One more PNG Post!

I’ve now been back in Ohio for 2 1/2 weeks since my PNG trip. I am getting back into a routine working at the hangar here in Coshocton, but I thought you might like one more PNG blog-post!

One of the things that impressed us about our time in PNG were all the cultural differences we saw. Ukarumpa is a real melting pot! We were staying in the “village” of Ukarumpa, which is an SIL centre in Papua New Guinea’s eastern highlands. It was built back in the fifties for the purpose of housing missionary support staff, and to provide a base for SIL’s Bible translation activities throughout PNG. As a result it is called Little America by most people who know of it! We felt like it was very much Papua New Guinea when we flew in from an Ohio winter at the start of our trip, but after a few days there we felt very comfortable and able to easily see how “American” it all was. Even though it has a very obvious American influence, it does have a really interesting dynamic, with many different nationalities represented there. It was always good talking to the kids of some of the families we spent time with, and hearing how easily they accepted the fact that their school classes were often made up of Indians, Koreans, Europeans, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders, as well as PNG Nationals and a host of others. This mix of so many cultures in such a small area makes for a very interesting place!

Ukaumpa from the air

As much as we were able to, we made the effort to venture out of the base and explore the beautiful countryside around Ukarumpa. Tyler was fantastic, taking us on guided tours every weekend we were there! There were some fantastic reminders that PNG is a tropical island,
probably my favourite being the amazing fruit that grows all over the country.
The Weaver’s (like many) have a pineapple patch at the bottom of their garden, and it was absolutely the best tasting pineapple I have ever had! I think if there had been nothing else to eat I still wouldn’t have tired of it! But beyond the “tropical island reminders” I saw some amazing similarities with Scotland, and I really felt at home as we explored the Highlands.

Pineapple's growing at the bottom of Tyler's garden

It was good to experience the roads in that area of the country as well! Some of the pot holes we had to drive through were way bigger than anything you could tackle with an Astra estate!

Many of the rural communities we saw still have a very strong tribal tradition, and they operate much as they have for hundreds of years. The family unit is very strong, and words like “orphan” or “retirement home” are unheard of – the family looks after itself, caring for their old and young when they aren’t able to care for themselves. This type of society has a very strong appeal for many, and we often heard stories of people who had left for the city to study and work, then had come back home and were happy to live a subsistence based lifestyle in their village.

Agiann's grand-daughter running by the fish-pond

Often subsistence farming provides the majority of the food used by villages, and we were really blessed to be able to spend time in Aggian’s village (no idea if that’s spelt right, but his name is pronounced “Agg-ee-ann”) not far from Ukarumpa one Sunday afternoon. We had a guided tour of his small-holding, where he showed us his rice fields, corn, peanuts, squash, pineapple, banana, ginger, sweet potato, sugar cane and a host of other crops, as well as his goats and the fish pond he dug by hand and stocked with a tilapia type fish that his family enjoy for dinner! It was impressive to see how self sufficient he was from a relatively small piece of ground, and it was even more impressive when we found out that all his crop tending is done by hand without a John Deere in sight!

Rice growing in Agiann's field

After our tour we were treated to a Mu-Mu; a mu-mu is a traditional meal often cooked as a celebration or for a big family gathering; we were honoured that Agianne and his family would go to such an effort for us, and it was a real treat to be able to eat with them outside his meeting house.
The mu-mu is basically a big slow cooker; a pit is dug, and stones are heated on the fire until they are hot. They then go into the hole, are covered by banana leaves, all the food is added, and more
banana leaves cover the top. Soil is piled over it to seal everything in, and a couple of hours later you have a feast ready to be dug up! We had brought meat (some chicken, lamb, and sausages) for them to cook, but other than the meat, everything we ate was from their garden; rice that had been milled that weekend, corn that was picked then put straight into the “oven”, and cooking
bananas picked just for us.

The Mu-mu is opened!!

Thank you so much for all your prayers and concern while I was away from Heather and the kids; we really appreciated the support we had from so many people. Thanks also for your interest in PNG, the people there, and the work that MAF and other organisations are involved in – please keep them in your prayers.