A Symbolic Swim in the Sea!

Week 2. Saturday, May 31st 2008. Jais Aben is a dive resort about 20km up the North Coast Road from Madang. I have passed its entrance several times this week as I visited schools. Peter told me it was a beautiful, peaceful place where volunteers and expats frequent—an immediate turn off. I find myself here today out of opportunity. Things are quite limiting here—or so I’m told—regarding safety and transport places. So when the offer arose to go to Jais Aben I took the chance to discover another part of Madang. Zoe, A VSO volunteer working with the Tokut HIV and AIDS program, and Roel, a doctor from Johns Hopkins who is here working on a vaccine for malaria with the Institute of Medical Research (IMR), asked me to join them. While they went on a dive to Planet Rock, the mountain under the sea, I relaxed on the beach. I didn’t think I should try diving my first week here, my sleeping patterns haven’t even regulated yet. As I enjoyed a peaceful day of solitude, I filled many pages of my journal with ideals, worries, fears, and hopes trying to make sense of all that occurred this week.

One week in country and I find myself conflicted between the social aspects of the expatriate community and my assimilation into PNG culture. All around me are beautiful flowers, palm trees stretching towards the sea, and banana and coconut trees. Canoes filled with Papua New Guineans continuously pass by.
From which island are they coming? Are they going to the market to sell the bananas that crowd their canoe? I long to join them, to enter their village lifestyle connected with nature rather than the hustle of buses and crowded streets. It’s important for me to accept that I am in an urban placement along with countless international volunteers and aid workers. I must find a balance between the expat community here and my ideals of what I want my experience to include. I do not want to be another VSO volunteer that cuts line at the bank because of the whiteness of their skin. I do not want to be an expat that sits on the bank of a resort in a plastic lounge chair. I may not get to ride along in a canoe with “my village family.” I will however get to work with the Provincial Department of Education and other ngos at a higher level of capacity building. The “real PNG experience” will come as I travel to work with rural schools. I will be able to learn a lot from the others who are here working in development and research. I will gain a cultural exchange not only within PNG but also among all the other international volunteers. This may not be the rural, grassroots experience that I have grown to love but it is an experience nonetheless. If I want to pursue a lifetime’s work in development experience is what I need.

My heart keeps pulling me to Africa. Africa has this indescribable spirit about it. Everyone I have spoken to recently seems to say that PNG lacks the spirit of Africa. I cannot say because it’s all too new for me to decide. So far I am consumed by the beauty of Madang. As I sit here beside the sea, I hear the peaceful songs of birds and the crash of waves onto the shore. I see palm filled islands in all directions. Through the clear water I can see small blue fish and yellow fish with black stripes. The splendor of Madang has helped me through this whirlwind of a week. I have met dozens of people and stakeholders, visited many schools and offices, stressed in town trying to purchase the necessities for my apartment (pots, towels, TP), and dealt with the manager of my apartment who is trying to complete a handful of repairs including a leak over my shower. There’s a hole in my bathroom ceiling and mud covers my shower and floor. To many this would cause a considerable amount of stress while trying to adapt to a new culture and recover from jet lag. I simply reflect on the adaptations I made in Zambia and feel incredibly at ease. In Zambia my floors were made of mud and a shower was a once a month treat! It’s my nature to see the beauty and find the positive in any given situation. I will get settled in. I will find my place, my friends, and my “family.” I will find fulfillment in my placement. I will find all of this with the majestic beauty of Madang as my backdrop. Now, I believe it is time to take a symbolic first swim in the sea to wash away my worries and be refreshed by the spirit of Papua New Guinea.

Presentation of the bilum.

Day 7. Friday, May 30th, 2008. I returned to Talidig today with Lynn. The views along the North Coast Road are spectacular. We passed the Asian Tuna Factory and wharf, the school I visited with Peter on Tuesday, Jais Aben dive resort, and the Coconut Institute. Today, the rains came and we picked up some teachers from Rempi village along the way. Very similar to education meetings in Zambia, all the formalities of introductions, greetings, and thank yous were made during the opening remarks. The Provincial Officers said their bit and left-at least they made their appearance. The training initially had little interaction as the teachers sat and listened. Lynn encouraged participation during her presentation on outcome based education, but it was notably a task with which they had little experience. During the in-service, I interviewed teachers on their perceptions of children with disabilities and the education of students with additional learning needs. I learned that children with disabilities are not sent to school mainly because they will not ever be able to repay their school fees to their wontoks. In other words, they will not be able to get a job and pay back the money that their family spent on their schools fees. Although they are kept in the house and taken care of physically, they are not stimulated in any other way. They are not spoken to, they are not played with, and they are not taken out of the house. They are simply fed and cleaned. In regards to students who have difficulty learning, one teacher perceived the students as problem children who lack the obedience to learn. Sounded too familiar to the Ritalin craze in the States to me! The most prevalent difficulty noted by the teachers was hearing impairments related to ear infections. Many children come to school with serious ear infections as a result of either swimming in dirty water or not being taught how to clear their sinus pathways. This was consistent to the information provided by the staff of the Hearing Impairment Unit at the Creative Help Centre.

