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Week Beginning 10 August 2009
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. There are meant to be 2 seasons here - wet and dry. The dry season was meant to start in April or May but so far we have noticed very little difference. There seem to be less landslides and fewer earth tremors lately but most days it rains and there are some storms in the late afternoon or early evening.
We are well into a routine now and the house feels quite homely. Sweeping gecko poo off the veranda every morning is a regular chore. Cooking takes ages as everything is doubled bagged to keep the ants out. This week we had to throw away a coveted bag of dried fruit (brought back from Oz) as it was full of ants. Fresh food goes bad here very quickly so you think you have an avocado in the fridge but when you get it out it has gone all soggy and black.
Food in the town is cheap but out in the rural areas cheaper still. The trouble is that an area is considered good for some crops and then everyone grows it and where there is little transport there is no market for the items. We stopped on the way back from a school when we saw bananas for sale. We asked 'hammas' 20 toea they said (4p) so we asked for 5. We got 15 bananas for 20p as they meant 20 toea for three! The driver and security man ate 3 or 4 each straight off. Mike had two.
Bush schools try to run to a formal timetable but this proves difficult as sometimes they only have one watch between them which sometimes is wrong. That means the whole day runs 20 minutes (or more) behind time. If they have day students they berate them for being late and they might well have been on time. It is very confusing so when we go we are not only in-service trainers but timekeepers.
This week we did an In service on 'Resourcing Your Subject' as many teachers don't teach what is on the curriculum because they say they haven't got the necessary resources. Mike made 14 dice out of a piece of wood from the bottom of the settee. He cut the bottom part off coke cans to demonstrate concave and convex. We got newspaper articles, old syllabuses, and thought of all the ways that you could use natural resources and rubbish. The session went well and the staff became enthusiastic and more creative in their approach to resources. VSO also gave each school 10 thermometers and 10 hand lenses brought with money from NZ aid.
Phil, who is one of the volunteers, is a Physics teacher and he texts in the evenings when there is a wonderful sky. The other evening the sky was amazing with thousands of stars, planets and the Milky Way stretched out overhead. Pretty awe-inspiring stuff. It did mean we were very cold that night!
On Thursday our landlady's family were in court over a land dispute. Alison thought it would be interesting and asked if she could tag along. It became apparent that to have a white meri on your side gave you extra kudos and might swing things in your favour - if not in the judge's mind then in the other people. The case went well for Maria and Stanley but they need to go back in September in order to produce documents.
Yesterday Alison went to the Graduation of the Micro-Finance group. A women's group had set up a micro-finance banking scheme and were going into the rural communities to train families on budgeting, saving, planning, starting small businesses etc. This was the first of its sort in PNG and 400 people graduated. Alison had to sit on the stage with the Bishop, MPs representatives, managers of Nationwide and Asian Development Bank and nuns. There was a Sing-sing group to welcome us and the customary 4 hours of speeches followed by the giving of 400 certificates. It could have been dire but the people were so excited to get their certificates that they cheered, or screamed, or hid their faces with embarrassment, or hugged everybody in sight! Some rushed onto the stage whereas others needed to be persuaded. Afterwards there was a light lunch consisting of everything!
Schools were closed on Friday as it was the annual Interschool Teachers' football competition. Schools' staff had been in training and great excitement abounded. For rural schools there is very limited social contact so it was a great occasion. Mike was going to watch but all the trucks were gone early so he had no transport to get there.
Schools have been very depleted this week as all schools were told to suspend pupils who haven't paid their school fees. The Education Department thought that the students would then pay but many families just don't have the money. It was sad to see one of our Saturday Club girls playing out on Wednesday saying she hadn't paid. It would have been nice to pay for her but then 100 families would be behind her once word got out
The Saturday club came early this morning - 8.00 a.m. - much to our surprise. Mike opened the curtains and there they were waiting at the gate. When I went to get them they explained they had football later and so came first! As we hadn't had breakfast and nor had they we made pancakes with them which was fun. One group made pancakes while the others played Uno or read the books that Rob and Sophie had sent and then swapped over. Even Maria came for a pancake.
We are having problems with the laptop and feel pretty desperate as it is our lifeline. We use it for work, writing reports etc, photos, music, films, e-mailing & blog.
It seemed to virtually give up, taking eons to open up any programme and we felt desperate but Mike spent half the day sorting it and it is okay again - we hope.
Water - intermittent
Power- not bad
Telephone line- been dead for a day
Weather- hot
Garden- beautiful
Animals- noisy.
(Maria had to pay compensation as one of the dogs bit someone)
Missing everybody like mad
Mike and Alison
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