really good time in Perth, enjoyed the place and loved the good times with friends.

Ah yes..Friends! Friends are people that are just the same everywhere you go, they share the same passion as you, they hate the things you hate and live life pretty much the same we do. I met some wonderful people and loved their company. They were ambassadors for their country and were a lot more better than toursim ads on TV. Their friendships transcended the boundaries of culture, language, way of thinking, religion etc and knowing them helped me understand more about the world i live in.

When i said goodbye to one of the scholars from Africa, he thought aloud if we would ever meet again and to whcih i replied "we will surely meet some day through facebook or skype, but if not then see you at the good place up above"

Well, today has gone and tomorrow brings another challenge. But Friday 16 July 2010....is a day that gave me a new lease on life!

Getting ready to go to the campus

In the gown

With other graudates

With the other PNG graduates and their families

Making small talk with family and friends after morning tea

Checking my wallet to see if there is any money to pay for official photographs

Finally, my very own 'graduation dinner' - a lamb kebab at the Mesapotemia Kebab in Perth City, later that night...hahahaha

Perth moments

2010-07-05T01:35:00.004+08:00

Well all the exams are over and all assignments have been handed in. Now we wait for July 14!

Anyway, just got bored today and decided to make a small video of my time here in Perth. This is dedicated to my all friends that i met here.

There are so many photos still here that i couldnt fit into the small video. Those of you that missed out, please dont get mad!!!...LOL

Enjoy perth moments....

Coldest night

2010-06-27T01:18:00.004+08:00

Oh yes it was cold alright.

The mercury dropped to 0 dregrees yesterday in the early hours of the morning. Thats right zero! And me being an island man, i swore it was the coldest ever but my housemate from Finland just laughed it off....hahaha.

Honestly i could feel the ice crunching under my feet as i walked on the grass! I guess this is the closest i'll ever get to seeing snow..lol. Weather reports say it was the coldest since June 2006 when it went down to -6 degrees.

This is the Unit 22 view the morning.

Australia's First Woman PM

2010-06-24T20:00:00.008+08:00

I never liked politics much.

But today is a day that will go down in Australia's history forever as the day an Australian woman became the country's first Prime Minister.

Julia Gillard became the leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of Australia.

For me as i see it, it is political party survival. Im so sure that after Labour's sloppy dealings in Carbon Trading Scheme, the bungled Home Insulation program and the controversial New Mining Tax, the only way Labour was going to win the challenge from the Liberals Tony Abott in this years coming Genreral Electon was to change leadership! With the new leadership, policy changes are sure to follow and this will prevent political point scoring by the oppositions and save some face.

But hey, you got to give credit where its due...Kevin Rudd showed his character and dignity by standing down from the leadership. I think his move showed greater resolve towards party ideals ratehr than personal politics. I also thought that Julia Gillard is the most capable person in the Labour Party right now to be Prime Minster. I think she handled the Ministry of Education, Empoyment and Workplace Relations very well since the ministry had three distinct portfolios: Minister for Education; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; and Minister for Social Inclusion. Plus she executed her role as the Deputy Prime Minister role with integrity.

Oh and another thing...After staying here in Australia for a few months now, i can honestly say that Australian politicians are always in the media, mostly because of the consistant 'in your face' Australian media. There is not a day that goes by where you dont see politicians or politics being seen and heard on TV, radio, newspapers or the internet. The aspect of accountability to the people and the voters are always on the agenda and if there is something that needs investigation, the media will find out still.

Sometimes, I've noticed that politicians especially federal MPs, when they are on television interviews or on panel discussions, they are ever so alert and conduct themselves without loosing face. They know how to answer questions confidently without loosing points and they have all the figures and facts on hand. I guess their media advisors work overtime in Canberra!

You know, i wish i could say the same thing for my country - PNG. In PNG politics there is no such thing as standing down!!!!!Even if there is even an hint of corruption or downright misconduct, no MP steps down. They will fight tooth and nail just to stay in office. The MPs who hold ministries cannot even talk to the media and are often inaccessible. The only time, you see them is when there is a grand opening of a project or giving of 'sponsorship' to a project. Even then, they read from prepared statements.

Anyway, enough of PNG politics, this post is to give Julia Gillard a round of applause for being Australia's first women Prime Minister and political leader of 22 million Australians......until the General Elections later this year! Who knows, after they win the General Election, Kevin Rudd might take back the helm next year!

New Mining Tax explained

2010-06-17T21:32:00.005+08:00

This news report taken from Sydney Morning Herald on 3rd May tries to explain the new mining tax in Australia.

How the new mining tax works
May 3, 2010

The suggested new 40 per cent tax on mining profits is not as far-reaching as it first seems.The tax will sting, no doubt, but it will not apply to all the profits of miners working in Australia. Any profits derived from mines outside Australia will be left untouched.So companies like Anglo-Australian mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have less to lose than the naked headlines would suggest: their non-Australian mining operations are completely outside the tax.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
A mining company will need to calculate how much profit it makes from each of its Australian operations and declare that to the tax authorities. The profit is to be calculated as close to the ground as possible: that is, at the mine gate. But the details on this have yet to be hammered out, leaving wide scope for mining companies to agree on a more flexible approach.For example, a miner with two adjacent operations may push for both mines to be included in one profit calculation for the tax authorities, if it felt this would lead to a lower tax bill.These profit calculations are purely for the tax authorities and are not the group accounts drafted for investors, but they won't be entirely new arithmetic for global miners. South Africa and Canada and the U.S. mining state of Nevada already require them to produce accounts for profits-based taxes.

IS IT ALL PAIN & NO GAIN?
The federal government knows there are very few votes to be lost from taxing rich miners that hire fewer workers per dollar of profit than many other sectors of the economy. But Canberra is still dangling some carrots for the mining industry in the form of a tax allowance and an exploration tax rebate.The allowance represents an amount of profit that is exempt from the new tax. In principle, it is the government's estimate of a fair rate of return on mining assets.Utilities world-wide understand this concept well because their returns on assets are routinely regulated in order to prevent them from unjustifiable increases in power bills.For miners, there is a lot to play for here: the government wants untaxed returns on assets to be set at a rate equivalent to the 10-year government bond yield, now just 5.76 per cent. But, if the miners lose their war against the tax, they could win a decisive battle by raising the tax-free return rate.

GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE
...Say, a mine (not a miner) has assets worth $100 million. Using the current bond yield, the company may deduct $5.76 million from its calculation of the mine's profit."Using a rate higher than the government bond rate would result in a significant subsidy to the resource sector...," the government said. Expect the miners to lobby for exactly that.

THE EXPLORATION FREEBIE
The government is also offering a tax rebate on exploration costs, which will be set initially at 30 percent. That means for every dollar spent on exploration, 30 cents will be available for miners as a tax credit. The industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year on exploration in Australia.And when mines are wound up, the owners can crystallise any leftover tax credits accumulated during the mine's life.

OUTBACK ACCOUNTING
Mines can be an auditor's nightmare: in Australia, they are scattered over the desert, thousands of km (miles) from any place where people go to work in suits. So auditing of a mine's assets could be trickier to confirm than a utility's balance sheet.The new tax calculations will be kinder to mines with lots of assets and conservative accounting for expenses, so tax officials will be on the lookout for any clever accounting. Armed with sophisticated data-matching systems, they will compare public accounts against the figures produced for tax purposes.More than ever before, tax officials will keep an eagle eye on the outback.

