By Kanau Sion
Since making Australia home in 2008 we had never returned to Papua New Guinea as a family until in December of 2014. Apart from Leanne and Lydia (first and second born) who had vague memories of our time in Port Moresby, the three younger girls had little or no idea apart from being told stories and shown pictures taken during trips made either individually or together by Joanne and I.
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Our kids and I with my two brothers
in Port Moresby |
Regardless, everyone was looking forward to the first family trip out of Australia and the excitement of reconnecting with members of extended families last seen many years ago and also prospects of connecting with many more the children had never met before was intriguing. My father and siblings were among the ones some of our children had never met before.
We arrived in Port Moresby to the excitement of waiting family members who welcomed us, especially the children and shared tears of joy and happiness. This was years of reunion in the making. It was hot and humid as we stepped out and into the environs of Port Moresby - the dusts and smokes triggered by bellowing and burning ambers from across the road sides blown by the wind in our direction, the scorching and unforgiving Port Moresby's tropical heat wave were among some atrocious welcome for our children because they were only used to cooler conditions of Perth and occasional dry heat of Western Australia.
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Joanne and the kids In Lawes Village,
Manus Island with her aunties |
In Port Moresby the children witnessed people hitching rides in pick-up trucks and stray dogs abound on the streets and were shocked by these unfamiliar sights. This was because, contrary to popular belief and practice in PNG, pick ups or 'open back' cars/trucks as commonly known in PNG, are designed and manufactured for the purpose of carrying cargoes and materials only and therefore, illegal to ferry people. If what our children were witnessing were to happen in Australia, you would bet on your last dollar bill everyone would have been arrested and charged for an illegal activity in accordance with appropriate laws. In addition, in Australia dogs, like all animals are protected by law and treated humanely and thus, where a stray dog is ignored by the owner, he or she would attract the attention of law enforcement agencies and would be heavily fined. What our children were shocked with in Port Moresby was also a familiar sight in Manus.
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| A family photo with my dad |
When the children asked us if those involved in such acts would be arrested, our answer to them was "Welcome to PNG, the land of the unexpected", which might be thought of as an old PNG clich'e but still maintains its currency. However wrong some of these things may seem to be from the world view of our children, it was the way locals lived their lives and were content with it. The children did not buy into any of these though.
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Travelling up the Lawes River to visit Joanne's
late father's burial site
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Arrival in Manus Island was quite a mixed feeling for the children - one of excitement and anxious feeling. Excitement because finally they had set foot on the beautiful island home that Joanne and I had always spoken passionately to them about and the prospect of meeting family members they had never crossed path with before, but there was also the anxious moments and this was to do with meeting new family members for the first time and the challenges of relating to them and fitting in with the Manus village way of life that confronted them. For Joanne and I - we were ecstatic to finally bring all our children home for a visit. A sad part though, was that our respective grand parents had passed on and our children were unable to meet them in the flesh.
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| Ndranou Village, Manus Island |
In Manus, we lived in my mothers village and in our own four bedroom permanent house which I funded and my maternal cousin brothers built. We also visited my father's village of Kari/Mundrau for a family reunion with my father, step mother, half siblings, many cousins and extended relatives. The children loved everything that they wished they could live there for good.
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| Cruising the seas of Lawes, Manus Island |
Our three younger daughters met their grand father for the first time and connected with their newly found uncles, aunties, and other extended family members. Moreover, after a while the children finally accepted that in Manus and PNG it was perfectly okay to sit in the back sit of an open pick up. We hired a car and travelled places and the children and their village relatives enjoyed sitting in the open back and enjoyed the fresh air and unique site seeing.
We also visited Joanne's village of Lawes and spent time with her uncles, aunties, cousins and other extended family members.
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| Our hired vehicle which took us places |
The children also connected well with their mother's side of the family.
We also travelled up the Lawes River by boat and visited Joanne's late father's burial site, cleaned it, laid flowers and paid our respect. It was also an opportunity for the children to pay respect to their late maternal grandfather. We enjoyed the boat rides to and from Lawes Village and the children had great fun swimming in the sea and playing on the white sandy beaches. It was a unique experience our children will cherish for a long time. We all enjoyed the trip to PNG and the children had the time of their lives.
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| Kari Primary School |
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| Our kids with my mother in the village |
What started initially as an exited and anxious moments of visiting PNG turned out to be the best chapter of our children's experiences. Unfortunately, as they say, "all good things must come to an end" and so it had to be. In late January of 2015 we departed Manus Island for a long return trip back to Perth. At Momote Airport in Manus the children could not hold back their tears and their cousins and other relatives openly wept knowing well that the next trip might not take place sooner. The children kept on crying through our flight to Port Moresby and even a few days after arrival there.
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| Young Manus kids learn canoeing skills at an early age |
Finally, after spending a few days with families in Port Moresby it was time to return home to Perth. Overall, the holiday in PNG was educational for the children and well worth the trip. Everyone is looking forward to going back in the second family trip. As to when that will be, we are not sure yet.
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