My Journey to the South Coast Part III

The morning of the Diaconate Ordination we were devastated by the news that Bishop Bill passed away the night before of Covid. It was ironic that on the program for Brother Boniface's ordination, Bishop Bill's favorite song in pidgin was printed on the back of the program. (Maria, Oh mama...). God is good. I was looking forward to visiting Bishop Bill in Pennsylvania when I visited my hometown in Ohio. I planned on taking him to visit my hometown.  Shucks, another opportunity lost... How sad. 

The Diaconate Ordination of Brother Boniface was held on another beautiful morning, Thursday, January 25th, and it was so beautiful to watch. 

I sat right behind his parents and family. I didn't have my camera because electricity was limited and my battery was too low. It was in the priest house being charged, but I wish I could have taken a picture of the back of Boniface’s mother and two sisters who were dressed in beautiful bilas made of the various natural materials of plants and flowers representing their village. I was able to take a picture of Bonaface’s mother, but a picture of all three was another lost opportunity.  Shucks.

That Friday we left after mass and breakfast- back on the boats, back to the village of Turuk. Again, it took us all day as we stopped again at various island villages along the way for the villages to welcome the Bishop and his entourage.  We were again welcomed with food, sing-sings and introductions from the villagers themselves.  It seemed these villages already knew Fr Lucas from previous visits because the children welcomed him with exuberant anticipation.  

We made it to Turuk at sundown, just in time to walk to the river for a wash-wash before going back to the convent for the night. The next morning we were to travel at 3 am back to Nut (pronounced Noot), but we didn't actually get on the road till around 6:30 am (PNG time). We then traveled again by boat back to Garu and then another one and a half hours back to the Diocese of Kimbe. 

Overall, the experience was a rare opportunity to peek into the land of the unexpected, a paradise so remote that I felt so lucky to have this amazing opportunity to experience and to meet the wonderful villagers along the way and explore their lifestyle so unlike my own. I will truly miss these moments, but they will live in my memory and my heart forever.  

On Wednesday January 27, we celebrated a requiem mass for Bishop Bill, then celebrated a kai-kai dinner for the first anniversary of Bishop John Bosco Aurums installation. 

The next week, I visited my 'home' village of Vavua and  stayed with Fr Bennet.  I will miss my adopted 'home village' and I thank the villagers, especially the children for their welcome hospitality. I only had one day that I could actually go into the water, but then was met with rain every day that lasted the entire day. Despite the rain, I will always have Vavua in my heart forever as I prepare to return home.

Now I am packing and making my final plans for departure on March 3, leaving PNG behind.  It is so hard to say goodbye. (Note – flight was cancelled and rescheduled for March 10^th)

Please continue to pray for me as I pray for you. Feel free to leave comments below.   Goodbye for now from Kimbe, PNG. See you soon at home in the US. 

My Journey to the South Coast Part II

 On Monday morning, half of our Diocesen family left for the village of Valanguo while I stayed in Turuk and accompanied the Bishop to the Island village of Magiem. This is the island where the Bishop was born and attended his primary school years. I felt honored to be invited.  The village warmly welcomed their won-tok and their Bishop home. His island is the first island of three almost identical islands with a clear passage between each island. From a distance, they look like triplets and some call them chocolate bar islands.  A week later when returning to Turuk, I saw the triplets in the distance and they actually did look like a chocolate bar - three equal mounds of island (chocolate). 

While on the village of Magiem (the Bishop's island), a welcome mass was celebrated by the Bishop along with a memorial mass for a Sr Mary Rose, a religious Sister from Australia who was killed in that village in November 1964. There is a church named after her with a plaque commemorating her and dedicated by Bishop Bill placed inside the church. She was killed while teaching class and her students honored her memory by dancing a dance that afternoon that Sr. Mary Rose taught them those many years ago.

Tuesday, we said goodbye to Turuk and the FMI Sisters who were going their own separate ways. We once again got into our boats and took off for the village of Valanguo.  I felt especially lucky to sit next to Sr Gabriel, MSC who grew up on the south coast and who served as a personal tour guide of the islands we were passing. It was nice to hear her stories of how her class had picnics on that island, or how her family grew a garden on that island or how her class would take field trips to that beautiful island over there. Again - what a beautiful paradise.  

It took us the entire day as we were welcomed at several island villages along the way where the Bishop was welcomed, food was prepared and a sing-sing was part of a welcome celebration for the Bishop and his entourage. It felt nice to be a small part of this celebration- something not very many people have the opportunity to experience and it was nice to be part of the diocesen family. The Bishop made it a point to introduce his entourage.

Fr Lucas, a Polish priest, caught the attention of the children who enjoyed him as a source of entertainment.  He told them stories, showed them how to play a few games, showed them how to stand on their heads, and made them laugh and enjoy his company. It was a little funny watching some of the real little ones who watched in total fascination, but you could almost see their little minds working away as they didn't really know how to respond- whether to laugh with the others or to cry in fright at the white man doing his best to entertain them. 

We finally made it in the evening to Valanguo. In the last stretch, we traveled through a passage made up of mangrove trees to reach the village. Our boat ran out of gas just before we reached the parish, so we had to wait awhile until petrol was found before we could finally reach the parish. 

