Culture Day at School

Caritas Technical Secondary School is run by the Caritas Sisters whose order originated in South Korea under the founder Don Bosco.  

Danita and Sr. Sarah

I am teaching English to 9th graders and literature to 11th graders. I am also temporarily teaching Personal Development, but a new science teacher will be taking over that class. Because I am temporarily teaching that class, I was at liberty to teach any chapter- so I naturally found the New Guinea Culture Identity and am asking the students to teach me about their culture. Fascinating!! For those who know my background, I remember being in school and writing and presenting about the Amish for teachers who knew nothing about them. No wonder I would get "A's" and now I know how those teachers felt.

I asked the class to present 5 items that represent their culture. They naturally formed groups with others who come from the same region of PNG and have a similar culture. Their presentation was on Friday and both of my 9th grade classes joined together for their presentations. We were able to reserve the chapel room and a few other classes joined us. My fellow missionary, Karen Srajer, was able to join me and take pictures. 

There is a school mass every Wednesday morning at 7:40 (the only day I can sleep in a little bit). Fr. Michael and my fellow St. Bartholomew parishioners, can you believe I attend mass at 6:30 am almost every morning? It's actually a highlight of my day. Mayra- there is even singing at all the masses here.  (English on Monday and Friday and 6:30 Sunday morning) (Pidgin on Tuesday and Thursday and 8 am Sunday morning). English at the school mass on Wednesday. On Wednesday, my home room class were responsible for the songs sung and prayers said during the mass. During the offertory, they did a native dance to music up the aisle led by Sister Bernadette, a student in my class.

Saturday, the school students and their parents and other volunteers helped clean up the city of Kimbe. The cleanathon began at 6 am. (To take advantage of a 'cooler ' morning and finished with a sausage sizzler fundraiser at the school. It was successful (but 6 am on a Saturday?) Oh well.

Next week is a week vacation for the students, the staff have to be here to plan our next term. The next term begins April 23 and lasts for 10 weeks. The students will then have a two week break.

I like my classes. The students are respectful. They stand and greet me when I enter the room. I'm known here as Ms. Danita.

Bishop Bill is in Port Morseby this week attending a Bishop Conference for PNG. Sisters Sara and Florentina were able to go and decorate the hall where 70 Bishops representing PNG and the Solomon Islands will have mass and have meetings. The pictures they took are remarkable.

I encourage you to check out my fellow missionaries blog (Ron and Karen Srajer) as well to get another view of our mission journey.  Their blog address is:

http://srajersinpng.blogspot.com

If you want to send me anything, please send it to the following address:

Danita Kurtz

Catholic Diocese of Kimbe

P.O.Box 182

Kimbe 621 West New Britain

Papua New Guinea.

Have a wonderful day and I will be back to you soon.

God Bless all of you. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

The church had over a thousand plus people at the Good Friday Service, Holy Saturday Vigil and Sunday morning mass. It was raining Friday night and people stood outside under umbrellas looking through the window. All services were beautiful- no organ, no instruments - maybe an occasional guitar, but their voices harmonized well together and everyone sings from the heart.

There were around 76 baptisms during the Saturday night vigil. The majority were babies (so there was a delightful chorus of wailing going on up front) and 7 adults. After the Saturday night vigil mass, the Sisters were jubilant giving out Easter goodies, singing - very nice.

I walked to church on Sunday morning so I could put my Easter treats in Ron and Karen's fridge- didn't want them melting. The church was packed again, but somehow we were escorted right up front. The mass was wonderful again- the offering had dancing women escorting the gifts with Sister Benedict (Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart) leading the way with leaves and flowers adorning their outfits.

After mass, I had breakfast with Ron and Karen, then the Bishop picked us up and took us swimming in the ocean. It was a little ways outside of Kimbe where the sun was shining, but when we got to the Franciscan retreat center, rain was threatening and when we got to the ocean, we went in and watched as the rain approached. To get to and from the ocean, you walked a path through the jungle till it opens to the ocean. The water is warm and cold at the same time, depending on where you stood. If it's cold, walk a little ways and you are warm again. But the downpour started and we were soaked returning on the path through the jungle leading back to the retreat center.

We returned back to Kimbe, had a bowl of ice cream and the Bishop gave me a ride home. Marilyn, my neighbor and fellow teacher, and I were then invited to a student’s place for a BBQ. I wasn't going to pass on this opportunity to meet people from PNG. The BBQ was plentiful- chicken, 2-3 types of sausages, beef, 2 types of greens, cooked banana and a few foods I didn't know the names of. Delicious.  The families are originally from the Highlands (The Hagan) but were recruited to work in Kimbe. I noticed no one uses napkins- so wanted to see what they do with their hands after eating with them. Still not sure...

All in all, I enjoyed Holy Week and now it's Monday- Easter Boxing Day and a national holiday. It rained the whole day. Tomorrow I begin teaching... please pray for me.