This is my current back yard.
The white pipe is drainage from the showers. Yes, we drain soapy, dirty water into our gardens, or yards, right back into the environment. Ecologists might be very upset at this, or they may be really happy. I'm unsure. Perhaps it depends on what detergents we use, NOT the point.
Landscaping is apparently a cultural thing. ALL I want is for this dirt to one day be grass. But then you have to ask 'how do you plant grass in PNG?' Thankfully I don't have to know (although I do know and have known for years).
Whenever possible, part of our agreement with the government for living here, is that we will employ PNGians to do work. Since both my wife and I are used in ministry elsewhere, things like, weeding the garden, mowing the grass, burning the garbage, etc.... are farmed out to other people.
People who use the money to feed their families and send their kids to school. The HARDEST part about this is that we have to stick to the minimum wage which is very low. It does mean you can get good labor for a low cost, but it also means when you develop a relationship with your yard helpers, and their kids, you tend to want to spoil them at Christmas or birthdays with extra food and other practical gifts (about the only time gifts are culturally acceptable to give without incurring debt).
Still Not the POINT.. will I GET ON WITH IT!?
So... the work of turning this dirt pile into grass, is big work. I happened to come across a lady named Opa who has assembled a crew of 7 ladies who are trying to earn up money for a church camp.
She perfectly understood what I wanted, we got along well, and then I approached the topic of pay.
She said that whatever I could offer her would be fair. But I know what she got paid to do similar work before, and I knew what was fair for the work.
So I said, 'okay, you do the work, and we'll talk about pay when it's over, we'll find a number we're both happy with.'
Now here's where the fun starts. Currently, we're being very tight about finances, and so, I didn't have any money to fund this project, but I also know that we can't likely leave a mess of rubbish and dirt and ash laying around.
We also had several pieces of furniture to sell. Small things, like a desk, or an end table. Pieces we've collected over the years that we no longer need and that belong in a good home. Pieces that we tried to sell at a yard sell 2 weeks ago but no one purchased. Pieces that we put "FREE" signs on that no one came and took.
So I said to my wife 'I think we should pay her 100 kina, but I have an idea. I LOVE any kind of financial planning that gives God the chance to do something cool... what if we said this, we will pay Opa and her ladies whatever money we make from selling the furniture and other odd bits'.
I figure that leaves it open ended. If God wanted to bless those ladies with more money, He'd bring people along to buy the furniture and odd bits. So I took down the 'free' signs, and put the items up for sale on the local bulletin board.
That was my idea 24 hours ago. Currently the total is 110kina, and only 3 things have sold! We're not even 1/2 way through the items I put up for sale.
So I've been putting the money in a tin, for Opa and her crew. And it seems as soon as someone comes, buys something, hands me the cash, and I put it in the tin, I get another call. 'I'd like to come and buy ....'
It's amazing. I get the distinct impression that if I were to sell those items for myself, that they wouldn't sell. They DIDN'T sell. And yet right now we could really use the money. Still.....
The idea that we're turning surplus stuff that we don't want to store any more, into cash to pay for a job we want, while blessing this team of yard meri's (yard ladies), and their church and their camp.... strikes me as the kind of economy only God can arrange.
I get the biggest thrill out of watching this happen.
Doh! Gotta go, I just heard the familiar ding of an incoming email that is telling me someone wants to buy yet another item.
This is a win, win, win situation.