Reuters

The story can be found at this address: http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/how-the-new-mining-tax-works-20100503-u395.html

Live Radio Streaming!

2010-06-16T21:04:00.004+08:00

Wow!

Thats all I could muster after learning about online radio streaming.

For the past two state of origin games, i've been listening to the Continous Call Team of the 2GB radio station online. The team of Darryl 'Big Marn' Brohman, Steve 'Blocker' Roach and Ray Hedley have been calling the game for a long time and often transmitted on FM 100 in PNG. But this time, i got to listen to them online here in Perth. The live radio is streamed online at around 20kbps so its actually easier to download even if you dont have broadband.

I looked at other radio stations that were online for listenership in Perth, i looked at the website http://www.lookatwa.com/ and saw that there are 28 radio stations that braodcast programs specifically and broadly on sports, news, commentary, classic music etc. For most, i believe, is a competition to produce better programs and increase listernership. So one way to increase listenership is to go online.

But i kind of wondered like who would want to listen to radio stations online when you could listen to it on the radio? I think one of the best advantage of this use is listening in from other countries overseas like you have Australian soldiers in Indonesia or Iraq who listen to games like the State of Origin. But others who are here, especially those who live in rural australia that are not in the radio coverage area, can listen to it online. The sound online is relatively clear as it is digital! Another positive is that you can record programs or songs on your computer if you have recording programs.

I also checked the radio stations in Perth for online streaming. On some of the radio websites, i found it hard to navigate around the website to find the streaming icon and had problems opening them such as 927 AM Curtin, 87.6FM, 87.8 Magic FM and Perth Tourist Radio among others.

However, there were others like FM92.9, 6PR 88.2 FM and ABC National Radio are easy to locate and actually easy on the ears. Some even have the radio playlist on you computer so you know what songs are playing or have been played. Others had programs you could listen to when you wanted at your own time. I so desparately wanted to hear the tok pisin service on ABC's Radio Australia service but couldnt do so as the links to their live streaming were difficult to access. They, like most other radio stations also have podcasts available so you can download it onto your computer or mp3 and listen whenever, which i think is clever for those on the move. I guess the thing about live radio streaming is interaction. Being able to listen to an event or news and then call up or send a text message straight to the station no matter the time difference or location is way better than trying to do so with televison.

Most radio streaming require you to download Windows Player or Real Player to be able to access the live streaming but most computers already have Windows Media Player so its ok. The only disadvantage about radio streaming is that you have to be online to access it.

Anyway, i think for a country like Australia, the technology and infrastructure is good enough to have such things like these. But i long for the day when these things such as live radio streaming can become a reality for many developing countries including PNG. Man it would be oh so nice if a Papua New Guinean living in the US or Britain or Japan could go online and listen to FM100's Roger Hauofa doing a live interview with the PM in Port Moresby or Hagen or even having a panel discussion on agriculture...oh, that will be the day, my friends!

Random thoughts on advertising and children...

2010-06-14T17:48:00.002+08:00

When you sit around with children and watched TV with them, have you ever noticed the food advertising that goes on Australian TV? Sometimes its those Saturday morning shows and weekday afternoon shows that are just full of advertising targetting young children and giving them messages. Other times, they just come on especially cereals and fastfood chains. In these adverts, the themes are colourful, wacky, fun, happy and are often drivers of subtle messages directed at children promting empowerment, unhealthy habits and peer influence. Lets take this advert Coco Pops Creations – an advertisement about Kelloggs new Coco Pops that has four new flavours of coco pops, as an example.

The target audience is definitely children as can be seen by the child who is healthy and full of energy interacting with the animated figures of monkeys. The 30 second advertisement being communicated to a child conveys a sense of optimism, adventure, control, variety, taste and imagination. The two messages I picked up were:
1. Four different flavours, four times the fun – the new coco pops cereal had four different flavours thus making it would be equally fun four times over. Even though there is a mention of 'four choctasticlly' different types of coco pops cereals, they all look the same falling into the plate and there is no mention of how they are different.
The message is lively, music is bubbly and the child interacts with the characters by using his body and facial features indicating fun and excitement. This message and appeal may encourage the child to ask the parents to buy or obtain (Reece, Rifon, and Rodriguez 1999) the new coco pops. I mean what child wouldnt want something that is bright and funny?
2. Mix ‘em up and make your own special breakfast – The child who sees this advert may be compelled to make their own cereal breakfast as seen on TV(Signorielli 2001) because this message reinforces creativity in the child. It also promotes control and adventure in the child when is shows he can be able to make the meal without anybody’s help (as a parent is seen as being busy in the background). The motion of being in control is a theme can be seen later in the advert when the child puts on a mean face to force the crocodile to give back the coco pops back.

The dominant appeals are emotion, animation and reinforcement. There are bright colours, fun, lively background music and sounds, happy, healthy and smiling kid and kids can relate to that. The animated figures (monkey and crocodile) reinforce coco pops icons/branding and the child’s recognition of the Coco Pops Brand name. All these appeals are factors in the child’s ability to make decisions and often such adverts ‘take advantage of the child vulnerabilty’ (Wilson and Mair 1998). These appeals, replayed in each advert, over and over again will promote and shape a child’s perception that such food is fun and healthy (Dixon et al. 2007) and is normal for breakfast.

Another observation is that the scenes are very quick and there isn’t enough time to read the ‘small print’ displayed in the advert. But hey, why would someone want to read the fine print when you have colourful characeters bouncing everywhere! The first of this is the 'fine print' sentence is about the suggested serving size is 30gram. This writing is in white and cannot be read easily against the white background. The other sentence is 'Run around, have fun, eat a balanced diet' and again this sentence is hard to read as it is in coloured letters. It cannot be seen the first or second time as the person watching the advert is constantly watching what is happening between the boy and the animated characters.

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) Code for Advertising and Marketing Communications to Children under section 2.12 of Food and Beverages advertising says an advert to children ‘should not create a false or misleading impression in the minds of Children about the nature of the content of the product’. However, the coco pops advert displays in writing that the suggested serving size is 30 grams yet the bowls of coco pops in the bowl is surely more than the 30 grams. It doesnt tell you in the advert that the sugar content is high also. The sugar content is also very high at 11grams per a 30grm serving (Kelloggs 2009), which close to half of a serving and while the energy content is just 6%, the sugar content is 9% per 30 grams serving. This Coco Pops advert is an example of television adverts that do not adhere to children’s television viewing of not promoting healthy eating habits.

Maybe Im baised, but should parents let their children eat coco pops for breakfast? What ever happened to the good old sandwhich and fruits?

Anyway, I think the most important thing I can say about this is that even though some parents dont have the time to make decent meals or lack the resources to do so, they as parents have the ultimate responsibility to promote healthy eating habits for their children. In a society like Australia, suburban children are frequented with television as they are growing up, their choices are influenced by mass media and peer pressure and so the challenge is for parents to still stand up and take charge of their children's health.

References

Dixon, H. G., M. L. Scully, M. A. Wakefield, V. M White, and D.A. Crawford. 2007. The effects of television advertisments for junk food versus nutritous food on children's food and attitudes and preferences. Social Science and Medicine 65 (7):1311-1323.
Kelloggs. Coco Pops - Product overview 2009 [cited 14 October 2009. Available from http://www.kelloggs.com.au/Home/Products/Cereal/CocoPops/tabid/323/Default.aspx.
Reece, B. , N. Rifon, and K. Rodriguez. 1999. Selling food to children: Is fun part if a balanced breakfast? Edited by M. Macklin and L. Carlson, Advertising to children: concepts and controversies. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
Signorielli, N. 2001. Televison's gender role and contribution to stereotypring Edited by D. Singer and J. Singer. Thousand Oaks, Carliforna: Sage Publications.
Wilson, C., and A. Mair. 1998. Televison Food Advertisments - how they appeal to children: a report by Young Media Australia.