After the training, the teachers from Rempi presented me with a bilum. This is a traditional honor and I was very humbled by this generous gift. It takes about a month to make a bilum like the one I was given and they sell in the market for about 50 kina, a lot of money for a PNG woman. The pattern is of KarKar Island and it was woven by Gom, a sister of a teacher from Rempi. It was woven from vines found in the rainforest and dyed bright pink, blue and purple. As they placed the bilum around my neck I felt like a true PNG meri!

Greetings

Day 6. Thursday, May 29th 2008. Today was my first time to go out unaccompanied. It felt great to have a bit of independence. Remembering the Peace Corps sessions on safety and community entry, I began my assimilation into PNG. As I walked from my apartment to the bus stop, my intentions were to stop to greet and introduce myself to everyone along the way. The first house outside my compound, known as the house made of cardboard, is filled with Papua New Guineans and I believe they are the ones with the roosters that keep me up at night. I waved and shouted “Moning tru,” (good morning) and all I got was a wave from a naked child sitting on the stairs. Maybe they didn’t hear me. Next, I passed two women. I slowed my pace ready to stop and shake hands. “Moning tru,” I said in my most cheerful voice. They hardly stopped their conversation to mutter a “moning” in return. Next, I passed a stand selling buai, a betel nut chewed with a mustard seed and lime mixture that gives you a buzz similar to a double espresso or an after dinner drink that turns your entire mouth blood red. I gave another cheerful greeting and the man responded “Moning tru,” with a big red smile! I reached the large shade tree where my road meets the road into town. Men were sitting under the tree splattering large amounts of bright red spit onto the ground. The women and children stared up at me. Unlike Zambia, the children didn’t run from me out of fear, they had seen a white meri (woman) before. I didn’t stop to introduce myself; I simply gave a greeting which was returned. I continued my walk to the bus stop across from the hospital. Men were typically dressed in western clothes and the women wore colorful, floral print meri blouses and meri dresses. Most wore flip flops, some shoes and a few were barefoot. Many carried bright colored umbrellas to shield the merciless sun. Everyone carried bilums of all sizes, patterns and colors. I was glad to reach the bus stop as it was under a tree that provided a break from the sun. Above the noise of the buses and Tok Pisin, I heard the familiar squeaks of the flying foxes. I looked up to see hundreds of bats hanging from the tree. As I stood among the hurried people, I decided that greetings in this culture must not be regarded as important as the greetings in Zambia. I had to leave my village 30 minutes to an hour early just to make time for greetings along the way. Zambians stop to not only greet but to ask where you were going, when you planned to return, about your health, your home, and your work. Granted this was initially challenging as I thought they were invading my privacy and my western individualistic lifestyle, but I quickly embraced the sense of community it provided. PMV 6A arrived shortly and I crawled into the crowed bus where everyone quietly sat facing forward (and didn’t ask me to hold their chicken).

The Road to Talidig

Day 5. Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Today I went with Lynn (a VSO education volunteer from the UK who is here after retirement with her husband) to a teachers’ training. I met her at the Madang Teachers College (MTC), where I will also be doing some work, and we drove up the North Coast Road about 40km to Talidig. We followed behind open bed public motor vehicles (PMVs) stopping at villages and fruit markets. We passed R.D. Tuna Company and wharf where they employ local people, especially young women, to work long, 12-hour shifts for extremely low wages. We passed the Coconut Institute, coconut and cocoa plantation and Rempi Village. We crossed narrow bridges with dangerous speed; however, with speed comes a much appreciated breeze. To the east are coastal villages and the sea. In the distance through the tall coconut trees, you can see Karkar Island where there is active volcano activity. To the west are mountains and villages surrounded by thick rainforests of palm, rain, and banana trees and colorful shrubs, bushes and flowers. It was a beautiful and cool drive. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the elementary students who placed colorful, fragrant flowers around our necks and sang the PNG National Anthem and Pledge. It was a wonderful welcome to the schools of Madang!

