An untitled poem

By MICHELLE

 

Not so long ago

We had it all;

Didn't we?

 

You carried my smile

You had my love

In the palm of your hand;

Our hearts were one.

 

In a rush of blood;

Like a stroke of a paintbrush

the colours of the rainbow

From brightness and vibrance of love

dwarted

To the pales of pain

Echos of despair

 

I now read between the lines

So much is said, without an utter.

Your eyes; look distant

Your body language,

Tone of your voice

Your hands are hard and cold

I breathe heavy, shunned and wounded.

 

I can't undo the damage caused

But I know for sure

I want you even though I betrayed you.

Do tell me, your heart is still mine

Soothe me with your tender touch

Make sense of my madness.

I am sure, I found out

You are the one I want.

 

 

If I could

I'd make it alright

And I'd never hurt you

By hurting you, the one I love

I tore down my sanctuary

I fell apart at the seam.

Apap wows them to Jiwaka land

Apap ‘talking’ to his master Palme Pinge

Like the storybook Long John Silver and his parrot Captain Flint…Palme Pinge and Apap

Apap spreads his wings as his sign of saying “hello” to visitors to his Wahgi Valley abode

In Robert Louis Stevenson's story Treasure Island, the one-legged pirate Long John Silver had a parrot which cried "Pieces of eight".
The parrot's name was Captain Flint.
Like Captain Flint, a 21-year-old white cockatoo named Apap (uncle) is a big hit with visitors to his home at Purigona base camp in the Wahgi Valley of the new Jiwaka province.
Apap happily walks around saying “hello” to everyone and flapping his wings as his sign of shaking hands.
According to Apap’s ‘parents’, agriculture officers Palme and Angela Pinge, the bird was part of a bride price payment in Nov 1988 and was given to them.
Apap has since become like a child to them and lives, eats and talks with the family at their picturesque countryside home in the great Wahgi Valley.
“He was part of a bride price payment from Gumine in the Simbu province,” Mr Pinge told me.
“He was given to us in Nov 1988.
“He’s been with us for 21 years now.”
During a meeting of coffee extension officers at his place, Apap happily walked around saying “hello”, flapping his wings and being the true host.
According to Wikipedia, the white cockatoo can live up to, and perhaps beyond, 80 years in age, meaning life has just begun for Apap at a time when the new Jiwaka province is about to be formed.

The best little coffee shop in Papua New Guinea

CIC officers Bob Kora (left) and Fabian Api enjoy premium Kongo coffee at Chuave, Simbu province

Shopkeeper Moses Mori works the espresso machine at the Kongo Coffee Shop

Highly quality coffee and other goods on sale at the least-expected place along the Highlands Highway

Evening at Chuave, Simbu province, on Wednesday, July 22.
It’s freezing cold after the descent of Daulo Pass bordering Eastern Highlands and Simbu provinces.
The driver, Coffee Industry Corporation extension services manager Fabian Api, suggests that we stop for a cup of coffee.
And it wasn’t the normal, cheap, instant coffee you can buy anywhere along the Highlands Highway but high quality coffee you can find in the best coffee shops in the world such as Starbucks.
An espresso machine offers you cappuccino and latte that would put major international hotels in Port Moresby to shame.
All served in high quality plastic cups a’la Starbucks.
Other products at this unique shop include high grade Kongo Coffee, mobile phones, top-ups, souvenir videos and cups, hard-boiled eggs and freshly-baked scones.
All this somewhere along the Highlands Highway, in the least-expected place.
Welcome to the Kongo Coffee Shop, Chuave.
Mr Api, CIC officer Bob Kora and I enjoy premium Kongo coffee and hot scones alfresco on this cool July evening.
“We opened in April last year,” shopkeeper Moses Mori tells me.
“We sell Elimbari, Karimui, Mt Wilhelm and Simbu brands of coffee.
“We have a lot of customers and business is very good.
“We have a lot of customers, including expatriates.
“We’re open 24 hours a day.
“A medium cup sells for K2 and a large cup sells for K3.
“There was a customer from Germany, who couldn’t believe the taste of our coffee.
“He said, ‘this is the best coffee in the world’.”
And I couldn’t agree more!