Unit 22

2010-06-13T02:27:00.013+08:00

For the past 16 months or so I have been living student accomodation in Unit 22. Unit 22 is a small six bedroom house that sits comfortably on the green grass next to a basketball court. There are around 30 other houses like these that house other people too. Over the past months, I've shared this house with people from Iran, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Finland and of course who could forget Papua New Guinea.

The unit on a bright day....

Looking back to the kitchen...

Where we watch SBS from our $20 TV..lol

Notices put up by whosoever and do whatsoever..

Bicycles bought for $30 at the Belmont Market

Corrider and four rooms...

the place where make-up and shampoo roll together...

I think i will miss this place and memories i shared here...

Truely Papua New Guinean

2010-06-07T20:59:00.004+08:00

I wrote this poem some years ago when Ryan Pini won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. It is titled 'Truly Papua New Guinean'

Truly Papua New Guinean

Truly Papua New Guinean
Was our joy for you
That night when we danced for you
And how you lifted our hearts
And united every man

Truly Papua New Guinean
Was the way you won
In a sport you loved
And how you celebrated
With your countrymen

Truly Papua New Guinean
Was the courage you showed us
Amid the swimming giants
That dreams do come true
Only if we worked hard

Truly Papua New Guinean
Will your name always be
In every home
On every lips
That we won at the Games

Truly Papua New Guinean
You are, Ryan Pini.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Pini became the just the second individual from Papua New Guinea to win an individual gold medal at Commonwealth Games, when he won the Men's 100 m Butterfly beating Austrlia's Micheal Klim and New Zealands Moss Burmester. The first Gold medal won was by Geua Tau in Lawn Bowls in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

One for the Sunday arvo...

2010-06-07T07:50:00.000+08:00

This band called 'Te Vaka' performing one of their more popular song 'Pate Pate' in Apia, the capital of Samoa.

Te Vaka is a group of eleven musicians and dancers from Pacific island countries of Tokelau, Tuvalu, Samoa, Cook Islands and New Zealnd that were brought together by a songwriter called Opetaia Foa'i.

Te Vaka's music is "grounded in the rhythms of the Pacific by the use of pate (single and double log drums) and pa'u (indigenous goat skin conga and bass drums). Most of their songs are written in the Tokelauan language, with some also written in Samoan and Tuvaluan languages.

They have been performing for international audiences since 1997, presenting a rich mix of Polynesia's ancient culture to the other countries around the globe.

Minimum wage

2010-06-05T17:16:00.000+08:00

Saw this story in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday.

'Australia's 1.4 million minimum wage earners have been awarded a pay rise of $26 a week, just $1 less than that claimed by the unions.

Fair Work Australia announced on Thursday that the national minimum wage would rise from $544 to $569.90 a week, or $15 an hour, on July 1, 2010

The unions had been pushing for a $27 a week increase to make up for last year's pay freeze, but employer groups wanted any increase limited to $12.50.

The new minimum wage will come into effect from July 1.'

AUD$ 15 is rougly equivalent to around K32. It may seem alot but nowadays it is very hard especially for families to survive on AUD$569/week or AUD$ 1,138 a fortnight. Costs like rent, fuel, public transport and food alone usually take up three quarters of the weekly budget.

AGT 2010 Semifinal Blackbird

2010-06-02T21:25:00.000+08:00

I really thought the Blackbirds sang wonderfully on the semi-final of the Australia Got Talent show. The Blackbirds who comprised of two Indonesian men and a Jamaican women ripped the show. They did a cover version of the song 'Use somebody' of my favouraite band Kings of Leon.

I loved the Kings of Leon version but this one tops it by a mile. If they released an album I would definately buy it.

First day of June!

2010-06-02T08:45:00.000+08:00

Wow....today is the first day of June 2010. Five months have passed by so quickly. Time sure does fly doesnt it?

This is the last week of school and everyone's doing the last minute thing. I just hope I finish my two assignments and the major paper. The long nights in the computer labs are set to continue....

Huh????

2010-06-01T16:23:00.000+08:00

How many faces can you see in this picture?

I see 9 faces including the baby's.

AGT 2010 Semi-final

2010-05-28T06:30:00.000+08:00

I thought last week's unlucky contestants on the Australia Got talent show 2010 were Adil and Maimuna, as they couldnt make it throug to the grand final.

The two contestants on the semi final sang 'In my place', their version of Cold Play's song during the show's live performance. It was perfect!

Adil played the guiter so well and Maimuna sang beautifully and I tell you, their version of the song is way, way better than Cold Play's. They made it their own.

Its sad that the didnt make it to the Grand Final show.

I'd definately buy their CD! Good luck to them.

Life is too short...

2010-05-27T03:16:00.000+08:00

This afternoon I shed some painful but quiet tears in my room.

It was painful because it hurt...a lot.

You know sometimes when you don’t see people for so long and then when you get to see them again they are a bit older, thinner, weary, and sadder and their eyes are filled with the weight of life’s burdens?

Today, I received digital photos my father had taken in the previous two months in the village. The fact is that I had not seen my parents and siblings since 2007. It may be close to three years but sometimes it feels like a 10 year absence from them.

I always imagined them as I had seen them almost three years ago but today it dawned on me that they were a bit older than the last time I had seen them. Today, they had whiter hair, thinner hands, pale and wrinkled faces. Old age was creeping up on them.

Even my father was taking photos of photographs that were old and colour faded of us when we were young. Photographs of me when I was a baby...photographs of my small sister when she was a toddler, photographs of our younger times in Goroka. He was taking the photo of the photographs because the original paper photographs were fading.

He didn’t know this but in a subtle kind of way, he reminded me of our mortality...of our place in this universe as mere mortals; Of how quickly life had passed by. As if a story of Rip Van Winkle had happened.

Yesterday, somebody told me that my classmate’s mother had died in PNG. My classmate currently lives here in Australia and I am certain that being so far away at this time of great loss is too terrible to hold. Combined with this story of his loss and then the arrival of my family’s photos, my heart strings were pulled so tight that they hurt.

This afternoon, I am reminded that this life time is as precious as it will ever be. Every single day, the clock of life ticks away. Every single day, our mortality becomes ever so clear. Life seems a bit shorter.

You know, they say that Life is too short....

Yes, it is too short to not say the things that you really want to say.

Yes, it is too short to keep quiet for the love you have for someone.

Yes, it is too short to worry about what other people will say.

Yes, it is too short to forget birthdays and anniversaries.

Yes, it is too short to be unforgiving.

Yes, it is too short to say ‘oh maybe next year’

Yes, it is too short to fight over petty things yet forget the bigger celebrations in life.

Yes, it is too short to cast aside dreams.

Yes life is too short, my friends.

And so, when someone you love so much is critically ill or is dying, nothing material matters. All the good memories come flooding back and in that single moment, you would ask God to give him or her back to you. You would forego all the material possessions, fame and fortune in the whole wide world a thousand times over, just to be with them again.

Motions of Uni-stress-versity

2010-05-25T23:01:00.000+08:00

Iam exhausted.

Iam tired.

Im stressed.

I want to go back home.

Seriously, I need a break from academia.

I need a holiday. I want to go back to Liap village.

