Tommy and Konni Logan, whom we met several years ago in Vermont, have been Wycliffe missionaries in PNG for the past 20 years. Now that Julie and I are here with them, we've enjoyed some really nice times together. For example, Tommy took us to the Goroka Show (earlier blog plus all the pictures in the slide show at the top) in September.
They and their teenage daughter had some shopping to do in the closest town, Kainantu (abbreviated at the SIL center as K92 because that's how you say it), about 5 miles away. They asked if we'd like to join them on this quick over-the-lunch-hour trip. There is a second-hand (and very cheap) clothing store there that the ladies like to visit, plus Tommy had a couple of his own stops to make.
There are plenty of PMVs (private motor vehicles) to catch a cheap ride on but a) they are generally dilapidated, dirty flatbed trucks, b) filled to overflowing with nationals and often not safe, and c) not too comfortable to ride in, even if a "white skin" was so inclined. Julie and I had only driven through K92 once on the way to Garoka and thought going into town with the Logans would be a great new experience, even if we bought nothing.
They picked us up and we rode the bumpy dirt road a ways until we got to paved road. We still had to look out for the edge of the road that caved in after some bad weather. We then drove over a single lane bridge with some metal surface missing, forcing Tommy to drive to the extreme right to keep the left wheels from dropping through.
As we arrived in K92, we found lots of people milling around, visiting some open air markets and standing/sitting on the sidewalks. Almost no one has their own car so the only vehicles were the PMVs, us and a few trucks. The town looked and smelled much like some of the out-lying towns of Narobi, Kenya that I'd seen during my February trip. All the buildings are very rundown and there is lots of refuse alongside the roads. People don't use garbage cans. In fact, I didn't see any garbage cans.
Julie had a good time spending all her time browsing the ladies clothing section and got a very nice top, paying 2 kina and 60 toea (about 85 cents). The mens section was not very appealing in variety or quality.
Tommy and I went over to the Christian Book store. While he was picking up items (Bibles, soccer ball, guitar, etc) that he'd be taking to his village within a week, I browsed the items. It was very interesting to find that roughly 75% of the printed materials were in English and the rest was in Tok Pisin. I really don't believe many people here speak English, much less have the ability to understand books (mostly) published in the US. Some of the Tok Pisin booklets where about a person of the Bible (Jonathan, Gideon, Moses) and contained black & white stick figure illustrations with short comments in each panel. Some were short, simple essays about marriage and family life. Nothing in Tok Pisin was written at anything above 3rd grade level from what I observed.
The little time we had disappeared quickly. As we drove out of town, I snapped a picture of a sign at the main intersection. There is a big cholera breakout in many areas of PNG. This sign talks about five simple steps the government was trying to educate the people about.
Stop the Cholera Illness (Stopim Sik Kolera)
1. Cook and eat good food (kaikai)
2. Covering your food will keep the flies (lang) away
3. Wash your hands before cooking food and after using the toilet (toilet)
4. Use a real toilet everytime. Don't go in the forest or water.
5. Boil good water before you drink it
Have any of you seen public signs like this posted in the US warning you about cholera or similar diseases?
There have been too many people recently evacuated out of PNG because of accidents and illness. We usually don't even send people to Port Moresby, the capitol, for medical care because of the poor quality of care. Most people evacuate, at great expense, to Australia.
Health for missionaries and their national co-workers is something to remember to pray for.
They and their teenage daughter had some shopping to do in the closest town, Kainantu (abbreviated at the SIL center as K92 because that's how you say it), about 5 miles away. They asked if we'd like to join them on this quick over-the-lunch-hour trip. There is a second-hand (and very cheap) clothing store there that the ladies like to visit, plus Tommy had a couple of his own stops to make.
There are plenty of PMVs (private motor vehicles) to catch a cheap ride on but a) they are generally dilapidated, dirty flatbed trucks, b) filled to overflowing with nationals and often not safe, and c) not too comfortable to ride in, even if a "white skin" was so inclined. Julie and I had only driven through K92 once on the way to Garoka and thought going into town with the Logans would be a great new experience, even if we bought nothing.
They picked us up and we rode the bumpy dirt road a ways until we got to paved road. We still had to look out for the edge of the road that caved in after some bad weather. We then drove over a single lane bridge with some metal surface missing, forcing Tommy to drive to the extreme right to keep the left wheels from dropping through.
As we arrived in K92, we found lots of people milling around, visiting some open air markets and standing/sitting on the sidewalks. Almost no one has their own car so the only vehicles were the PMVs, us and a few trucks. The town looked and smelled much like some of the out-lying towns of Narobi, Kenya that I'd seen during my February trip. All the buildings are very rundown and there is lots of refuse alongside the roads. People don't use garbage cans. In fact, I didn't see any garbage cans.
Julie had a good time spending all her time browsing the ladies clothing section and got a very nice top, paying 2 kina and 60 toea (about 85 cents). The mens section was not very appealing in variety or quality.
Tommy and I went over to the Christian Book store. While he was picking up items (Bibles, soccer ball, guitar, etc) that he'd be taking to his village within a week, I browsed the items. It was very interesting to find that roughly 75% of the printed materials were in English and the rest was in Tok Pisin. I really don't believe many people here speak English, much less have the ability to understand books (mostly) published in the US. Some of the Tok Pisin booklets where about a person of the Bible (Jonathan, Gideon, Moses) and contained black & white stick figure illustrations with short comments in each panel. Some were short, simple essays about marriage and family life. Nothing in Tok Pisin was written at anything above 3rd grade level from what I observed.
The little time we had disappeared quickly. As we drove out of town, I snapped a picture of a sign at the main intersection. There is a big cholera breakout in many areas of PNG. This sign talks about five simple steps the government was trying to educate the people about.
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| Click to enlarge and read |
1. Cook and eat good food (kaikai)
2. Covering your food will keep the flies (lang) away
3. Wash your hands before cooking food and after using the toilet (toilet)
4. Use a real toilet everytime. Don't go in the forest or water.
5. Boil good water before you drink it
Have any of you seen public signs like this posted in the US warning you about cholera or similar diseases?
There have been too many people recently evacuated out of PNG because of accidents and illness. We usually don't even send people to Port Moresby, the capitol, for medical care because of the poor quality of care. Most people evacuate, at great expense, to Australia.
Health for missionaries and their national co-workers is something to remember to pray for.
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