The Group!

In the past six years I have traveled to Papua New Guinea about 12 times. While I have enjoyed every visit to PNG, I was particularly looking forward to this trip – two weeks  with five guys from Australia who had taken up the challenge to ‘Test Drive the Brothers’ Life’.

After spending two nights in the Brothers’ community at Hohola, a fairly depressed area of Port Moresby, I headed out to Jacksons International airport to meet five guys

The group of five consisted of Chris (30) from Melbourne, Peter (26) from Darwin, Aaron (21) from Portland in Victoria, Nick (22) from Perth and Lewis (24) who in August commenced his training to become a De La Salle Brother.

After strategically packing our luggage and cartons of food, nine of us crammed ourselves into a land cruiser for the journey to Mainohana, 3 hours west of Port Moresby.  The guys in the back had a bumpy ride. 

In addition to trying to avoid large potholes, I needed a spotter to give me a heads up on the man made speed humps that emerged at regular intervals along the journey. 

Villagers put these speed humps into the roads to reduce the amount of dust that sweeps through their villages from the numerous vehicles that travel through.

We sat down to our evening meal at about 7.30pm. After dinner, Br Bob gave the group a short presentation on the two cultures in the area – the Roro and Mekeo people. After the presentation there was not much time left to freshen up before the generator was shut down for the night at 10.00pm. 

Fuel costs prohibit running power 24 hours a day.  So power is carefully used. The crucial times for power are during school hours (7.30am to 2.00pm) and in the evening from (6.00pm until 10.00pm). No power each afternoon and late evening is quite a new experience for visitors!

The group gathered for their first morning on the Challenge Program and joined the Brothers for morning prayer at 6.45am. 

There is no need for an alarm clock here. The bell to wake the students at 5:30am each morning looks like the shell of a World War II bomb – let’s just say it doesn’t omit a delicate sound…especially at that hour of the day.  If the bell fails to wake you then the dogs barking certainly will. Either way…getting up early is inevitable!

At 7.30am we were introduced to the school staff and children at morning assembly.  We spent most of the day coordinating our activities for our upcoming 10 days at the school.  We also spent a couple of hours helping to renovate three of the classrooms – this consisted of painting and putting up mosquito nets.

Mainohana is a Catholic secondary school with about 600 students from Years 9 – 12.  Most are boarders.

As Day two of our stay in Mainohana began, the guys got stuck into the activities we had planned for the Years 9 and 11. We decided to develop a routine of assisting in classes until morning break at 10.40am. The guys went off into different directions putting their expertise to use in geography, economics, computing and religious education classes. 

Our first official group task commenced at 11.10am when we facilitated the first of six leadership sessions for Year 9 students. 

When it came time for lunch at 2.00pm, the guys were starving as it was a little later than most of us were used to.  After lunch we had about 30 minutes to relax before putting our noses back to the grindstone and joining the kids for work parade.

Two of the guys joined the boys for sport.  They came back tired and sore after a game of touch footy.

That night there was a lightning display in the sky.  It is quite spectacular.  The rain at night cools down the temperatures a little and makes the atmosphere a pleasant one for a sleep.

Over the next couple of days the guys really got into the rountine of the place: morning prayers, assisting with  lessons in the classroom, running leadership programs, a bit of maintenance work (painting), playing sport with the kids,   evening prayers, dinner and then often a presentation/discussion followed by a game of cards to chill out and relax.

There is no sleep-in for the students on Saturday.  Instead, there is a two hour work parade from 6.00am. Our group took this opportunity to join the Brothers’ community for mass at 7.00am. 

Following breakfast we headed off to the local Bereina market. There was plenty of produce on offer including a variety of seafood. 

Mainohana is about a forty minute drive from the coast. We have gotten used to eating a variety of foods.  One of the favourites of the group is fried banana chips.  We are also making our way through the variety of mangoes. 

After an early lunch we made our way to one Veifa’a one of the local villages. We were welcomed by one of the clans and sat on their platform enjoying a refreshing drink of coconut water. 

At this time some of the group took up the challenge to try chewing beetle nut. The beetle nut is chewed along with a mustard stick and then mixed with a bit of lime.  The end result has you spitting out red saliva. This is a favourite pastime of the locals. 

We had a much welcomed sleep in on Sunday morning as mass was not until 8.00am. Following mass we drove down to Waima, a series of villages on the coast.  The swim in the ocean was well earned after the long drive. 

Our group become a star attraction for the local children.  They were amused when one of the group climbed a coconut tree. One thing about PNG is that wherever you go, you are made to feel welcome by the locals and especially by the children. We ended up running a few activities for them on the beach which they really enjoyed.

As week one comes to a close, my first opportunity to email this report won’t be until we return to Port Moresby on Wednesday next week. This is because there are no land lines of internet access here in Mainohana. 

It’s been a great week. The guys seem to be enjoying the opportunity to be of service at the school, be it in the classroom or after school. They’ve also had an opportunity to learn more about St De La Salle, what the Lasallian mission is all about, and discover a little more about the role and life of the Brothers. Each evening we take time out for prayers and reflection. I think they’ve found this valuable. 

Anyway, I look forward to Week 2….

Peace,

Br Mark