At this moment, Iam just going through the motions of Uni-stress-versity. Im waking up at odd hours, eating unhealthy, drowning in computer labs, nauseated from typing on Microsoft word, tired of deadlines, incensed at paying rent, angry at my laziness, puking from Mother drinks, irritated by winter and just plain tired of being holed up here on campus.

Arrrrrrgghh. I hate this...

Somebody please punch me in the face!

Random thoughts...

2010-05-23T21:36:00.000+08:00

As I get older each day, I come to realise that there are so many things along life’s route that I could have explored further but just didn’t think it was important or mattered too much.

My father once asked his father how people came to live in Liap village. His father proceeded by calling the names of his forefathers up until 10 generations before him. The names, he could tell a few tale or two about them, the rest, just names and stories. Even people before the 10th generation was a blur. Assuming an average person lived for 60 years, the generations could have gone back as far as 600 years.

In trying to explain the journey, my grandfather recalls them as his father had told him before, told stories from generation to generation, without writing, but using words….words that sometimes sound so familiar yet so deep and distant. I would have loved to have created a time machine and go back along the generation lines and see what my forefathers were like. His stories of wars, head hunters, strong woman, great feasts, strange animals, beauty, hard work, mountains, migration, dying, love, trading, relatives and so many more. Stories of a time when fish were plentiful, wild pigs roamed ceaselessly and tattoos meant much more than marks on the face. His later stories of times during recent events as World War II, colonial rule, Makasol movement, and provincial governments are even fascinating Manus history.

I have asked myself often why these stories are even important at all. In one generation alone, we have jumped from strong traditional societies to embracing modernity. Yet, today, these stories of the fathers have become more valuable than gold because these stories put us in our place and acknowledge those who are around us. Unlike many nations where much history is written, ours is passed down orally.

These stories are the only things that tell us of who we are, why we came here, why we must do good to certain people or families, why things must be done in a certain way, why some things must never be spoken out loud, why hierarchy in families revolves around patriarchy….all these things that define who we are, why we do the things we do and what we stand for in our society. All these stories tie us to the land, sea and water- the only commodities that are worth fighting for. These stories are depositories of information that strengthen the pillars of the land tenure system that we possess in PNG.

When I was just a little boy, I remember that my grandfather was one of the very few in the village who had a blackboard in his house and sticks of chalk along sago leaf walls. My father continues this habit and so each year when I get to go back home for breaks from school, my father writes things on the blackboard…some things I don’t understand, some I don’t think important, some just names of people I haven’t met, maps of places. He tells me all this is will mean much more later….when you are task with a responsibility, when you are in trouble, when you need something, when you want to bless someone, to help you understand why someone will want to bless you…...These, he tells me, are the things I should pursue..the things I need to explore further....

And so, when one man dies, a thousand stories die with him. A vast library of knowledge that connects the dots along the generation lines is no more.

These stories may mean so much to someone yet may also mean so little to someone else. Even so, knowing where you have come from is as important as knowing where you are going to.

TELEK - West Papua, (merdeka mix)

2010-05-23T03:10:00.000+08:00

Papua New Guinean singers, George Telek and Ngaiire Jospeh, sing a passionate song about the struggle of West Papuans for Independence from Indonesia.

Breast Cancer

2010-05-23T02:16:00.000+08:00

Just found this interesting information...

A retrospective study of the Tumour Registry of PNG from 1958 to 1988, found the incidence of breast cancer in the country was 2.4 cases per 100,000 women, and in the same time period in NSW, Australia, the incidence rate was 64.9 cases per 100,000 women.

Now, according to the Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) , it reported that new information released by the PNG Department of Health, statistics show that from 2000-2004 the incidence of breast cancer in women in the 15-44 age group had risen from 8.49 per 100,000 in 2000 to 46.54 in 2004.

Why has the number of women who have breast cancer gone up in a relativity short time?

The IRIN news report on their webiste had this to say:

"A report by the PNG Health Department's technical adviser for lifestyle disease, Thomas Vinit, has revealed significant increases in cases of cancer, particularly among females. He said lifestyle habits were a major contributing factor, including smoking (lung, mouth, breast, cervical and uterine cancer), chewing betel nut (mouth cancer), not breast-feeding (breast cancer), illegal abortions (cervical and uterine cancer), multiple sexual partners (cervical cancer), obesity (breast, uterine and ovarian cancer) and heavy drinking (liver cancer)."

Sources
IRIN story: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81396

Breast cancer increases on Papua New Guinea, Bob Kuska
Journal of the National Cancer Institute; Jun 16, 1999; 91, 12; Academic Research Library pg. 994

Easily preventable yet so many still die...

2010-05-19T03:08:00.001+08:00

PNG is truely in a sad state of affairs when it cannot even roll out a basic program that will save thousands of women from certain pain and death. More women will continue to die from Cervial Cancer because the PNG Government doesnt care enough to start a National Prevention Program.

According the Global Cancer Statistics in 2002, Cervical cancer ranks as the most common cancer (age-standardised incidence of 40.4 per 100,000) and is the leading cause of death (age-standardised mortality of 22.6 per 100,000) among women in PNG. It is truely sad that our women continue to die unnecessarily. Yet, the Government sees itself fit to buy a K100 million jet for 'ministerial tours'.

Find below is an excerpt taken from the study titled 'Human Papillomavirus and Cervical cancer in Australasia and Oceania: Risk Factors, Epidemiology and Prevention.' that was published in Vaccine in 2008.

Excerpt reads..........

PNG and other countries in the Oceania region have limited resources and do not have the same capacity for funding preventive health initiatives, such as systematic surveillance for cervical cancer or dysplasia.

The only radiotherapy facility in PapuaNewGuinea has been out of service since 1997. Asmost cancers present past stage one, cancer of the cervix puts a significant burden on the women themselves and the already overstretched gynaecological services. Palliative care is also very difficult with morphone being in short supply, especially oral formulations.

About 20,000 Pap smears were taken between 2002 and 2006. Pap screening is undertaken in family planning clinics, well-women’s clinics, public gynaecology clinics, private medical practice, and in church agency district hospitals and health centres.

There is limited availability of Pap screening in rural areas. About 80% of the smears taken are read in Sydney by a professional cytologist at Meripath, while the remaining 20% are read locally by a histopathologist at the Port Moresby General Hospital as there is no in-country person trained in cytology.

About 50% of women who have had a Pap smear, it was their first (or only) smear. Only about 4.7% women in PNG have had a smear at least once in their lifetime. The number of women having regular 2–3 yearly smears is much fewer. Meripath figures for 2006 show that, of the 14,800 smears examined, 1057 (7.1%) were abnormal, 674 had low-grade abnormalities (4.6%), and 351 (2.4%) had high-grade abnormalities.

There are virtually no colposcopic services in PNG in the public sector. Pap smear abnormalities are usually managed by repeat smear, cone biopsy or hysterectomy. In many places where there are no postal addresses or telephone contacts it can be difficult to findwomenwhohave been found to have Pap smear abnormalities.

..................excerpt ends.

In 2008, Dr. Mola stated that the cancers diagnosed from Port Moresby are generally in youngerwomen, and more than 50% being under the age of 35 years

As of April 2009, the anti-cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, is now available to girls and women aged between nine and 26 in Papua New Guinea. However, the private Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby is the onely one offering the vaccine against the country’s number one cancer that kills 3- and a half thousand women each year. The hospital’s head of obstetrics and gynecology, Dr Mathias Sapuri, says they have to charge 280 US dollars (around K830) for each of the required three doses.

