No matter what the future brings for PNG I am sure that the people here will continue to face the challenges of their lives just as they are today- with smiling faces, a laugh( Aiiiiiiii!), and a willingness to help each other that is embedded in their lives as part of their culture.
Our experiences here have kept us on a roller coaster, but we can look forward to returning to our "normal" world. For those here,normal is totally different. Hayward suggested that it might take thousands of years for PNG to catch up to the rest of the world. When he said that I thought it was far too long and there should be hope that conditions will improve much sooner than that....just look at how far the USA has come in just over 200 years! Now I am thinking... Maybe he was right. The USA developed from Western Civilization, but PNG is rising from primitive culture.
Roads are being built all around Port Moresby. The new LNG (liquid natural gas) plant is big and exciting but essentially sealed off from the local population. Construction here is continuous and prices are high. Papuans see opportunity for wealth and jobs. But PNG has great obstacles to overcome-- Workers from Maylasia are brought here to build the roads because they have the skills and tools to get the job done, while locals remain unemployed and struggle to survivie. Maylasians also are building houses that are unaffordable for the Papauans ( $300,000 US). Foreign investors are making big profits as resources here are exploited (much to the dismay of many Papuans).
Many people from the provinces have come here to the Capital for opportunity but find too little. Most are unemployed, but many sell snacks or garden produce from makeshift stands to earn a few Kina. Cooks at Tembari got paid about $3.50/ day and teachers about $7/ day. Not great paying jobs but all done with love for the children.
As we have seen in many other developing countries, many Papuans appear content to live with basic necessities. By that I mean that as long as basic needs are met there is little reason to do more. They also correctly blame government corruption for the poor condition of all infrastructure in the country (esp. roads, bridges, power supply, water supply). Once again, leaders lining their pockets at the expense of the poor. Will this ever change?
850 languages have made communication extremely difficult. Each tribe has their own culture and the people all are very proud of their tribal customs. All seem intent on passing their own tribal traditions on to the next generation as that is a huge part of their identitiy. These traditions and culture are the fabric of the country...it is who they are and they let you know right away to which clan they belong. The clan is so close that they call each other brother or sister even though the actual relationship may be cousin or more distant. The fact that the men may have more than one wife leads to many half brothers/sisters which increases the size of the clan also. They are right to highly value their culture. But their culture may get in the way when trying to become a modern society...We have heard some tell about their home village where water, food and housing is free and you just live free. No bus fare, no job, no gasoline to buy. Sounds great -so why do they come to the city? Probably because there is also no electricity, no TV, no refrigerator, no cell phone, no excitement, no opportunity for a better life. They come here for opportunity and they look forward to having the benefits of the modern world. At the same time they also continue their cultural ways-which may prevent them from achieving individual success. For example they help each other in many ways...sharing homes with many members of their clan, helping to pay bride prices, helping to pay funeral prices, financially assisting in times of need, caring for children and elderly, etc. When we thanked Junior for being our host in PNG he replied, "I had no choice. My brother asked me to do it." No question... he will do whatever he can for members of his clan.
Sharing their time and their wealth is of utmost importance and this leads to the following thought...
In Oro province, PNG, there is a cultural taboo against one person having more than the rest-as I was told, "if one person has more, he will die. We don't want any one person to be better than the rest of us."
As societies move from primitive to modern we gain some things (wealth, independence,comfort) but we may also lose some things, too (shared lives, support in times of need, work/skill connections that bind us securely to one another). It appears that even when you succeed and think you have it all, you don't really have it all.
L
Our experiences here have kept us on a roller coaster, but we can look forward to returning to our "normal" world. For those here,normal is totally different. Hayward suggested that it might take thousands of years for PNG to catch up to the rest of the world. When he said that I thought it was far too long and there should be hope that conditions will improve much sooner than that....just look at how far the USA has come in just over 200 years! Now I am thinking... Maybe he was right. The USA developed from Western Civilization, but PNG is rising from primitive culture.
Roads are being built all around Port Moresby. The new LNG (liquid natural gas) plant is big and exciting but essentially sealed off from the local population. Construction here is continuous and prices are high. Papuans see opportunity for wealth and jobs. But PNG has great obstacles to overcome-- Workers from Maylasia are brought here to build the roads because they have the skills and tools to get the job done, while locals remain unemployed and struggle to survivie. Maylasians also are building houses that are unaffordable for the Papauans ( $300,000 US). Foreign investors are making big profits as resources here are exploited (much to the dismay of many Papuans).
Many people from the provinces have come here to the Capital for opportunity but find too little. Most are unemployed, but many sell snacks or garden produce from makeshift stands to earn a few Kina. Cooks at Tembari got paid about $3.50/ day and teachers about $7/ day. Not great paying jobs but all done with love for the children.
As we have seen in many other developing countries, many Papuans appear content to live with basic necessities. By that I mean that as long as basic needs are met there is little reason to do more. They also correctly blame government corruption for the poor condition of all infrastructure in the country (esp. roads, bridges, power supply, water supply). Once again, leaders lining their pockets at the expense of the poor. Will this ever change?
850 languages have made communication extremely difficult. Each tribe has their own culture and the people all are very proud of their tribal customs. All seem intent on passing their own tribal traditions on to the next generation as that is a huge part of their identitiy. These traditions and culture are the fabric of the country...it is who they are and they let you know right away to which clan they belong. The clan is so close that they call each other brother or sister even though the actual relationship may be cousin or more distant. The fact that the men may have more than one wife leads to many half brothers/sisters which increases the size of the clan also. They are right to highly value their culture. But their culture may get in the way when trying to become a modern society...We have heard some tell about their home village where water, food and housing is free and you just live free. No bus fare, no job, no gasoline to buy. Sounds great -so why do they come to the city? Probably because there is also no electricity, no TV, no refrigerator, no cell phone, no excitement, no opportunity for a better life. They come here for opportunity and they look forward to having the benefits of the modern world. At the same time they also continue their cultural ways-which may prevent them from achieving individual success. For example they help each other in many ways...sharing homes with many members of their clan, helping to pay bride prices, helping to pay funeral prices, financially assisting in times of need, caring for children and elderly, etc. When we thanked Junior for being our host in PNG he replied, "I had no choice. My brother asked me to do it." No question... he will do whatever he can for members of his clan.
Sharing their time and their wealth is of utmost importance and this leads to the following thought...
In Oro province, PNG, there is a cultural taboo against one person having more than the rest-as I was told, "if one person has more, he will die. We don't want any one person to be better than the rest of us."
As societies move from primitive to modern we gain some things (wealth, independence,comfort) but we may also lose some things, too (shared lives, support in times of need, work/skill connections that bind us securely to one another). It appears that even when you succeed and think you have it all, you don't really have it all.
L