Poor infrastructure plagues Obura-Wonenara

Coffee Industry Corporation extension manager Fabian Api (left) talks with Obura-Wonenara coffee growers near Kassam Pass last Saturday

Obura-Wonenara coffee growers at Kassam last Saturday

The age-old problem of lack of infrastructure development in the Obura-Wonenara area of Eastern Highlands province continues to plague its coffee growers.
Local leaders, farmers and Coffee Industry Corporation extension officers raised this concern at Kassam in EHP last Saturday to discuss CIC’s new District by District Coffee Rehabilitation Programme.
Obura-Wonenara is one of the coffee troves of Papua New Guinea, however, much of this never gets to market and exported because of poor to nil infrastructure.
It is located north-west of Kainantu and shares political boundaries with Markham, Aseki and Menyamya areas of Morobe province.
Obura-Wonenara covers three local level governments: Tairora-Gadsup, Yelia and Lamari.
Of the three LLGs, Yelia and Lamari are inaccessible by road, being only reachable by air.
Their coffee is airfreighted by Missionary Aviation Fellowship, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Seventh Day Adventist Aviation and New Tribes Aviation, however, this only represents a drop in the ocean for Obura-Wonenara’s coffee production.
As a result, CIC’s new rehabilitation programme is only being focused on Tairora-Gadsup while Yelia and Lamari will have to wait to see their day in the sun.
But even the people of Tairora-Gadsup have problems, according to Anio Koi, a farmer from Abiara village.
“Our concern is that the government must back up our grower aspirations,” he said.
“We have major infrastructure problems such as roads and bridges.
“Coffee can’t come out to market.
“Coffee can stay up to one year or more before being brought to market.
“This root of the problem is no roads.”
Tairora-Gadsup LLG president Maria Seiya and CIC extension officer Anton Nigiramu concurred.
“One LLG is only accessible by air,” Mrs Seiya said.
“One LLG has problems with roads.
“One LLG is alright.”
Mr Nigiramu reported that the rehabilitation programme was picking up momentum despite being initially focused on Tairora-Gadsup.
“The major problem here is that people can’t access markets because of poor infrastructure.”
“They are only accessible by air.
“Their produce comes through MAF and other third-level airlines.”
There is, however, a silver lining to the dark cloud.
“Our Obura-Wonenara MP, John Boito, is trying to fix up the deteriorating infrastructure,” Mr Nigiramu said.
“Most coffee production comes from Marawaka.
“There is also a lot of production in Tairora-Gadsup.
“If we can penetrate Lamari and Yelia LLGs, our production will shoot up.
“We are linking up with district administration, division of primary industry staff, church groups and others in the area.”

Jiwaka province to be powered by coffee

A farmer shows a rehabilitated coffee tree in the Wahgi Valley of Western Highlands

Coffee Industry Corporation extension officers Joe Alu (right) and Fabian Api talk to contracted rehabilitation service providers in the Wahgi Valley

Coffee farmer John Etape from Tari in the Southern Highlands province digging a drain at his garden at Avi in the Wahgi Valley of Western Highlands province