What about the rest of PNG women who do not earn that amount of money let alone have enough to buy the doses? Do they just die from this most preventable disease?

We have to start a national Prevention Program that looks at health policy, priority funding, reorientating government health services, research etc. Even just a kick start fund of K30 million can go a long, long way in helping women and girls of this country avoid this most preventable disease.

Sources
Garland, S. M., J. M. L. Brotherton, S. R. Skinner, M. Pitts, M. Saville, G. Mola, and R. W. Jones. 2008. Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer in Australasia and Oceania: Risk-factors, Epidemiology and Prevention. Vaccine 26 (Supplement 12): M80-M88. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6TD4-4TD5VXV-F/2/828e86c863ef7b252724683444ca05de (accessed 19 May 2010).

Parkin DM, Freddie Bray, Ferlay J, Pisani P. Global Cancer Statistics, 2002. CA Cancer J Clin 2005;55:74–108.

Radio New Zealand International Anti-cervical cancer vaccine available in PNG at hefty fee: http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=45830

Londrau beach, Liap village

2010-05-17T17:37:00.000+08:00

It is times like this that when iam stressed out that i wish i could just step back to the simple things in life....like walking along the Londrau beach in the afternoon.

Looking towards Andru Point. My family's home is just close to that small island.

...the sun sets. Looking back the centre of the village.

Iam blessed to call this my home!

Swan Bell Tower

2010-05-17T15:52:00.000+08:00

If you ever get to visit Perth, you must visit the Swan Bell Tower. The bell tower is one of Perth's great icons. Located a the foreshor of the Swan river, this 83 meter building houses one of the world's largest collection of change ringing bells.

According to its website, the historic ring of bells was given to the people of Western Australia as part of the national Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. Among its many attributes the Bell Tower includes the twelve bells of St Martin-in-the-Fields, which are recorded as being in existence from before the 14th century and recast in the 16th century by Queen Elizabeth I. The bells were again recast between 1725 and 1770 by three generations of the Rudhall family of bell founders from Gloucester in England, under the order of the Prince of Wales who was later crowned as King George II. They are one of the few sets of royal bells and are the only ones known to have left England.

I had the opportunity to ring the bells. The instrutor tells us what to do

and i pull the rope

...the bell rings

..the other particpant also ring the bells. There are a total of 18 bells, altogether, they weigh about nine tonnes. Soundproof louvres and doors are used to muffle the sound or direct the noise towards the city or the river.

Since it opened in 2001, just over one million people have passed through the Swan Bell Tower's doors to see the 18 bells and other older bells found around the world inlcuding the earliest bells in Asia and the Middle East.

9/11 The Falling Man

2010-05-15T22:53:00.000+08:00

While surfing through Youtube, I came across video clips of the September 11th 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. And then i saw the documentary titled '9/11 The falling man'. Perhaps this is the most powerful documentary i have seen yet. Even after watching it, I sat in my chair in the Abacus Lab, stunned, numb, unable to imagine this. I watched all 8 clips of the documentary. The Falling Man" is a name given to a man who fell from one of the twin towers during the attacks.

The photo was taken by a phtogrpaher names Richard Drew at around 9:41:15 a.m. on September 11, 2001, just before the towers collapsed. The documenatary tries to identify the person in the hope of telling his story and to remember the over 200 people who fell to their deaths from the burning towers.

Forgiveness ???

2010-05-15T19:45:00.000+08:00

Isn’t it such an irony that, those of us who call ourselves Christians, cannot forgive others?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt'. In the bible, perhaps one of the famous parables of forgiveness is illustrated in the story of the ‘prodigal son’.

But even so, even I myself have found it irrational to possess this thing called forgiveness. I will always be the first to stand up and admit and say that I still bear the traits of unforgiveness of others who have done me wrong. I don’t easily forgive and forget. I mean who in their right mind would ever give up hatred, resentment, anger and freely give pardon to someone who has done us wrong. How would a mother forgive a man who raped then brutally kill her daughter or a man forgive another man who kills his only brother? How do you ever forgive someone who has done something so bad to the people you hold so dear? How do you forgive someone like that without anger and resentment and seek no justice or restitution for the wrongs he/she has done to you?

I know that even Christians posses unforgiveness in their hearts because we are all human beings susceptible to the failings of life.The British scientist and statesman, Francis Bacon, once said: ‘We read that we ought to forgive our enemies; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends’. Yet he is so right when he says that. How do we even fathom to think of forgiving your enemy when even we cannot find the courage to forgive those who are close to us? Mother Theresa once said ‘that to truly forgive is to forget’...I know she is right but i also know that it is not in human nature to forget easily those who have wronged you.

That is why I believe it is very hard to think of forgiveness as a rational emotion and behaviour or human being like trait that we can possess quickly. This is because forgivenss is, itself, irrational to the human mind. It is not something that someone 'likes' doing or 'easily' does as it is something that goes against the social norms of revenge, fear, hatred, disgust. Forgiveness is to do the opposite. And to do the opposite is considered 'weak' by society.

Yet, we human beings can forgive others. And many have forgiven and many more have accepted forgiveness. Everyday God reminds us to forgive. And today, Iam reminded of forgivness and being forgiving. I watched this video of the story of the Amish people in America. It is about how they reacted to the killing of the members of their community - their children. It is a quiet reminder of how they, as a people, show forgiveness toward someone who has done them wrong.

State of Origin

2010-05-12T04:48:00.000+08:00

As the State of Origin series gets underway this month, Im sure most Papua New Guineans have began barracking for their team. Oh yes, we love our rugby league!

Im already psyched up and ready to support the Queensland Maroons. Forever Die Hard.

The 2006 series was the series that began the QLD dynasty! What a team, what a series!

Betelnut Chewing is a risk factor for low birthweight

2010-05-11T23:26:00.000+08:00

I recently came across this very interesting study about the relationship between betelnut chewing and the birth weight of a child. The published paper was titled ' Betel nut chewing during pregnancy, Madang province, Papua New Guinea'. It was compiled by M. Senna, F. Baiwoga, J.Winmaia, I. Muellerb, S. Rogersonc, and N. Senna and published by the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, volume 105, issues 1-2, in 2009.

I have written a summy of the study:

In Papua New Guinea, betel nut chewing is very common in the general population. It has similarities in terms of use and complications of use to chewing tobacco (smokeless tobacco), as its active agent, arecoline (is the alkaloid natural product found in the betelnut) is similar to nicotine. The study was done by researchers from the PNG Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne from September 2007 and June 2008. The study investigated the habits of betel nut chewing and possible impact on pregnancy.

In a cross-sectional survey, 310 pregnant women attending Alexishafen Health Centre (which by the way, the health centre has over 500 deliveries annually) in Madang Province were interviewed with a survey measuring: detailed demographic data, betel nut chewing habits, other potential addictions (smoking, alcohol and drug use) and a medical examination (weight, height, blood pressure and hemoglobin level were recorded). When they had given birth, their babies were assessed for birth weight and signs of prematurity.

The study found that there was a 94% prevalence of betelnut chewing during pregnancy and 98% of the betelnut cases chewed betelnut with lime and daka.

Reasons for chewing betel nut in general were: to prevent having a smelly mouth (43%), it is my custom(28%), I am addicted to it (9%), to achieve more work when I am tired (8%), other reasons (after a meal, to relax, to be with others, for its good taste, . . .) (12%).