Under the Mango Tree

Day 4. Tuesday, May 27th 2008. I am unable to hear the cries of the flying foxes from my bedroom but the 2:00 and 4:00 wake up call from the rooster outside my window isn’t helping regulate my sleeping patterns. The good thing about getting up so early is that I can get a lot done before work. I discovered a good spot where I can feel a breeze from both the kitchen and living room windows so I rearranged my furniture accordingly.
I had a busy day with Peter. We visited the Madang’s Teacher College, MTC, where I met 3 important stakeholders. Then we visited a school up the North Coast Road and I was able to get a glance of schools here in Madang. The mobile medical unit was visiting the school today, so I was able to observe immunizations and vision screenings in addition to the typical class routine. Next, we visited Divine Word University, which has a beautiful campus, WiFi internet (the fastest in the Country), a library, and post office. Last, we visited the Provincial Department of Education where I met one of the 3 key persons whom I will be working with. Peter knew exactly where to find him. Not in his office, but behind the building sitting under a mango tree. This is where I met Clement, Peter’s dear friend who grows coffee on Rai Cos. Throughout the day as we visited all the stakeholders and important places involved in my work, Peter was able to explain his vision of my role a bit more clearly. He described my role as a bridge between VSO’s disability and education programs. I will be based at MTC, the Educational Resource Centre, the Creative Self Help Centre, in schools, in the Provincial offices, and under mango trees! Basically, I am itinerant and will need to be active between many places and with many people. I will be a literal bridge in Madang and PNG to begin the thoughts of inclusive practices. It’s very exciting and just the right placement for me!

Rai Cos

“The Land You Can Sometimes See.”-Peter Cradock, longtime VSO volunteer and lover of all things PNG!
Day 2. Sunday May 25th 2008. I awoke this morning feeling renewed and refreshed. 24 hours ago I jumped onto the earth of Madang. Now that I begin a new day I realize I was a walking zombie yesterday. I just finished a two hour breakfast of fruits, cereal and bottomless cups of fresh juice for me and PNG coffee for Peter. The coffee here is supposedly among the best, if only my body didn’t reject caffeine. Peter is the mind behind my placement. He is here in PNG for the 3rd time, all with VSO but this time as a consultant for the education program. In the UK he worked as a consultant for the National Department of Education. He is absolutely exceptional and has a brilliant mind for development in PNG. His ideas for this country go well beyond the realm of education. He describes himself as a dreamer who doesn’t dare dream of retirement. He dreams of one day writing a book entitled “The Land You Can Sometimes See.” He is speaking of Rai Cos (Rai Coast). It’s a mountainous island that is visible intermittently from Madang’s mainland. Depending on the rains, clouds and spirits, on a lucky day you may be able to clearly see the three mountains ranges of Rai Cos. Canoes bring people to and from Rai Cos daily and you can buy freshly prepared fish along the busy shoreline. Today as I sit and listen to the rough sea crash against the dark coral, I can see Rai Cos. It is spectacular. The heavy rains which I thought were never ending last night…I even got up to check if the floors were flooded…have cooled the heat and have made for an overcast day. There are a few clouds hanging over Rai Cos but it is still visible. Peter says he is a believer that “the land you can sometimes see” has a spirit about it. If you are able to see Rai Cos that morning then the day will be sunny and things will go well for you. Peter reminded me of how I want to live my life here. Living connected to nature, respecting the natural signs of the sea, soaking in all that is this island. I feel confident and inspired. Peter has presented many ideas for my role here in PNG, well beyond the scope of education. His idealism and spirit is stimulating far beyond a caffeine buzz. He was recently asked by a friend whose family grows coffee on Rai Cos about marketing ideas for exporting to the UK and US. Keep your eyes open, one day you may run across a coffee from “the land you can sometimes see.”

Dusk or Dawn?
Day 3. Monday May 26th 2008. Rai Cos is barely visible today. In the distance, the mountains are a darkness against the pale blue sky. The sun is bright and hot-my skin burns. After another breakfast of fresh fruits and my daily dose of idealism from Peter, I feel rejuvenated. Yesterday after my lunch of fish and chips and a swim in the pool overlooking the sea, I took a nap. I awoke sticking to damp sheets questioning if the light I saw peeking through my windows was of dawn or dusk. A quick look to my koloko (as Dalitso and Karen, the girls in my village, called my watch) told me it was 1900hrs. Dusk. What was my body telling me? Should I return to sleep? Do I need to wake? Am I hungry? It was 4:00 am at home. I decided that I was too tired to walk to the lodge restaurant and that I wasn’t that hungry anyway. Another skipped dinner. I read one of the many books that filled my bags, Three Cups of Tea, until my eyes grew heavy again. I was woken by the cries of the flying foxes coming back into town from the villages. It wasn’t quite dawn but I couldn’t sleep another minute, so I stayed in bed and allowed my thoughts to wander until breakfast.