The parish itself was located on an island.  The women were to stay about 15 minutes away on the mainland in a secondary school dormitory.  In my opinion, it was too far away from the parish itself. The accommodations were very rustic, and even though there was a bathroom, water was extremely limited at the school and at the parish as well. The water situation was not planned well and was challenging for all concerned. I walked to a well where the water was murky and not trusted for anything more than flushing the toilet. Yuck. 

The one redeeming quality was a beautiful wash-wash river located in an actual cave that we visited for some fresh water. Everyone had a great time exploring the area, diving into the water and swimming in the cool clean water.  I don't swim, but my Diocese family made sure I also had a tour of the river cave by riding on the shoulders of Brother Peter. I hung on for dear life while touring the beauty of the cave on his shoulders, but it was well worth it. Amazing! 

(To be continued...Diaconate Ordination)

My Journey to the South Coast Part I

I was invited by Bishop John Bosco Aurum to visit the South Coast to attend a priest and a Diaconate ordination and I enthusiastically accepted.  We began our journey on January 14 and what a trip it was. The South coast is on the opposite side of the West New Britain island. If there was a freeway connecting both sides, it would probably have taken us only a few hours, but, this being PNG, the only road connecting Kimbe to Turuk was too muddy to travel. There is an actual video of passengers pulling their vehicles through muddy rivers. Everything and everyone is shown completely caked in mud. That is something the Bishop did not want us to experience (Thank goodness).  So we traveled by vehicles from the Diocese to Garu (an hour and a half on unpaved roads) took boats to the village of Nut (pronounced noot), got in another set of vehicles and traveled across the province on unpaved roads (still muddy in spots), but supposedly not as bad as the one from Kimbe to the village of Turuk. It took four and a half hours to reach our destination.  

From Garu, we traveled on 4 boats, with between 10- 12 persons or so per boat and off we went. The last time I traveled from Garu was on my very first weekend in Kimbe (approx. 3 years ago) when we traveled with Bishop Bill, my fellow missionaries, Karen and Ron and others. On that trip, it was beautiful for the first few hours, but when the seas got rough and turned from pleasant to a rocky, wet e-ride, I found myself yelling a silent scream 'Get me off this thing!' Above the loud splashy waves crashing against the boat and me, I could have screamed out loud and no one would have heard me anyway. We did make it to the village of Kaliai, but were very wet and very uncomfortable.  We were warmly welcomed by the villagers and all was good again.  We stayed a few days and experienced a confirmation in Bariai. (Read one of my first blogs for more details). 

On this trip, I traveled with the religious and friends from the Diocese and it felt like I was traveling with family. The boat trip was beautiful and thankfully calm and uneventful as we traveled past the picturesque Pacific island villages. We waved back at villagers who were waving their greetings and watched the children swim or wash-wash in the water until we reached the village of Nut. On the road between Nut and Turuk, the road was challenging, but thankfully, not as bad as the supposed muddy conditions of the main road that starts in Kimbe. Thank goodness we didn't have to get out and pull a vehicle through the mud. 

Turuk Parish is built on top of a mountain with the village of Kandrian below where the main bush stores are located.  The rivers are also located below and they could rival any swimming pool found in the US. The river water was extremely pure and just like in Pomio, each part is designated for certain wash-wash activities.  One part is designated to wash-wash clothes, another to wash-wash dishes and pots and pans, another is for swimming, while another is to wash-wash the body and finally there is the actual spring where fresh water spurts out as it enters the pool and is reserved for the most delicious drinking water (cold and refreshing).

The men stayed in the priest house located on top of another hill with its own million dollar view. The women stayed in the convent where we shared accommodations with the Religious Sisters from the FMI, MSC and Caritas Communities along with 5 Caritas candidates. The Bishop's sister and niece and Mrs Babino and I made up the remaining women experiencing this trip. We made up a warm and supportive community as we waited for the ordination to begin. 

From the convent, we could look out over the ocean where many islands speckled the landscape, each populated with their own villages. A number of canoes were seen on the water and for some, it was their main mode of transportation.  It was an absolutely gorgeous view. PNG is rich in natural resources and is often called paradise. 

The ordination took place on a beautiful Saturday morning, January 16 and because it was to be celebrated outside in a nicely decorated pavilion right next door to the convent, we had prime seats on the second floor balcony of the convent.  We watched together as the Mass began. The clergy were escorted by the village warriors. 

A hut representing the Deacon's home was constructed on the other side of the field -about a football field away from the pavilion.  Deacon Sylvester was called from inside his hut. His family and village warriors, who tapped their drums and blew their conchs, escorted him to the stage where the ordination mass continued. Two priests came down to welcome him to the stage, but before they could begin, Deacon Sylvester had to take off all his bilas (ceremonial attire) and then he was ready to be ordained.

The Mass was followed by kai-kai (lunch) followed by a fitting celebration complete with presentations of gifts, dancing and sing-sings in honor of our new priest - Fr Sylvester.  The next day (Sunday), the newly ordained Fr Sylvester celebrated his first mass called a Thanksgiving mass. Again, the mass was followed by kai-kai, and more presentations, dances and sing-sings. 

(To be continued...)