Episode 26 - On Trial

This week I was fortunate enough to attend a local court case held in a nearby village with my classmates. We walked just a short way down the path to the village and found ourselves in the small clearing in the trees marked by large bamboo shoots towering overhead. This clearing serves as a general meeting place for the local villages, and on this particular day, as a court room. A small crowd milled about on the edges by the two entrances to the clearing. At the back centre of this clearing stood four garden chairs. On these four chairs sat four men. These men were not set apart by their appearance, nor their dress. But by the respect and distance given to these men by the rest of the crowd, it was clear that they were special. These men were in fact the magistrates or Jus Men as they are known (yeah, I know – Four Just Men…). There are actually six Jus Men for this court – one representative from each area that the court serves, however two were unable to attend. Conspicuously, to the left of them was a large wooden desk. Behind it sat the clerk. Either side of him stood two men whom I told served as crowd control. I couldn’t decide if this was reassuring or unnerving.

The court room

I try to make as few assumptions as possible when I find myself in new situations such as this one as, here in Papua New Guinea more than anywhere else in the world, more of them seem to be wrong than right. I had however failed in this case and had subconsciously decided that this was an “unofficial” court with no legal backing, formed by the villages amongst themselves as a way of living peacefully in community. True to form however, my assumption was quickly seen to be in error, as the clerk produced governmental documents from his desk with the details of the case. The defendant and the accuser were called before the Jus Men. They took their places in front of the Jus Men, with the crowd control stationed between the two sides. The crowd then assembled around them. The Clerk then read the accusations from letter held in his hand. After he had finished, both sides then took it in turns to tell their side of the story. With this complete, the Jus men then one by one asked the defendant and the accuser any questions they had. The defendant had been accused of gossiping in the community about the secret parentage of a child, and hence bringing shame upon him. Shaming someone is taken very seriously here in PNG, creating a very respectful culture. After the Jus Men had satisfied their curiosity, the crowd and the two parties were dismissed to the far side of the clearing whilst the Jus Men discussed the case amongst themselves. Once they had reached a conclusion, the crowd reassembled once more as before. The defendant was found guilty and charged with a 300 Kina fine (about £75). It wasn’t all over yet though, the crowd disbanded one more time. The two parties went off to discuss with their piers whether or not they wanted to accept the verdict. The crowd reassembled one last time, to hear that both sides were happy, and that was that, and everyone went home.

Episode 25 - Showtime!

This weekend the Goroka show came to town. Groups from all over the country come to Goroka and show off their traditional dances and music, not to mention most noticeably, their traditional dress. A real party atmosphere has fallen over the whole town, with the streets full of people along with their excited chatter, music playing from every street corner and the sounds of children playing filling up any space left empty. I had the privilege to attend the show itself and to stand on the showground itself as the groups entered each in turn, singing and dancing to their spot on the field. It was incredible to watch and see all the different cultures, all just from this island. Some had similarities to other near neighbours, but each was clearly unique and individual. It was a true testament to the diversity of this island, and of the creativity of human kind. The dress was spectacular and each spoke of its own place. The dancing possessed such energy, seemingly making their owners costumes come to life and tell their own story. Lastly the music was so varied and beautiful, much the likes of which I had never quite heard before, whether unaccompanied singing, war cries, or instruments of many types from bamboo flutes to PVC pipes played with flip-flops. It was amazing just to be able to listen to the tok ples (village language) of so many different people, languages which were truly unfamiliar to an ear which has only ever really heard Latin or Oriental based languages. Most of the languages were made up of sounds I didn’t even know the human mouth could make, some of them more closely resembling bird song than speech, I didn’t know the spoken word could sound so beautiful. It was a privilege just to stand amongst people from so many different cultural backgrounds yet who stood united together and to be part of it all. It's hard to say too much about it all to describe it (although I seem to have gone on quite a bit already) so I will just leave you with some pictures as they say more than I ever could. Sorry about the quality leaving much to be desired… For better pictures check out my Facebook page where I have shared pictures taken by my friends who are much better photographers than me!

Episode 24 - Cultured

I’m now half way through my language training and I’m really enjoying it. I’m slowly becoming able to string sentences together and it’s great now being able to have little conversations with the locals that I meet. The language learning is a huge benefit to me, but it is only part of all that I am learning on the course. I am also learning about Papua New Guinean culture. Once or twice a week we go out with one of our teachers who is a local to see what everyday life looks like to most Papua New Guineans, to meet and chat with the locals, and to learn about their culture. In the last two weeks we have learnt how to make a fire without matches in the traditional Papua New Guinean way, and how to make traditional bamboo instruments. It has been a wonderful experience from a point of interest and fascination, but it’s also been helpful as these things are more than just a history lesson, forming an important part of Papua New Guinean culture which Papua New Guineans are rightly proud of.

Making fire!

