Purpose Asia

Since our arrival in the village of Wargiden our Host Papa had been telling us that he’d have the ladies of the village teach us the village’s traditional dances so that we could have a Tumbuna Singsing (a traditional celebration and dance) before we left. True to his word, Papa summoned us to his veranda facing the sea. We arrived to find the ladies of the village talking in excited whispers as a few men of the village thumped experimentally on their kundu (drums) to ensure they were in tune. dancing with our village family Tumbuna Singsing style Soon, April and I had been guided into one of two lines to stand behind one of our host sisters or cousins to learn the steps of the traditional dances. Flowers were pressed into our hands and the ladies quieted down, waiting for the drums to begin. Thump, thump, thump. The drums began to pound as the men sang out strong in the captivating and ancient sounding strains of Wargiden’s traditional song. April and I did our best to follo...

      Gardens are a key part of life here in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Most Papua New Guineans scoff at the idea of getting all of your food from a grocery store. They will tell you, with a hint of pride in their voice, that although they have to work hard to clear, plant and tend a garden, they get all of their food for free. Each family in PNG has whole swathes of land that have belonged to their family or clan for generations, and each section is carefully passed down to the children (sons or daughter depending on the area) in each. Our host sister Philda told us that each family generally has at least 3-4 gardens with different kinds of food in each: cooking bananas, kaukau (sweet potatoes), yams, kumu (greens), buai (beetlenut that is chewed with lime and a green plant called daka for a caffeine-like buzz) and much more. Sometimes families have one plot of land that is just for cash crops like coconuts, buai or tobacco and the rest of their land is for day-to-day ...

     Our first week was feeling like such a whirlwind by the time the weekend came along. Saturday afternoon we plopped down on our veranda after a full day of swimming to a small island just off the shore, learning to pilot a canoe and doing laundry. Not long after we’d sat down, our host sister Philda came with a gaggle of children. She had discovered how much we liked to sing and had promised to bring the children of the village to come and teach us some new songs. They piled onto our veranda, spilling over into our house and hanging from every doorway. Soon they began to sing and clap and teach us their Sunday school songs and worship songs. It was so neat to hear them discuss which songs to sing and then to break into song with their sweet voices mingling together in Papua New Guinean harmonies. It was truly precious and brought tears to my eyes. This was to be the first of many times during our time in the village we would spend time singing with our friends and “f...

    “Philda’s here,” April’s voice came up through the floor boards of our house to where I was washing the dishes from the night before. Today was the day we were going to learn how to wasim saksak (wash sago). I was excited but also puzzled. First of all, I really didn’t know a thing about washing sago, and second, I had no idea what sago really was rather than the head knowledge that it’s a type of palm tree that some people in the world eat as a main starch. Helpful starting point – not. I dried my hands, grabbed my bag and headed down to meet April, Philda and another sister Immaculata (Imma). We trekked out onto the road and picked up an “aunt” and her kids along the way because we were going to the part of the sago forest that belonged to her and her husband. We tramped out through the garden area and then dipped down into the soggy, rain drenched sago palm forest. Sago with coconut inside cooked  in cocoa leaves on the fire      Our Aunt ...