And during pregnancy: to prevent nausea (28%), to prevent having a smelly mouth (26%), it is my custom (20%), I am addicted to it (10%), to achieve more work when I am tired (7%), other reasons (after a meal, to relax, to be with others, for its good taste, . . .) (9%)

In 80% of the cases, mothers perceived no risk in using betelnut during the pregnancy for the fetus. None thought that chewing would be beneficial to the fetus and only 20% thought that chewing could represent a risk for the fetus. Out of these, 40% thought that this risk is related to swallowing red buai, whereas 60% had the perception that this risk existed when chewing the buai without swallowing it.

Low birthweight was defined as weight below 2,500grams. The study showed that pregnant Papuan women who are betel nut consumers are significantly more likely to deliver an infant with a lower birthweight, as average birthweight of chewing mothers was reduced by 238 g.

Although the largest birthweight reduction was found to be related to gravidity (technical term for the number of times a woman has been pregnant), betel nut chewing was the second most important predictor of decreased birthweight. (Some people may say that smoking or malaria may be important predictors of birthweight, however, literature show in this paper show that there is a significant variation in birth weight even in malaria strong areas showing that malaria is not the only important factor influencing pregnancy and for smoking, the chemical similarities between nicotine and arecoline are similar)

They concluded that 'health education on the harmful effects of betel nut use especially during
pregnancy is essential. To be effective, this kind of education programs should be included not just into antenatal care programs, but also into adolescent education.'

Now, I believe that this study alone should be a wake up call to women assess their betelnut chewing habits or smoke at any stage during pregnancy. Although the relationship between betelnut and birthweight is studied here, I think it must also be noted that birthweight of babies in PNG can also be influenced by factors such as mother's nutrition, mental health, education level, socio economic status etc.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T22:38:00.000+08:00

Its this time every year that we get to celebrate and think of the most special person in our lives -our mothers. The very people who gave carried us around for nine months, gave birth to us, then took care of us through nuturing, training, advising, helping, supporting, giving, motivating, encouraging us to become independent. As we have grown older, they have also aged with us. For some, their mother has moved on to a better place while for some, every day is one more day to cherish them. I know that when my mother moves on to that place 'up yonder', my world will come crashing down but i will know in my heart that she went to a better place.

Today, my mother is a thousand miles away. I know she must be in the village, cooking something up for Peter and Kingman and taking care of the place. Even though, people in the village dont usually remember or make significant these 'days' such as 'mother's day', I wish I could do a barbaque at our place to celebrate this day and tell her how i miss her!

This afternoon, some of the PNG students at Curtin, got togther to have a BBQ and celebrate Mother's Day with their wives and children at Burswood Park

I actually got to do some tossing and turning of meat, onions and saugages on the barbie, which was fun.

After eating and sharing stories, Willie said a few words about how mothers were precious to us and how his mother had died some years ago. I kind of felt sad at that point remembering my mum all the way there in Liap village... but it's good now.
Well to all the mothers out there and mothers to be..HAPPY MOTHERS DAY...Hope you all got treated well by your husbands and children.

The Super Pit

2010-05-07T18:32:00.000+08:00

Australia's largest open cut mine, the Fimiston open pit mine is often referred to as the 'Super Pit'. It is located in near the Kalgoorlie township and offers visitors a look out point to see the mine in operation. I had the opportunity to see this mine in action and it was really something else!

The gold mine, owned and operated by Barrick Gold Corporation and Newmont mining Corporation, produces around 28 tonnes of gold annually. Okay, with 28 tonnes of gold annually, no wonder some of these blue collar workers earn more than AUD$200,000 annually and buy those posh cars that I see so often. Just yesterday, on the TodayTonight show, they showed a young miner who was less than 25 years old, with his brand new car. He completed Tafe college and now worked in one of the many mines in WA. He was saying that the money was good but not everyone would like the hours put into mine work. The mine employs just over 500 people who work shift hours.

Anyway, it was the first time I had seen a open cut mine and was totally in awe of its size. Its length was about 35 rugby league fields put end to end and its width was about 1.5 km. They had these huge yellow dump trucks going down the sides of the mine until they reached the base, some 400meters deep. Then when they are filled with earth and rocks, they move ever so slowly up the winding staircase of makeshift two-lane road to the surface. The mine is so deep and so large that many say that it can be seen from space. I bet up in space it looks like a scar on someones body!

Wheatbelt of WA

2010-05-07T16:10:00.000+08:00

Looking at flat land stretching for miles as far as the eye could see and writing about it might seem abit excessive. However coming from a country like PNG where almost everywhere you look is a hill or a mountain nearby, i would have to say that seeing flat land such that of the wheat fields in WA is as a bliss as seeing the sun set each afternoon.

I travelled by train from Perth to Kalgoorlie, a distance of around 600km (370 miles) east of Perth and it took about four hours to reach Kalgoorlie station. TransWA runs the passenger service for about AUD $45 for a student fare one way. The area from the Perth metro right up north into the midwest and east to Esperance and the goldfields is called the 'West Australian Wheatbelt'.

It has a land area of over 150,000 km2 and has a population of between 69,000 to 72,000 all spread along this vast area on farms, small towns and outstations. About 15,000 people live in rural towns such as Narembeen, Merriden, Northham and some others more whle the rest live on family farms.

The region is most used for agricuture and it produced two-thirds of WA's wheat production, half of the state's wool production and half of the state's lamb, oranges, honey, watermelon and other agricultural products.

The farm houses look nothing like those on McLeod's Daughters television series on Channel Nine (hahahaha). Instead, they are hot, tough and people really do struggle especially in times of bushfires. There are dogs and sheeps here and there. Farm hands and the odd Toyoto Landcruiser. Along the train route, I can see huge white silos used for grain storage. People from Merriden area often say that huge silos are the largest of their kind in the Southern Hemisphere. I think there must be truth in them since each silo can hold up to 60,000 tonnes of grain. There is a good road system that runs along the towns and most people have to have cars and trucks becasue of the nature of the work and place. The days are hot and dry but are as cold as a freezer during the nights.

WA's golden outback is renowned for its rolling pastures where wheat grow and sheep graze. It is also home to simmering hot salt lakes. One of the problems these rural farmlands face is the problem of salinity. Roads, pathways and plant life have been killed by rising saline ground water. In some places it has formed huge salt lakes that stretch for miles on end.

The Wheatbelt is a huge area and I have not seen most of the places. There is even a place called Wave Rock which is a rocks shaped as towering waves that i would like to visit soon. These pictures show just the places along the TransWA route that I got to see.

Kanu blong mi

2010-04-15T19:48:00.006+08:00

'Kanu blong mi' translated to English simply means ‘my canoe’. A canoe, as a noun, is simply a small and light boat which is often pointed at both ends and is propelled by paddling. When I went home recently, I took some pictures of some men travelling from the mainland to a outer island. Since it is quite expensive to travel on motorised fibreglass boats (because of the high cost of petrol), many people still use the canoe for transport.

Most small canoes are wooden, single hulled supported by an outrigger. The canoe is pushed forward or backward with single blade paddles, by a person sitting or kneeling in the canoes hull. Over long distances, a person can paddle on each side of the hull alternatively to maintain stability, direction and stamina. In some cases, the canoe can have a mast and a sail and is propelled forward by wind and directed by a person, who holds a single blade paddle, as a rudder .

