Stories From Papua New Guinea: Smack That Fly!

Smack That Fly!

(shared with permission from the PNG Experience: Volume 2. For more stories see: http://thepngexperience.wordpress.com/)

The fly was larger than her hand, but it didn't faze the nurse. She slapped the illustrated poster once more and then turned to her audience. "Flies carry disease, polluted water carries disease, and uncontrolled rubbish and feces carry disease. That is why your children get diarrhea." She paused, looking hard at each of the students. "This is why your children die."

Twenty national teachers from eight different languages were seated in the shade, listening intently to the health lecture and furiously scribbling notes. They had gathered for an intense, month long training held by SIL and national staff, to better equip rural teachers in using the local language in education through topics like principles and practices of literacy, fluency, story writing, book production, and curriculum and material creation as well as personal development, leadership, finances and health.

And today, they were talking about the causes, prevention, and cure to diarrhea, the number one killer of children in Papua New Guinea. Later, they clustered into groups as they pored over their notes and their own languages a story to communicate this vital information to their communities. "Did we get all the meaning?" they asked each other. "Read it again!"

The next evening, as several of the women students gathered on the cool veranda, a young mother from a local hamlet approached them, clutching a crying infant to her chest. As they visited, the students realized that the baby was dehydrated and suffering from diarrhea. Without hesitation, the women flew into action, sending for a staff member while advising the mother and offering rehydrating fruit according to their training. But, when the staff member arrived, there was nothing she could do but smile. "You've done everything right," she told them. "You now know how to protect your children!"