I am back from Alotau which is in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. I finally understand all the jokes about air travel in a third-world country! Flights cancelled after 4 hours waiting in a terminal, getting stuck in an area for days because of a cancelled flight. Missing connections etc.
For a moment picture the oldest plane in the States that you've ever flown in commercially. Now imagine that would be the shining jewel in the Air Nuigini fleet. For the most part you're grateful there IS an airline, but the rest of the time you're frustrated that you can't seem to get on a plane the first time you try. Pushing and shoving has been known to happen, flights sitting on the tarmack for hours because the stewards forgot to come to work.
Anything can happen.
And it did. But that's not the point of the story.
My department sent me to the southern bay area of the country to help solve computer and network issues.
The setting:
In order to get translation work done, translators spend time in their assigned village. For many reasons from time to time they need to exit the village (supplies, laundry, sanity, deliver mail, send their current translation work to headquarters, a simple break, refridgeration) and when they do they can not make the trip back up to the Ukarumpa headquarters as it is a costly trip. So we have strategically placed regional centers.
Each of these regional centers need a few bodies to manage them. Usually these centers provide jobs for local Papua New Guineans. When translators are not at the centers, the flats/apartments are available for other travelers both private and commercial.
The Alotau center has two new acting managers who have come to PNG to help kickoff the new maritime (boat) ministry. If you know how useful planes are out in the jungle, then you can imagine how nice it will be to have reliable boats in a location that is very coastal and has many nearby islands.
The new manager also happens to be a personal friend as we attended Training Camp together.
VITAL a translation course in which there is training as well as actual translation that goes on, is kicking off the day I arrive.
The mission:
In order to help relieve some of the pressure on the new manager who has been in country under 2 months, has 4 kids and is really here to do the boat ministry, I was chosen to fly to Alotau. My mission was to remove any computer obstacles to their work getting done as well as assisting VITAL with their network setup for the class.
The work:
I showed up, assessed the situation, and began to work on the computers, volunteering also to when available work on anyone's personal computers. There were several personal computing issues that stood in the way and jsut gnaw at people and frustrate their work, slowing their progress. I began alleviating as many as I could find or was told about.
The blessing:
Really I consider myself being blessed what mainly happened on the trip. Yes people were VERY excited to be able to get a long standing issue solved in a place where little support is offered. Very grateful indeed! Some of the most appreciated work was stuff I did on the side that I saw as a simple favor. We reached out to the community to meet a few people and happened upon a guy with a few computer issues and I was able to repair them in under ten minutes... that ten minutes went a LONG way to help further good relations in the community with the current managers.
But for the most part, I got to work side by side with people doing translation! I got to see it happening! I also gained a new appreciation for the diversity of this country as this coastal area was unlike anything I'd seen before. Honestly each day was like a scenic frame from a tropical paradise movie! One night I was worshiping God thanking Him for putting me in this fantastic adventure. I've seen many adventure films but I never thought I'd be in one!
I gained an appreciation for what life at a regional centre is like and how my friends' lives down here are different than my own. I met people who I'd later be supporting with computer work, and gained faces to the voices. Overall, a productive week!
There is burden, and there is sacrifice when serving God, but in so many ways God reaches out and blesses, and His yolk is light! I have found joy in serving Him even though the things I've done are so far outside my comfort zone, I've been amazed by God repeatedly in the way He choses to work.
One example, I was scheduled to fly down and the flight was late, forcing me to miss my connection and scramble to rebook a flight and a place to stay the night in one town. The flight was cancelled without me knowing it, and had I not been late, I would have never booked the place I did (most affordable), sat in the airport forever, and had a miserable time. Instead, I went straight to my place to stay and had a deep conversation with a Papua New Guinean woman about law and morality and God and all kinds of subjects. A conversation which helped me gain a greater appreciation for Papua New Guinea's struggles.
Play time:
One day the boat manager needed to take the boat out and do some safety equipment training. So while he did that, I was able to go look at the new boat. The Kwadima II. It has replaced the old boat which was less effective at moving people around. This boat was designed as a fiber-glass hull but in the old wooden hull appearance so that culturally it wouldn't stand out like a soar thumb in the docks of PNG. A wise move I think. The boat didn't have a lot of luxuries, but it was very functional and got the job done effeciently. While we went out, I was able to drop a fishing line in... caught something big too but it snapped the line. Then we anchored for a bit, and jumped into the water for a quick swim. I saw a squid, a lobster, a kingfish, a jellyfish, a few huge oysters, and told there was a moray eel nearby. That was all in the span of about 1 hour. We got back on the boat and headed in. It was a nice break in the hectic pace. It's odd that in such a laid back society as this coastal area was, that life could be so busy for us at the center, but it was. Very busy.
Overall, the trip held a lot of benefits. Although I did find that being away from Kendal and the kids for ten days in PNG was a LOT harder than being away for 10 days in the States. I think it was being on the ocean, without a main highway between us, and an unreliable airport, made me feel a bit isolated from them, add to that super slow dial up internet speeds, and unreliable phone lines and I was feeling rather homesick by the fourth night.
Still, it was a very good trip and I know God was filling me up with experiences He'll tap into at a later date.
Picture time:
FOR LARGER PICS CLICK HERE:
A WWII anti-aircraft gun pointed right at me as I got off the airplane in Alotau. War relics litter the beaches.
the plane
the village we visited of an employee
a glimpse of town - this place has EVERYTHING (-;
VITAL in action (admittedly not the most active picture, but the course is longer than I was there for and I didn't get many action pics)
Alotau from the ocean.
Boat training
using safety location equipment
the old boat