In many coastal areas of PNG, where places and people are separated by the seas and rivers, the canoe has always been the most popular mode of travel on water. In Manus province, my island province of PNG, the canoe is used for travel extensively -to bring garden produce to the markets, moving household stuff, fishing expeditions, going to school, trading...making it an essential part of Manus society. When the canoe gets old and a bit fragile, the outrigger is disassembled and hull is used as single canoes, similar to a kayak or used a decanter in the sago making process.

Steffen Dalsgaard (2009) described the skill of canoe bulding in Manus as more than just having the knowledge, especially when it came to the building and craftsmanship of large sailing canoes. The skill was an attribute of both genealogical relationships and ethnic belonging.

This, he explained, was that the transmission of knowledge was important when arguing that one knew who to buiild a canoe. For example, in many parts of Manus where the building of large sailing canoes that where once used for trade and warfare, are now a dying art among the young. One could claim knowledge of such canoe building when they watched their father work or through relationships and converations with elders who knew how.

Dalsgaard also commented that one could claim knowledge of canoe building becasue of his ethnicity. For example, those in the outer islands of Manus claim superior knowledge of canoe building skills and art, than those who live along the coastlines of Manus. However, as seen today, ethnicity alone cannot gurantee skills of canoe building as old men and women die without pasing this knowledge on.

In Manus society, canoes also play a part in wealth distribution. For example, Carrier and Carrier (1982) who studied Ponam islanders on the north coast of Manus, explained that when groups of people go for a fishing expedition and come back, the fish (wealth) caught is distributed equally to all those who have taken part in the expedition. They said that unlike the Western system of wealth distribution where wealth is distributed according to labour achieved, wealth is distributed to capitals (such as canoes, net rights,) rather than to labour. This is like saying that everyone who goes on a fishing trip gets an equal share even though they have worked or not.

Carrier and Carrier also found that a canoe could be built by anyone and given to anyone the maker chooses unlike other things such as net or reef rights. The researchers found that unlike canoes, net rights are always owned by patrilineal groups and not everybody on the island.

Alas, today these cultures, skills, craftmanships, inticate knowlege and tools of large sailing canoe building are definately fading more and more into oblivion as Papua New Guineas embrace modern methods of seawater transport and modern fishing methods.

References

Steffen Dalsgaard (2009) Claiming Culture: New Definitions and Ownership of Cultural Practices in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. Published in The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology Vol. 10, No. 1, March 2009, pp. 20 32

James G. Carrier and Achsah. H. Carrier (1983) Profitless Property: Marine Ownership and access to wealth on Ponam Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea, Published Joural of Ethnology Vol 22, No.2April 1983, pp 133-151

American Classic Cars

2010-03-18T03:04:00.000+08:00

Okay, we’ve heard of ‘vintage cars' but have you heard about the 'classic cars'? Well last weekend, as I was coming back from Perth city, I saw a lot of people gathering at the Victoria Park’s Burswood Park. I got of the bus at Victoria Park Bus Transfer station and made my way over to Burswood park. I discovered a lot of people and a lot of cars...cars that were from another era before my time. I later learned that it was the ‘American Auto Classics’ show.

Now, a 'vintage car' is a car that is often known as a car made between 1919 and 1930 but the 'classics car' , although there is debate about its definition, it is known by the American Classic Car Club, as a car made between 1946 and 1985. Just like the vintage cars, they were high priced when first made and were made in limited quantities.

I was also amazed at the number of people who had classic cars here in Perth, althoug I didnt know the exact number of classic cars here. Today was special for many of these owners as they got to showcase their love of the car and tell stories of how it came to be in their possession. There were also people sharing ideas, inspecting models and lots of children too marvelling at bright cars. There were also cars that had their engines remodified and I tell you, they had some mean growls when they were revved up!

Knowing next to nothing about the classics, this was an opportunity not to be missed. There were Cadillac’s, Chevrolets, Chryslers, Fords, Trucks, Lincoln-Mercury and Pontiacs al together. Some of these cars made in the 1960s had features we take for granted today like power steering, power brakes and auto transmission than cars made in earlier eras. However, these cars also lacked other essential features like seat belts which today are considered priority. New owners now tend to fit seatbelts into the cars but many owners dislike this as it ‘removes originality’ of the vehicle.

The car that really caught my liking was the 1953 Desoto Firedome, a sleek, polished and neat car. The DeSoto Firedome was a full-size automobile produced by the Chrysler Corporation for its DeSoto brand vehicles from 1952 to 1959. The 1953 Firedome was introduced just prior to DeSoto's 25th Anniversary in 1953. The entire De Soto model lineup was restyled and Firedome prices started at US$2,740. During the 1953 model year, approximately 64,211 examples were produced. This one pictured is a 1953 Desoto Firedome, a four door sedan which could seat six passengers was now selling for AUD$24,000. The Firedome was powered by a Hemi V8 engine producing 160 hp (120 kW) and had a top speed of 160 km/h. The car weighed 1,700 kg and had a 0-100 km/h time of 15.5 seconds. What a car!

Another car that always appealed to the young and savy were the Pontiac Firebirds. The Pontiacs were a 'smooth' car manufactured by General Motors. This one at this show was a 1978 Pontiac Firebird which meant that it was a second generation Pontiac Firebird. Even the owner said it was ‘one of the sexiest cars ever made’. In 1978, the same year the island of Tuvalu became independent and Argentina won the soccer world cup, approximately 187,285 units of the Pontiac Firebird were made and sold only in that year. This car had a 350 Chevrolet engine - 295 horsepower, weighed about 1,653kg, has a length of 5 meters with a fuel capacity of 76 liters and top it off...is left hand drive. It was now selling for AUD$16,000!

There were many other cars to look at and each car had its’ own story to tell. From being first made, passing though its owners and finally appearing in all its glory at the Victoria Park Show.
But we could go on and on about these cars but I’ll let you have a look at the photos to see yourself.

Buailess in Perth

2010-03-15T15:45:00.000+08:00

Many Papua New Guineans just love chewing betelnut. It has become part and parcel of PNG life and is often celebrated in art, storytelling, celebrations, 'custom wok' and many other events. I, for one, love chewing betelnut for its mild naracotic effect. It has a similar effect to caffeine but doesnt cost that much as compared to a cup of coffee or a can of coke. For the uninitiated, betelnut chewing refers to the chewing of three ingredients - the nut of the Betel Palm, a fruit of the Piper betel vine known to many Papua New Guineans as 'daka' and also lime powder made from coral. Betel nut, known scietifically as Areca Catechu is chewed among people who live in he Pacific, Aisia and even to the coastline of East Africa. In the late 1980s, It was commonly known as the fourth mostly widely used drug worldwide after caffeine, nicotine and alcohol (Marshall 1987)*

Knowing Australia and its strict quarantine laws, I knew I wouldnt be able to get some betelnut over to Perth so I sort of made up mind and resigned myself to a 'betelnutless' life for the next few months. However, my fears were laid to rest on the first night i arrived in Perth from Brisbane:The first time I landed at Perth domestic airport, a Papua New Guinean gave me a betelnut to chew! The betelnut was soft and squishy but chewable (if there is such a word), the lime was a white paste and very strong. I had to chew this with a dry 'daka' leaf, it was so dry that it was brittle. But hey this was Australia so i had to make do with what i had. They told me that there were a couple of Chinese shops around the city that were selling betelnuts, with lime and 'daka' but ran out quickly.

