My Favorite Things

During the last week of school we talked about the Christmas story; I read the story out of the Bible to the younger kids and had the older ones tell me the story (which they did in great detail!). After we finished reading, I had the kids write out what their favorite part of the story was and why they liked it. When they finished writing, they illustrated what they wrote.

Where's the Beef?!

We don’t eat a lot of fresh meat in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for a variety of reasons: for one, it’s quite expensive, and for another, many translators and linguists live in village allocations where there is no electricity, so by necessity we eat a lot of tinned (canned) meat. Think Spam, only not actual Spam (even if the store does have it, it’s a bit pricey since it’s imported). If you haven’t ever had the pleasure, you should try some…it can be reasonably tasty when prepared correctly!

To Market, To Market

One Thursday morning during Village Living, one of my roommates and I decided that we needed to get out of the village for a few hours. We asked our wasmama (host mother), Patrisia, if we could go to market with her later that day; she was pleased as punch that we wanted to go again (we had gone the previous week), so we quickly ate our lunch and gathered up what we needed for our trek through the jungle down to the Mediba market.

The four of us (waspapa (host father) went, too, to help carry the produce to sell) headed down the bus rot (bush road or trail), which wasmama was pleased to inform us was much shorter than taking the main road, as we had done the week before.

Washing Laundry...in a Bucket?!

What does the phrase “do laundry” bring to your mind? The washer and dryer in the basement laundry room? Folding clothes still warm from the dryer? Well, in the village that’s not quite how it goes…

The laundry bucket

First you collect your dirty laundry, which isn’t usually very much, because you typically do some every day. The dirty laundry, laundry soap, a bar of Klina soap (good for getting stains out), and the laundry scrub brush all go in the laundry bucket, which you take down to the river; and since you’ll be down at the river anyways, you may as well waswas (bathe), too. (See my post about waswas here.) After you’ve gathered up what seems to be everything but the kitchen sink, you head down to the river.

A Missionary's Best Friend

During my four weeks of living in a Papua New Guinean village, I discovered that there are several things that could be considered a missionary’s best friend. High on the list (which is not exhaustive by any means!) are: 

• Mosquito repellant, aka missionary perfume: the higher the DEET, the better. RID is the brand of choice, being the most readily available, although its efficacy is hotly debated among my colleagues and I. (Personally, I think it attracts more mosquitos than it repels…)

Here We Go Waswas

For the uninitiated, waswas is Tok Pisin for bathing. Now, you may be wondering why a whole blog post is dedicated to waswas…well, for starters, there is no electricity in the village; therefore there is no pump and no shower. There is, however, running water—in the truest sense of the word—a river. Every day we gather our things and go down to the river to waswas. So, for your reading pleasure, here are 30 steps to a successful waswas experience!

Where I Belong

Home…this word evokes a lot of emotion in us. We see a picture in our minds of a certain building, a place, or maybe a group of people. Where is home for you? Is it where you grew up? Or maybe it’s where you’re living now. Do you feel more “at home” when you’re with a certain group of people, even if you’re away from the actual building you call home?

Now We Go Wokabaut

One of the “big” deals of Pacific Orientation Course (POC) is the two day/overnight hike. Basically you hike out from POC until you arrive at the village you’ll be staying overnight in, then the next morning after breakfast, you hike out and catch a Public Motor Vehicle (PMV) back to POC. Well, that’s the short story, anyway.

Village Living

Wednesday was the day we’ve been anxiously awaiting...when we found out where we will spend our four weeks of village living! We got to see some pictures of our house and wasfemili (host family) and get a feel for our new “home.” The village allocation team (made of an ex-pat and three or four Papua New Guinean men) were very excited to make the announcement and show us pictures.

What's in a Bilum?

Before I tell you what’s in a bilum, it would probably be helpful to know…what is a bilum?! A bilum is a bag made from plastic string, yarn, or natural fibers (like from a tree or something similar).

Two of my bilums; the one
on the left is made of string
and the other is yarn.

The women work on these bags in the evenings while they stori (talk) or even while they’re walking to market! (Yes, I have seen a woman working on a bilum while walking along the road!) They come in various sizes, from small enough to only fit a water bottle, to big enough to carry gallons and gallons of water in small Coke bottles, all their produce coming and going to the market, and even their babies!

One of the babies taking
a nap in a bilum.

The women carry their bilums on their head, with the load resting on their back. Mothers give their daughters bilums with only a little weight in them, then gradually add more weight, in order to strengthen their neck muscles. It's totally normal for men to carry a bilum, too. They generally carry it around their neck, hanging in front or over one shoulder, cross-body style.

The Gecko in the Window

I’ve been sick and quarantined to my room all week, so I’ve had lots of quality time with just me and the gecko in my window. I haven’t been able to go hiking or swimming this week, since I’m supposed to be resting, so I thought I would introduce you to some of the characters that hang around the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) campus.

You Know You are a PNG Missionary When...

There are several things that were so strange to me when I first arrived, but now, after eight weeks in Papua New Guinea, they seem totally normal. So here you have it:


You know you're a PNG missionary when...


1. Driving on the left side of the road is normal. (Well, actually, it’s whichever side has less potholes, which isn’t always easy to determine!)

Five Perks of a Bucket Shower

I'm sure some of you may be wondering how we bathe here at POC...do we run down to a river? Or maybe we just do without for 12 weeks? (Yikes, that's a scary thought!) No, not to worry! We do shower...with a bucket!

This is the Way We Build Our Haus Kuk

Pacific Orientation Course (POC) is designed to teach us practical skills that we may need to use in our ministry (especially if someone will be living in a village), including how to cook over an open fire. In order to practice our cooking, we have to build a haus kuk (kitchen). Today the staff and local workmen gave us a demonstration on how to build our own haus kuk.

First Impressions: Week One

I'm off to the Pacific Orientation Course (POC)! These are some of my first impressions, and a general idea of what we're doing on a daily basis.

Heading Out!

Well, tomorrow is the big day! The P2 bus is picking me up at 6 am to go out to the airstrip and from there I’m heading up to Madang for the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). Madang is about 90 miles north of Ukarumpa, only a 30 minute flight!

Differences

Many of you have been asking me if I’ve experienced any culture shock during my three weeks in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Up to this point, I would say no; Ukarumpa is a very unique place—there are so many different countries and cultures represented and mixed together here that Ukarumpa has its own culture. That being said, just because I haven’t experienced culture shock, doesn’t mean that everything is exactly the same as it is in the United States!

The Journey

After a whirlwind year and an even crazier three months, I’m finally in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea (PNG)! Almost exactly a year ago, I went to Monterrey, Mexico once again with a group of friends to build a house and do a VBS with the kids there. I have always known that God was calling me into missions, but hadn’t gotten the “go ahead” from Him to act on it. Shortly after I returned to Wisconsin, a Wycliffe missionary pilot and his family visited my church. They spoke about Wycliffe, a Bible translation organization, and how teachers are desperately needed, specifically in PNG. So after much prayer and seeking advice, I applied to Wycliffe Bible Translators and was accepted as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher!

A month and a half ago, I was able to go to Orlando for three weeks for Wycliffe orientation training. While there, I was privileged to meet 36 of my co-workers who are heading all around the world, either as linguists and translators or support staff (like myself—teachers, pilots, boarding home parents; pretty much any job you can think of is needed). Many of us were/are headed to PNG, including one of the girls I roomed with while in Orlando. She and I were able to book our flights at the same time and we flew all the way from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Ukarumpa together, which was a huge blessing.

I’ve been in Ukarumpa for almost two weeks now, and what a two weeks it’s been! I’m (finally!) learning my way around and getting settled in.