Agriculture and in particular coffee is set to boom in the newly-created Jiwaka province in 2012.
All this, however, will be at the expense of the rest of Western Highlands as Jiwaka – and in particular the great Wahgi valley – single-handedly produces the bulk of Papua New Guinea coffee, tea and fresh vegetables.
Jiwaka – short for Jimi, Wahgi and Kambia - agriculture and coffee leaders made this clear during a meeting at Purigona base camp in the Wahgi Valley to discuss the Coffee Industry Corporation’s ground-breaking District by District Coffee Rehabilitation Programme.
The three areas – which currently have the three electorates of Anglimp-South Wahgi, North Wahgi and Jimi – together have arguably the most fertile and productive agricultural land in PNG.
Such has been the interest in the rehabilitation programme - akin to the coffee rust days of the Coffee Development Agency in the mid to late 1980s – with already 5,000 farmers signing up to join and hundreds more lining up.
Coffee veteran, former CIC board member, agriculture lecturer and senior CIC extension manager James Koimo – now spearheading coffee and agriculture development in Jiwaka – said the future of the new province looked very bright with a very strong agricultural base.
“People (in Jiwaka) have got to realise that they depend on coffee for their economic independence, nothing else,” he affirmed.
“The coffee rehabilitation programme is very good.
“The project is timely with the establishment of Jiwaka province.
“Jiwaka will boom.
“And it will happen.
“We want to see the owner of the coffee trees go into grower groups and own processing facilities, own export facilities.
“We will completely cut out the middlemen.
“Currently, the people are 50/50.
“The knowledge gap is still there.
“The approach that CIC is taking is very good.
“In about 11/2 years, we will see the fruits of our labour.
“We want to form an interim administration for the new Jiwaka province.
“Next week, people will come to my village Nondugl, to discuss this.
“We will work closely with out politicians.
“We must make this project a success for other provinces to follow.
“Look at the success of the cherry ban.
“The timing is very right for this new province.
“Talk with your councilors.
“Councillors can pass resolutions and hand them on to the MP.
“In 18 months, come back and see how the project is going.
“People must go back to the land because times are tough.
“About 75% of Western Highlands coffee is from Jiwaka.
“We have been talking about Jiwaka province since 1971.
“It took us 38 years to get this province.”
Anglimp –South Wahgi rural development officer and Ngeneka tribe leader Pino Palme, who has been recruited as a service provider by CIC to train farmers, concurred with Mr Koimo.
“There are no major industries in Jiwaka like other provinces,” he said.
“We entirely depend on coffee.
“Our backbone will be coffee.
“We want at lest 25% of all Jiwaka funding to be allocated to coffee so that we can reap the benefits come 2012.
“I believe this District by District Rehabilitation Programme will be a major project which will impact on the lives of our people.
“When we become a separate province, we will be already financially independent.
“I want all Jiwaka people to be involved in this project.
“I see that coffee has more power.
“Jiwaka leaders should pour more money into CIC to help the people.
“They are talking about vegetables, but where’s the depot?
“So we should focus on coffee.”

Simbu declares war on alcohol, drugs and gambling

A street of Kundiawa in the morning. It later in the day becomes filled with all manner of people including hombrew and drug users

‘Enough is enough!’...Fed-up Kundiawa-Gembogl leaders who have declared all out war on alcohol, drugs and gambling

Village elders in the Kundiawa-Gembogl area of Simbu province have declared war on alcohol, drugs and gambling.
This follows hot on the heels of Kundiawa-Gembogl’s zero-tolerance of these scourges of society in Simbu, the Highlands and all of Papua New Guinea.
Kundiawa-Gembogl is fast becoming a model for the rest of PNG with one of the best community policing systems in the country which has seen a drastic drop in law and order problems in the Simbu capital.
The village elders made their individual declarations at a meeting with Coffee Industry Corporation officers in Kundiawa last Friday to introduce them to introduce them to CIC’s revolutionary new District by District Coffee Rehabilitation Programme.
CIC officer Brian Kuglame, who led discussions at the meeting, stressed that PNG had to do way with negative impediments such as alcohol (particularly homebrew), marijuana and gambling (particularly card) if it was to move forward.
The great Highlands coffee industry has suffered tremendously because of alcohol, drugs and gambling, as it is those addicted to these who steal cherries and sell to feed their habits.
Quality time which could be productively spent in the coffee garden is instead wasted on drinking, smoking drugs and playing cards.
Sale of coffee cherries has since been outlawed in PNG with a hefty fine of K1, 000 or 18 months jail for those who break the law.
“We have to go back and work the land,” Mr Kuglame asserted.
Mandumi village councilor John Nuai told of the difficulties he faced in encouraging young people in his ward to stop drinking homebrew, using marijuana and gambling.
“I try my best to discourage them from these bad habits but it is very hard to convince our young people,” he said.
“One of those in my area who is involved in production of steam (homebrew) is the deputy headmaster of a nearby school, and I find it very hard to talk with him.
“Dances are also a major cause of social problems and contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS.”
Mount Wilhelm village elder Philip Kondaygl, 71, said after the meeting that Simbu had suffered greatly because of alcohol, drugs and gambling.
“Playing cards is now a major problem in Simbu and is a waste of time,” he said.
“This time could be better spent in the coffee garden.
“Home brew and marijuana must also be stopped.
“We must teach our young people to go back to the land and there will be change.”
The elders agreed to walk throughout Kundiawa-Gembogl to discourage young people from bad habits and encourage them into productive activities such as CIC’s new coffee rehabilitation programme.

