Back in Tropical Paradise
Welcome Home…that’s what many said to me when I arrived. Welcome home…yes, Papua New Guinea has become a bit of home, a bit of where my heart is. It’s strange to feel as if I left home, just to arrive there again on the other side of the world. There have been many screams of joy and tears and hugs and handshakes this past week—all welcoming me “home”. Which makes it all the more difficult to think about leaving for an extended period of time. On my long journey back to PNG, I started Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. In the beginning of the book is a quote that I would like to share with y’all, “I know that if I’d never gone to Forks, I wouldn’t be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.” I really liked this passage…sure, it’s not Forks, but PNG and I’m not facing death…but I don’t regret my decision to come to Papua New Guinea, love the people here, fight for them and spend the last three years of my life with them. I wish I had more freedom to stay, but the responsibilities of real life await me back in the States…so, do I shirk them for a few more years or go face “reality”. Maybe I need to start acknowledging the end of this dream, this blessing that God has given me that is beyond anything I could’ve expected out of my humble life, and try not to grieve its end, but look forward to a new beginning. I will be honest, I don’t want to leave this beautiful place, it will be like ripping a part of my soul out of my body and leaving it here. I guess, as I make that decision, my role here in the next few months is to make sure all the projects that I have initiated are sustainable and people are motivated to make it continue without my presence.
My first week back I took the time to recover from jetlag, because I have this really bad habit of not being able to sleep at all on planes…which means a lot of “catch-up” time when I land…yay. Anyway, so I recovered and took the time to visit with friends and family, which was nice as well. However, Friday I had to start work again, it was our first United to Be (UTB) meeting since my return and the report was given…I closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and took a deep breath…and much to my surprise UTB didn’t give-up during my break, they continued on…it was so beautiful to hear. Engans are notorious for letting projects fall by the wayside when the missionary leaves. Of pretending they are helpless until someone comes to help them, but UTB didn’t do this. They weren’t as active as I would’ve liked, but they pulled off two market HIV awareness programmes—which means dramas and speeches. They continued to meet and have house fellowship! I was so excited to hear this. When I left, I had given UTB K150 to spend on their awareness campaign. As anyone who has worked in Papua New Guinea can tell you, when you give this sort of money, you don’t expect any of it back. Cultural practice is to spend what you have today on today and worry about tomorrow later…but they didn’t spend one toea (penny) of the K150 I had given them. This means that instead of taking PMVs (public motorized vehicles—aka overstuffed 15 passenger vans) to and from the awareness, they walked…I don’t think I can impress upon you the significance of them returning the K150. It means that they have learned financial stewardship, responsibility, accountability, etc. in a land full of a corruption and greed. Praise God…
I have also spoken to many of my Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centre counselors (who are also volunteers) who have reported back that they actually followed the roster (as much as possible-when there weren’t many people to be tested, one would take off and Elaizha would remain) and continued to work in the 6 weeks since my departure. Which is also amazing. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and has helped me see the awesome hand that God has had in all the work being done through my presence here. Because without Him, none of this would have been possible. I have not looked at the most recent HIV statistics yet, but when I left…our little Centre was seeing about 60 patients a month and about 7% of them were testing positive for HIV and the mobile clinic was seeing about 60 patients each weekend and about 11% of them were testing positive for HIV. This is not a small problem in Papua New Guinea, in fact, I’m not sure we realise just how large of a problem it is yet. I keep in my prayers that Papua New Guinea does not become the next South Africa or Botswana.
On Saturday, UTB had its first house fellowship since my return and we invited Dr. Steve and Julie to join us. They have been on an extended medical leave to the States, but returned 5 days before me. God has blessed them with courage and strength to continue on in their work…Dr. Steve is searching for new roles and is finding them. While his physical “disability” now limits his time in surgery, that does not mean that his intelligence is wasted. He is taking the time to teach younger Papua New Guienan doctors correct and new methods in surgery. He is consulted on difficult cases and is still a huge blessing to the people of Enga. And on Sunday was a “Welcome Home” party for Dr. Steve, Julie and myself. United to Be members contributed the food and we contributed the house—about 50 people piled into Dr. Steve’s house and it was like having a large family over for dinner (something that I never got to experience growing up, I have a rather small family).
Monday I went to check in on all the schools with which I have been working. Right before I left, I had started working with Wapenemanda Primary School…so I was a little worried about going there because I wasn’t sure how confident they had become in teaching HIV/AIDS in the classroom. So, with timid steps, I walked up to the headmasters office and knocked softly, he invited me in with a huge smile and a handshake. He was excited to see me and knew the staff would be as well. He tells me that the little birds are chirping in his ears that the manual that I had written and given them is being implemented in the classroom and the teachers are finding it easy to use. I am invited back again today (Tuesday) during teacher’s tea to discuss what they have been doing. I then went to speak with the deputy headmaster about what he was doing in the classroom and he began to talk all about the lessons that he has gone through already. It was exciting to see the deputy headmaster excited about teaching HIV/AIDS in the classroom. With a sigh of relief, I walked up to Wapenamanda International Christian School (WICS)- this was about a 20 minute walk. At WICS, Mr. Nick (the teacher with whom I have been working) reported back to me that they are finishing the other manual that I have written and the students thoroughly enjoyed it. Thier final test will be taken next Thursday and I have been invited to join them for it. He tells me that he is excited to continue with these two teaching manuals in his classroom. He teaches a combined 7th and 8th grade class, so he plans on rotating the two teaching manuals so that the teaching style is not repetitive for the students. My last journey of the day was up to Four Square High School. The report from there was that they have already started the Bible Studies that I had planned for the dormitory students- again, exciting and surprising to hear. We are also planning on inviting UTB to join their Sport Sundays with other high schools from around the Enga Province. This will build a relationship between UTB members and the students so that, hopefully, the students will feel more comfortable with asking the “embarassing” questions about Sex and HIV/AIDS. This will also, hopefully, provide a starting ground for the other schools to think about implementing HIV/AIDS into their classrooms and creating HIV Awareness Groups like UTB into their communities. That is the theory, anyway.
So, that was my Monday and my Tuesday looks somewhat similar because I’m going back up to Wapenamanda Primary and back to Four Square to talk to their headmaster about doing a Blood Contact/First Aid training for the teachers. Then back to Mambisanda to check up more thoroughly with Nyaimanya VCT Centre (our VCT Centre). Good times.
I hope that you are all having a blessed day/week and remember that “no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” (aesop). Lukim yu bihain (see ya later).