Well last month (February), after numerous phone calls and searches on the internet, i was able to locate a Chinese Store in Leederville, just a few minutes of Perth City. The Chinese store was located right a the corner of Tennyson street and Oxford Road, Leaderville. The asian lady just saw the bilum I was carrying and already knew what I had come for. I just had to ask if there was betelnut in the shop and she was away, leading me down the aisle and headed for the frezzer. Out came the betelnut and daka which i bought for AUD$35.50 (around K80) for 12 large betelnuts and 5 packets of 'daka'. Man, they were just so expensive!

So, for all those Papua New Guineans living in Perth or those intending to come here as students or to work here, dont be 'buailess' when you are here.

* Marshall, M: Anoverview of drugs in Oceania, in Drugs in Western Pacific Societies: Relations of substance: ASAO monograph Number 11, Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania Monograph Series, Edited by Lindstrom L Lanham, md, University Press of America, 1987, pg 13-49

Film Making in PNG

2010-03-04T22:17:00.000+08:00

This is a story I wrote way back in 2003 when i was still a student at D.W.U. in Madang, PNG. Even though this story in now 7 years old, the issues highlighted in the article still ring true today concerning our film industry.

From Demolition Man to Spiderman to Star Wars, Papua New Guineans have watched these Western films so many times that they have become household names.
Whether they be on DVD, video cassettes or on HBO, we have become so accustomed to American movies that we never give a second thought to the possibility that we could make our own.
Papua New Guinea is a land where films have been made even before we saw the white man on the big screen.
The first film made in Papua New Guinea was called Pearls and Savages in 1926 by an Australian, Frank Hurley, about life along the Papuan Coast.
Most films after that were ethnographic documentaries about the way of life in the country.
Then we saw the emergence of some short films such as Urban Drift, Fourth Child, Warriors in Transit, Marabe and Stap Isi, all about life in developing Papua New Guinea. Nationals like Albert Toro, Kumain Kolain, Martin Maden, Maggie Wilson, Pengau Nengo and expatriates like Dennis O’Rouke, Chris Owens, Bob Connelly and Robin Anderson were at the forefront of Papua New Guinea films in the last three decades.
The first fully Papua New Guinean 16mm drama film, Tukana-husat I Asua? was made in 1982, by the Institute of PNG Studies and the North Solomons Provincial Government.
Then in 1990, the second Papua New Guinean entertainment film, Tinpis Run, was made. This half a million US dollar co-production between a local company and a French company was shot in Tok Pepsin with English or French subtitles.

Films like Tinpis Run, Tukana, Marabe, Stap Isi, Stolen Moments, are locally made, yet over the years the film industry in the country has been fighting a desperate battle just to survive.
Why?
Because making films in Papua New Guinea today can be a very expensive exercise considering the country’s bleak economic situation.
Tukana cost about US$30,000 to $40,000; Stolen Moments was made for less than $10,000 with money raised from local businesses and the unpaid services of many.
That was some 10 years ago.
It is a different story today.
Ruth Ketau, film editor at the National Film Institute in Goroka, says the biggest problem is lack of funding from the government.
“Since PNG is a developing nation with many mouths to feed and is facing an economic downturn, the government can’t afford to put money into film making because it doesn’t see it as a priority.”
Yet the national information and communications policy (revised edition 1993), says: “It shall be the policy of the government to encourage and support the production of short educational films by both the private and public agencies.”
But can all the blame be put on the national government for Papua New Guinea’s deteriorating film industry?

One major hurdle the film industry is facing is that Papua New Guinea doesn’t have copyright laws.
Dr Nancy Sullivan, an American who was producer and co-director of Stolen Moments, says a big problem is video piracy.
“Whatever gets produced doesn’t get any revenue because it’s just copied and shown without being sold.
“Certainly the first step to an indigenous film industry would be the institution of copyright laws.”
Thirty-seven-year-old Oscar Sam Wanu, who played the lead role in Tinpis Run, says the film was professionally made.
Even though it won the ‘Best Acting Movie’ in Noumea and Paris, it didn’t get the proper screenings it deserved in Papua New Guinea.
“PNG has no copyright law and the moment one film is shown, it’s copied. To tell you the truth, even before I received a copy of the finished product of Tinpis Run, one of my wantoks had already shown it to his neighbours.”
Wanu also says that Papua New Guineans have been producing educational and documentary films but are less strong on entertainment films.
He said “If we are to break into the international film market we must be competitive because that is where we can make the big bucks.
“Tinpis Run has stunts, special effects, lighting and sound effects which are ingredients of a successful entertainment film.
“Most PNG films need these to even start attracting international audiences.”
But Sullivan points out that Papua New Guinea films are very different to Western ones, and should make the most of those differences.
In PNG, there is a blur between real entertainment films and documentary.
“Unlike Western films, we produce ones which have fiction yet with facts to say something about the PNG way of life.
“There are not so much ‘aliens coming to earth’ or fantasy-type films but ones that have some truth about PNG culture.
“Because of that uniqueness, we can gain international audiences who are already tired of these crazy American films.”
The PNG National Film Institute (NFI) in Goroka is the only place in Papua New Guinea that makes films and also trains people to make them.
The institute comes under the National Cultural Commission, along with bodies like the National Museum, the National Performing Arts Troupe and the Institute of PNG Studies, which are all allocated funding under the commission’s annual budget.
The National Cultural Commission gave K368, 500 to the NFI, out of the total K2.1 million allocated to it by the national government last year (2002).
“It’s just not enough,” says Ketau.
“We were not able to make any major films in the last three years because of the cost associated with filmmaking in the country.”
Rodney Sinaune, who owns and operates Niugini Piksa Productions in Goroka, knows exactly why independent filmmakers like himself are also struggling.
“There was a National Film Symposium held in Goroka in 1987 where filmmakers, producers and editors formulated policies to help the industry, but since then, the policy has been shelved.
“There is talent out there but people don’t see the significance of an industry that can’t even make its own money and support itself.”
With the film industry ailing, another opportunity that has arisen is short television productions. The national television station, EMTV, has contributed by airing locally made programmes such as CHM Super Sounds, South Pacific Music, Insait, NCDC News and My People My Country.
But TV shows cannot really be a substitute for the missed chance of making indigenous Papua New Guinea films.
And while the film industry is busy fighting its battles, the country’s audience will continue watching foreign films to fill the entertainment void.

Writing???

2010-03-04T10:02:00.000+08:00

Well, today, this 4th day of March 2010, I woke up in the morning and wondered if i should have a blog page. I wanted to try out blogging some time ago but couldnt even think of what to write on it. Obviously writing hasnt been one of my strong points in expressing my ideas and thoughts and even if i did, there didnt seem to be any continuity in my stories to make it interesting. I've written some things but mostly borrowed styles from other people or tried to write a piece that was, many times, too complicated. But you know what? I believe great writing is a reflection of a persons ability to put 'things' that float around in his or her head, with no form whatsover and bring them into words. I mean how can one just pluck something out of thin air and make it into reality.Imagine people who make movies like Steven Speilberg, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, to name a few are so good at what they do that we sometimes forget that they are masters of the art of story telling...making ideas and thoughts and pictures in their head into a script

For some of us, sometimes the english language or your mother tongue cannot express your thoughts or ideas eloquently as possible. I mean, we are limited by our current language that often cannot describe something. For example: In Death, how do you describe 'sadness', 'loss' or 'grief' when someone you know has died. These words are only a description of what you feel. You can only try to express this feelings in the vocabulary that you have. Some people cannot express 'loss' with words so they paint pictures using words, maybe in the forms of poetry, art or music but i wont go on any further. We'll leave it at that.

But what the hell, Im just going to write anything and everything on this blog concerning me and my pitiful life. . So here goes nothing!