Today I will visit the Creative Self Help Centre and the VSO office to take care of logistical things such as banking, office staff introductions and housing. I must go re-pack my bags and be ready to leave the lodge. However, I do not assume from what I’ve gathered that Madang volunteers ever really leave The Lodge!

Passion Fruit, The Market, Bilums, and Parrotfish

Day 1. Saturday, May 24th 2008.
The excitement and discovery of my new home helped keep my tired eyes open. I managed to stay awake thanks to Diana, a VSO volunteer and physiotherapist who is working at the Creative Self Help Centre where I will also be working. She picked me up from the airport, where the luggage was simply placed on a table under a shed on the runway, with a huge bottle of water--a key essential in this heat! And thank goodness because I slept through dinner at the hotel in Port Moresby and I was absolutely parched and starving. We drove directly to the Madang Lodge
where I will be staying until Monday while my flat (so British eh?) is being prepared. We ate a breakfast of cereal, toast and fresh fruits including bananas, pineapples, passion fruit, oranges, and papaya. After our breakfast by the sea, we drove to the market. Never had I seen such an expansive variety of fruits and vegetables. You could get anything from coconuts, pineapples and avocadoes to broccoli, ginger and sweet potatoes. And they were so enormous and colorful! Cultural lesson #1-Do not step over the food, do not let your skirt fall over the food. It is important to walk around, especially women. Simple enough I thought. Well, that was before I entered the massive span of the Madang market filled with vendors from all areas of PNG. The people from the Highlands, Sepik and Island Provinces come to sell their various crops. The market was crowed, we came on its busiest day. People were carrying huge bags which were strapped across their foreheads. In Zambia, women carry things on their heads but here in PNG women carry things in bags called bilums. Bilums are woven from vines found in the rainforest and they are dyed bright colors of pinks, purples and blues. Each province has a distinct pattern and one can tell where you are from by the bilum you carry. I quickly discovered walking around the market was much more challenging than expected. It meant walking single file while others manage to push their way through carrying huge bilums, often times bigger than them. Nevertheless, the trip to the market was enjoyable. It was clean, odorless, and the prices were clearly marked. In Zambia, I didn’t really care for trips to the market. They were dirty and always reeked with the smell of kapenta-a dried sardine type fish. In Zambia, only women sold food in the markets, whereas here in PNG both men and women are seen.

Later that afternoon, while hanging at Diana’s house wishing for a breeze to come through the window, a young boy came by selling fish. These fish were beautiful, an electric blue and pink color. We referenced Diana’s Reef Fish of PNG book and decided they were parrotfish. It was difficult to tell which type of parrotfish they were because there are 75 species of parrotfish and the males and females usually have dramatically different color patterns. Parrotfish typically inhabit coral reefs and most species are small. But the humpheaded parrotfish can be as much as 45 kg. Interesting fact: they are usually harmless but large sleeping parrotfish are potentially dangerous if suddenly awakened by night divers. In one documented case, a diver was nearly knocked unconscious from a heavy blow! Cultural Lesson #2- When preparing a fish remember the cheeks are best! As westerners we chopped off its head, but reportedly the cheeks are considered the best part. Day one and here I am gutting and scaling a fish which happens to be the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. Thank goodness I did not meet this fish on a night dive!

Land of the Unexpected

View approaching PNG!

After two layovers in LAX and Brisbane, Australia and crossing both the equator and the the International Date Line, I have arrived in Papua New Guinea! As I walked off the plane in Port Morseby, I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. It was the combination of the men singing and playing instruments, the beautiful view of both sea and green mountains, and the euphoria of finally arriving that caused my eyes to fill with tears. These were different tears than those that ran down my cheeks when I left you guys Wednesday. These were tears of joy, of relief, of new beginnings! Tears of happiness!

As expected in the land of the unexpected, my flight to Madang has been cancelled. I was told that morning flights are the best to catch because the planes haven't broken down yet! A scary thought! Luckily, I get to soak in Port Moresby for a bit and manage to get a good nights sleep in a luxury hotel. The Crowne Plaza Hotel is filled with eye catching artwork of wood carved masks and vivid paintings of tribal singsings. The view from my balcony is spectacular, but do to safety concerns my toes will have to wait to be dipped into the sea tomorrow when I arrive in Madang. I leave at 645 am and will arrive an hour later (Carol get on those time conversions!) As I sit and soak in this incredible view I can hardly believe I live here!

