| Sports |
Where fish and folk are fine
Highlander FRANK RAI
overcomes his fear of the sea after his first boat trip to the
Huon electorate in Morobe province.
I made my way to Voco Point, to take my first boat, only ten days
after I started work with The National in Lae.
It was my first assignment out of the city. The event was the
launching of the Community Based Management (CBM) Plan, a project
initiated under the Coastal Fisheries Management and Development
program (CFMD).
The launching was at Eware, Mou and Sapa villages, located in the
distant Morobe Patrol Post of the Huon electorate.
A highlander, naturally, I was afraid of the sea. I was thinking
about how I was going to swim out of the sea in the event of an
accident, as I made my way to the CFMD office, located at the old
Yacht club.
I was met by the CFMD team and the team leader Gilingde Aitoba
introduced me to his two officers Henny Paul from Koroba in the
Southern Highlands province and Jeffery Sosori, the "mangi Morobe'
himself.
After loading our bags and cargo for the launching, we boarded the
banana boat to begin our five hour journey.
The sea was calm and I was assured by the skipper, Joel Awa that
the good weather would hold out.
I made myself comfortable with Henry and Jeffery at the front of
the boat and tried to keep down the fear lurking in me.
As we went further out I noted that the water changed to a darker
hue. I gripped the side of the banana boat, as if to assure myself
that we were still floating.
I drew on the confidence of fellow passenger Henry, a Highlander
also, who was talking and joking all the time I knew he was doing
that for my benefit.
After an hour we arrived at Salamaua point where we had a
15-minute rest.
I took look around. Beautiful gray sandy beaches stretched out as
far as the eye could see.
The mangrove areas along the shoreline, provided a natural barrier
between the sea and land, the green vegetation, sharply
contrasting against the blue/ green sea.
Here and there, I noted that mountain ridges run down to join the
sea, hiding the view ahead from the travelers.
After what seem like very long boat ride, I was informed that we
were approaching the village.
As we drew nearer, we heard the echoes of the villagers welcome
and saw them waving their hands.
"Oro! Oro!" the people were shouting. Oro, I learnt later was
welcome in the local language. We were then taken to the "Yewa" or
the men's house.
I was told that Morobe patrol post was a historic place. The
colonial administration, I was informed, set up their first
administrative centre there, which was later moved to Salamaua and
then over to Lae.
The patrol post was an archetype of the colonial era. The
buildings retained their colonial look in design, aging gracefully
amidst the health center, primary and the elementary school that
looked more recent.
More than six buildings were erected, under the leadership of Paul
Warai, president of the Morobe Local Level Government.
The difficult terrain makes it impossible for all school children
to stay at home and come to school so boarding facilities were
established at the station for them to stay and go to school.
The only means of transportation in the area was canoe, dug out of
huge logs. Classes are usually suspended during bad weather
because the wide bays, rough rivers, the lagoon and the rough sea
were obstacles to, not only education service delivery but other
essential government services.
Eware village is located 100 km south of Lae, a typical Morobe
village with a social setting that speaks of its traditional norms
and values that remain undisturbed from western influences.
The only means of transport to Lae is by boat and the boat fare is
K100 per head per trip. Every 10 kilogram of goods carries a
charge of K10, making trips out of the village an expensive
venture.
Store goods such as noodles, soap, cooking oil and kerosene were
hard to find. I did not find any trade store in the station.
People grow betelnut which they sell for cash and fish. Due to the
location of the village, the fish and betelnut are priced very
cheaply but then, the people there only need money for school
fees, medical fees and clothing as they raise all their food.
The locals said the lagoon was their fish farm as they have been
catching fish in the lagoon for their generations.
Using nets, the villagers make a 10 square meter fence of about 5
meters high in the lagoon on a selected spot and trap the fish.
On this occasion, I saw men and youths in their canoes using their
paddles to hit the water while shouting war cries.
My guide Simon Paul told me that they were chasing fish into the
fenced area.
Escape routes for fish were blocked with gillnets while a gap
about 2 meters wide was left ajar for the fish to through.
Young people in diving glasses and spears dived in and speared the
fish. You could see the fish of all shapes, sizes and colors
swimming within the fenced area.
"This method of catching fish in the lagoon is only used when
there is a special gathering," Simon said.
He said their forefathers used bush ropes and vines to fish that
way and now they were using gillnets.
He also said that the fish farm was made twice or three times a
year purposely for hosting special feast for social gathering,
church gatherings and when assisting neighboring villages to host
such gatherings.
This was only an illustration for the CBM delegates to see how
they would make a fish farm to catch fish for any special
occasions.
But for the launching the local villagers had prepared smoked fish
for us about three weeks earlier.
These fish were served every lunch and dinner, boiled with coconut
cream, taro and banana. The food was the fresh and excellent..
At the eve of the launching we had a big feast. Five 40kg to 50kg
coconut baskets full of fish were cooked and shared with visitors
from the neighboring villages and the guests.
It is one of those trips that will be in my mind for a long while
because I really enjoyed my time at Eware village where the
hospitality was best.
I will always think about the Lagoon paradise.
 
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