Fuzzy Wuzzy recognition 'too little, too late'- ABC Australia

From JOHN FOWKE  

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/24/2635119.htm

The subject of the "Angels'" place in history and the rewards they may deserve and may or may not have received is fully canvassed in the recent ABC program and its massive response, and I just want to add the following.

The invasion of the Japanese into what is now PNG was one prong of the overall policy of subjugation of all of Australasia to the will and the economic benefit of the Japanese nation under the Emperor and the proposed " Greater Asia Co-prosperity Sphere."

We know just how prosperous and well-treated the other invaded nations, Burma, Malaya, Indonesia etc.. all became under the Japanese regime. So it is unfortunate that the myth that  PNG was "forced into a war not of its own making" is widespread. PNG was, even if people were not widely-aware of it, defending itself  as much as Australia and other Pacific nations from a fate very different from that which awaited PNG under the colonial rule which existed prior to the arrival of the Japanese.

Secondly,the Australian RSL and the Friends of the Kokoda Trail and those who make a living from guided tours to this widely-publicised, new middle-class ikon seem not to be aware that the labour force which we now call the "Angels"- courtesy of a famous poem published in "Australian Womens' Weekly" at the time,-were conscripts, taken from villages all over coastal and inland Papua, except for the then-uncontrolled Southern Highland District. Thus there is no logic in believing that the development of the tourist-trade associated with the Kokoda Track is in itself a worthy reward for the "Angels" and their descendants. Whilst the people of the villages along the Track and of all the villages of the then Northern District, both "davara" and "gunika" bore the brunt of the invasion and subsequent fighting, the majority of the "Angels" were drawn from across the breadth of the then Territory of Papua

 In 1942, the command in Port Moresby instructed its agents, the civilian Resident Magistrates in charge of each of the administrative Districts of the Territory of Papua to send Patrol Officers out to forcefully recruit, under threat of sentence of imprisonment, all able-bodied males of ages judged by the recruiting officer as being between 18 and 40. These recruits were accompanied by police to the nearest available Medical Officer who checked them for fitness. All those who passed were then signed on for service as labourers and sent off to Port Moresby. Men from west of Daru right around through Goaribari and Purari, Orokolo, Kerema, Mekeo, Moresby,Abau and all through Mailu, Milne Bay, East Cape, Gosiago,the eastern islands and the Northern District were conscripted to do the will of the Army. The only way out was to desert, and this was difficult for those whose homes lay at any distance from the borders of Central. A few did run away, but not very many. These men were conscripts, just like the young, white "Chokkoes" they initially carried for and supported, and whilst perhaps unknowingly at first, nevertheless they were serving the interest of their own land and people in the arduous and dangerous work many of them were involved in.

Whilst the remaining "Angels" may justifiably be said to deserve no less a material reward than that applied in the case of those who served in the PIB and the Police during the war, a reward which is well within the ability of a grateful PNG to bestow upon them, is it not enough in the way of atonement for present-day PNG and the "Angels'" direct and indirect descendants that nearly fifteen billions of Australian dollars have been spent on the development of PNG since 1945? And that despite occasional hiccups, the relationship remains a firm and friendly one, a relationship nowadays of equals as opposed to the didactic and patronising one of the days of the Admin., and exclusive social clubs?

Australian dollars are still being spent, today, towards the social and economic development of a land, once a host of rival tribes, now a young, modern nation-state with its own chosen constitution, its own laws and its own internal and foreign policies.

Surely Australia has honoured – ( and so far as it is possible to tell, will continue to honour)- by these commitments to the people, any debt it may owe on account of the "Angels."

John