Some of you have been asking where the pics below are from. They are from a tribe just next door to my house. We went for a little walk through their village, they were so happy to see us. Jumping in front of the camera shouting to get our attention. It’s eye opening to see the difference on the other side of the fence. Literally. There is a wire fence that almost touches my back door and it is what separates this mini America from the real PNG. Sometimes walking through that little tribe I felt very embarrassed as I was so aware that they knew what kind of house I was going back to. The “work meri” that comes to my house to do laundry and that kind of thing comes from this village. Her name is Daileen, she is so lovely. When she heard that we went for a walk in her village she was so excited and has invited us for tea some night. She was on skype the other day with some of my friends from home, she couldn’t get over how you could see their faces on the computer. She kept saying “The faces on the box? sheeeeeee!”. Then when I told her they could see her too she said “Ahhh next time I fix my hair”. She loved it.
Across the road from the base are a few little “haus wins”, they are small stalls that people come and sell their produce at. Lots of the missionaries go and buy the food there, It’s nice to get real carrots instead of the tinned rubbish all the time. The other week there was a bit of a commotion right next to the stalls. During the night one of the haus wins belonging to a lady from the tribe next door had been chopped down. There were just a few remains left. Another lady who had just recently been widowed had come to sell her last little piece of cow-cow (sweet potato) and had set it on what was left of the stall. This was all she had to make a little money. You see when your husband dies here, you are left on your own for a while, no one really looks after you until after the “grieving process” , however long that may be. We heard shouting outside so we went to see what was going on. The lady that owned the stall was throwing everything everywhere and the widow was so upset as she had just lost her last hope of some money. The widow got so angry that she went to get a knife and came back threatening the stall owner. It all got a bit crazy with death threats flying about all over the place. Eventually it calmed down and the haus win got rebuilt (as you can see from the pic below) but it really opened my eyes as to how things are dealt with here. No one calls the police, there’s no point. Every tribe just fends for themselves. The people of PNG are a violent people. More so in the highlands which puts my mind at rest a little considering I’m in the islands region.
It is almost time for spring break here so next week I get off for about 10 days. I will hopefully be flying up to the highlands with Annika and Nya for a few days, it will be nice to see a little more of PNG. When I come back to Hoskins I hope to go into a tribal work for a few days as well. Just to live amongst the people and really see what God is doing will be a great experience.
After break I will be almost halfway through my time here. Time is flying so I better make the most of it. Keep praying for me as I go about my daily routine here and I will try my best to keep you updated on what’s happening.
Love,
Emma x
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