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To Ethel with love
By PETER KORUGL
Today will mark one year since Ethel,
a warder at the Buimo jail passed away at the Angau Memorial
Hospital in Lae, Morobe province.
Her death did not make headlines but to the Buimo jail community,
it was a very sad day because Ethel was indeed very special.
Relatives from Oro and Milne Bay province where Ethel came from
and Pindu, Finschhafen where husband, Mota Kurari was from were
all there to mourn their sister, daughter and mother.
Amidst them, were seven people, the eldest, a 28-year-old woman,
the youngest a four-year-old.
These were the children Ethel and her husband Mota had adopted and
raised as their own.
Ethel’s story is one of dedication, love and courage. It is a
story about a selfless woman who gave it all to her work and her
family of adopted children.
Ethel enlisted with the Department of Correctional Services on
March 10, 1985.
After a short stint at the Bomana Training College, Ethel was
posted to the Bundaira jail in Kainantu, later moved to Bihute
outside Goroka in Eastern Highlands.
In 1986, Ethel was transferred to Buimo jail in Lae. It was there
that she met her husband to be, Mota, also a CIS officer and was
baptized into the Foursquare Gospel Church.
“After her baptism she never turned back, she dedicated her life
to her job and her faith.
“She wanted me to change my way of life, she prayed for me and in
August 1987, I repented and gave my life to God,” Mota told The
National Weekender.
Between 1987 to 1990, Ethel attended various training courses
while her relationship with Mota flourished.
On May 1990, they both tied the knot at Hetac Lutheran Church in
Finschhafen.
Marriage brought on new challenges but Ethel met each challenge
with a smile as she went about her work.
“She was a very religious person. We had a good marriage because
it was based on love for one another and God,” Mota recalled.
The couple started the King Kids Ministry at Biumo, a prison based
Christian group, that organized fellowships for inmates.
Their work was supported by other church groups and Christians in
Lae and soon, the fellowship grew strong and became an integral
part of the rehabilitation work at the jail.
They left their work behind when they were transferred to Baisu
jail outside Mount Hagen, Western Highlands in 1993.
The young couple introduced the Kings Kids Ministry at Baisu and
spread the work to nearby Barawagi jail in Simbu province.
Their work brought excellent results for the Baisu jail, which was
at that time, having a lot of jail break outs.
“1994 was our best year. The work we did with the prisoners
brought the rate of escapes down from 73 in 1992 to 17 that year,”
Mota said.
The next year their life was shaken when Mota was diagnosed with
chronic bronchitis. They were transfered back to Buimo jail.
The work Ethel did with the kids ministry and her commitment to
her job was rewarded. She was selected to attend further training
to enhance her skills and knowledge.
A blow to their marriage came when the couple was told the Ethel
was barren.
They decided to adopt children and by 2000 they had a houseful,
six children, Siba, Boiku, Timothy, Maneba, Semaru and Ziren.
Siba and Boiku have completed school, Maneba and Semaru are in
high school, Timothy is in grade six and Ziren in elementary one.
In 2001, further bad news came to the family when Ethel was
diagnosed with diabetes.
“She was on treatment but very soon, the problem affected her
kidneys. The doctors could not do much,” Mota recalled.
Ethel passed away and was laid to rest in at Dombada in Oro
province.
Last Friday, Siba boarded a boat at Lae for Oro province to visit
her mothers grave.
Today Siba will place eight flowers on her grave.
“This is to signify to Ethel, that though she is gone, we are
still with her in spirit and we know that she is always with us,”
the husband said.
“I really miss my mother. We all do. Sometimes I come back from
school and I expect her to be at home, welcoming me, as she always
did and she is not there anymore,” Timothy said, fighting back
tears.
Ziren, 5, always draws, when he thinks about his mother.
The picture shows a house with a road leading to an ambulance.
Some people were loading a coffin into the ambulance.
“I will draw the picture of my mother again on Friday,” Ziren said
as he hugged his father.
 
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