Now that its suddenly 4:26 Friday, I find myself exhausted but I know I need to try to stay awake. Just wanted to let you guys know I made it to PNG!!!!

love
Charlye

"The Prettiest Town in the Pacific"

Madang Province is on the north coast of PNG. The province is 29,000 square km in size and has a population of approximately 300,000. The provincial centre is the town of Madang, which has a population of approximately 35,000.

The coastal climate is very sunny but hot and humid. The average daily temperature is 32 °C during the day and 23°C at night. The province has a monsoon type climate with a high annual rainfall, which fortunately tends to fall mainly at night.

Madang Province is one of the most geographically diverse provinces in the country, with a relatively unspoilt coastline and forested lowlands and mountainous interior. Madang town itself has a coral coastline and does not have any beaches. However, the surrounding area and islands are dotted with beautiful lagoons, coral reefs, sand beaches and mangrove forests. The province has four mountain ranges running through it and along its borders and there are three large volcanic islands. The volcano on Manam Island erupted most recently in 2005, which resulted in the evacuation of the greater majority of the inhabitants. They have been temporarily settled on the mainland close to Bogia. The valley of the upper Ramu is a fault zone and earthquakes in this region and the neighbouring Finisterre ranges are quite common. The last major one was in 1993.

The Madang Province is divided into six administrative districts; Madang District, Sumkar District, Bogia District, Rai Coast District and the Middle Ramu District.

Madang town: The Lonely Planet 2005 edition names Madang town as the ‘the prettiest town in the Pacific’. Many volunteers think it has a fantastic coastal location and there are beautiful spots in and around the town, although the town itself is fairly run down, the buildings functional, and the roads can be potholed and dusty.

Madang is the most linguistically diverse province of PNG, which is itself an incredibly linguistically diverse area. There are more than 175 separate languages found amongst the peoples of Madang Province. The cultures of these different communities are also incredibly diverse. This can be seen today in the different lifestyles, customs and traditional dances (called singsings in Tok Pisin), which the people still practice although many aspects of culture are changing rapidly.

Not surprisingly given the diverse geography of the province the people themselves live a variety of different lifestyles. There are many islanders and coastal people who live by sea fishing off outrigger canoes and by the subsistence farming of taro and yams. They live in coastal villages of palm-thatched houses built on stilts. Inland the people of the lowland forests practice shifting cultivation, also of yams and taros, and along the Ramu River and its tributaries there are communities that depend on harvesting sago as their main staple and also catch fish from dugout canoes.

Although the majority of Madang Province’s people still rely mainly on subsistence agriculture there are very few who do not have some involvement in the formal economic sector. Madang Province is the country’s second largest producer of copra (dried coconut meat) and there are many plantations and smallholder stands owned by companies and local people along the coast and around Karkar Island. Cocoa is often grown mixed in with the lines of coconut palms and in the mountains there are small holders who grow fine arabica coffee. In terms of livestock, cattle are grazed on the extensive grasslands of the upper Ramu valley and to a lesser extent elsewhere in the province.

There are several logging operations in the province; including the Japanese JANT company, a Malaysian company in the Madang District, a Korean company in the Rai Coast District, and another Malaysian operation in the Bogia District. Timber extraction in all of these areas has fortunately slowed down at the time of writing due to a fall in the price of logs on the world market.

The province is also the base of Ramu Sugar that is a nationally owned company, a fish cannery, the James Barnes meat cannery and the Wills Cigarette Factory right in the centre of town.

Because of the great beauty of Madang Province and Madang town in particular the area has always been a favourite with tourists, although the numbers of tourists visiting PNG is still very small. There are six large hotels in and around Madang town, and the tourist industry employs a moderate workforce.

"It's time to pack your bags....for real this time!"

That's right!!! After three months of delays, I am finally headed to Papua New Guinea! It feels so incredibly wonderful to share this news. I received an email from Catherine, my advisor with VSO Canada, with the subject line "It's time to pack your bags...for real this time!" Before I could even read the email I ran through the house screaming at the top of my lungs! I am going, I am going! My visa is here and I am going to Papua New Guinea! My adventure begins May 21st!

Here's some pics to get us excited about PNG-a tropical paradise!!!!! These pictures were taken and shared with me by a current VSO volunteer living in Madang. I will meet her soon!

I cannot wait to dive into those deep blue waters. I will actually live here!!


Yes, that is a volcano in the background!


Singsing performance! I cannot wait to learn the culture, hear the language, taste the food!!!