Through these lessons and by talking with people, I am starting to see more than just a culture which is worn on the outside, but am also starting to see glimpses of the world view that resides on the inside too. This is so vital to me, as speaking the same language is really just part of communicating properly, of making yourself truly understood and of understanding those who are talking to you and what they are saying. I recently had a conversation with a colleague of mine who was telling me about where he was from, somewhere in the Madang province. Later in the conversation he told me he had lived in Goroka (which is in East Highlands Province) all of his life. This confused me greatly and when I asked him about this apparent conflict, he insisted that both were absolutely true. After much confusion, I realised that to a Papua New Guinean, where you are from is much more than just where you have lived, but is about your heritage and where you are descended from, and that this is an important part of one’s identity. I thought that I completely understood it, but then I recently had a great conversation with a guy who not only knew this friend of mine but who, he told me, came from the same place as him. He then told me all about his culture from the Chimbu Province. “But my friend told me he came from Madang!” I said, both confused yet certain of myself. “well sort of” came the reply. You see, I had correctly identified that this village resided inside the Madang provincial administration area. However, where someone is from is more than just lines on a map. Yes this village was located in Madang, but the culture, heritage, history and even facial features of people from this village, was shared with those from Chimbu province, and so for him, he was from Chimbu. Because to a Papua New Guinean, where he is from is much more than just where he has lived or lines drawn on a map, it’s part of who they are.

Episode 23 - Celebration!

This Saturday marked a big occasion in CRMF's history – 70 years since it was formed and 60 years since CRMF set up operations in Papua New Guinea. So there was only one thing to do to celebrate – have a massive party! All good parties involve lots of preparation. By two o’clock on Friday almost all of the CRMF staff and their families were busily working away, each with their own tasks to be done. I began by helping to put up the marquee. I’ve put up marquees before, so I was pretty confident that I would know what to do. But when I got there, there was no metal frame that clipped together, nor a canvas cover shaped for the frame or metal pegs to hold it down. Rather, there were four tarpaulins, several reels of metal wire, and a whole load of bamboo. I watched on in amazement as the guys got to work. Using bush knives they chopped the bamboo to length and crafted neat joints, and then tied them together using the metal wire. They threw the tarpaulins over the frame and created a wire web to hold it to the frame. Everyone just seemed to know what needed to be done, whilst I felt like I must have been off the day they taught it in school. It was great to watch my friends and colleagues work together in unison in effortless teamwork. In relatively no time at all (a few hours) they had created a simple but elegant tent for the celebrations.

Fit for a King

No great celebration is complete without great food, so my next task was to help out with the preparation of the Mumu – food wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on hot stones. Everyone gathered together to help, it was a great atmosphere. Every culture has different items which are considered precious, whether it be rare heir-looms, valuable gems, or in the case of Papua New Guinea and particularly the highlands, pigs. Pigs are highly prized here, and no important event, whether it’s compensation for wrong doing, arranging a marriage, or just a good old celebration, is considered complete without killing, and most importantly eating a pig. Our pig had not turned up yet (I mean it hadn’t been delivered yet, we weren’t expecting it just to walk up to the front gate and knock), so I went up to the group of ladies who were surrounded by piles of kaukau (sweet potato) and other vegetables and offered to help prepare them. I was promptly told that that was work for women and I was not allowed. I suspect that they just didn’t trust me not to mess up their hard work. With no pig and no work that I was allowed to so, I set about “helping” with the “work” I enjoy most – playing with the children. We answered many of life’s deepest mysteries, including; “how many children can Joey pick up at one time” – four being the answer in case you were wondering.

Well if you insist I don't help, I guess I'll just play...

Eventually the pig arrived and the boys started working. After killing the pig, its skin had to be removed. This involves a significant amount of team work. The pig must be held over a fire and the skin scrapped of with wooden sticks. After this the pig must be “operated on” as the Papua New Guineans put it – chopping up the meat into cuts small enough to cook. Yes, this was as messy as it sounds – now I know why the ladies were so precious over their vegetables! Again, throughout the whole food preparation process I was amazed and really impressed with how everyone just seemed to know what needed to be done and got on with, working remarkably well together as one. It was a joy to be part of it, even if I very much didn’t just know what to do. Everyone was very good at explaining and graciously got me right in the midst of it all. Once each of the separate parts of the meal were prepare, Mumu baskets were prepared. Chicken-wire baskets were made and lined with banana leaves. They were then filled with kaukau, cooking bananas and other vegetables, topped with edible leaves (kumu) and then cuts of pig placed on top of the leaves before covering with banana leaves and being sealed. These baskets would then later be cooked. The food preparation was finished at about two o’clock in the morning, although I snuck off to bed about midnight. The Mumu pits (the fires for cooking on) were lit at 4 o’clock on Saturday morning.

Preparing the Mumu pit

The celebration started with a great Church service, full of stories, songs, challenges and most of all praises to God for all that He has done over the last 70 years. We then gathered together in the marquee and chatted together. Food was eaten, more stories were shared over the PA system, letters read out, and I even had to judge the children’s colouring competition! It was a really special time for so many reasons, but most of all for the opportunity to be one with my new family and to remember and honour God for all that He has done for us.

Om nom nom!