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!