It is said that a picture tells a thousand words and that rings true for this picture.
It depicts a group of people, obviously in a happy and giving mood.
It is certainly a sign of achievement, perhaps of reaching the target in a personal and collective quest.
If you are good at identifying ethical Papua New Guineans, you will not be mistaken to take them for Keremas. Their physical appearances and the manner of dance and the decorations that go with it, albeit the Western influences in dress, certainly point to a people from the Gulf province.
What I gathered from the picture initially was that these people have come a full circle/cycle, far removed from their home province in the Gulf of Papua.
What they are partaking of is an annual tradition of giving to their local church and the emotional thing about this act is the fact that they are paying homage to and partaking of a tradition for the church that was build by their fathers.
These were the second and third generation of Keremas who settled in Lae after the Second World War.
The occasion, the annual boubou for the Malaita Street United church at Papuan Compound in Lae two weeks ago.
For many who have read this column know for a fact that this compound is very close to my heart, being the place I was born and raised and have many fond memories.
Hence, the picture on this page certainly jolted those memories and images of bygone years.
In particular was the recollection of a time when as a growing boy, you could remember all the gritty details of what took place.
You see your father in full Moveave traditional regalia attracting amused looks and laughter from the crowd as he led his group in a dance on one such occasion to the church.
It was a time when all modesty was set aside in a spirit of joy and friendship. It was an occasion when a group of people set aside the routine of their mundane lives in the struggle for survival in a bustling city to come together and contribute generously as a collective body to a common cause – the work of the church.
Being an innocent youngster at the time, you took everything for granted for this was the way grown-ups did their thing.
You were not ashamed to see the naked buttocks of your father or parts of his male anatomy in the fervor that gripped the community at the time.
Dad was a leader of the community and he exercised that authority in good faith on these occasions.
It was a time of healthy competition too when the Keremas competed with other ethnic groups, particularly those from Central province, to cough up the highest amounts on such occasions.
And many are the times when the Kerema community exploded in song and dance and some “shameless” individual antics when they topped the boubou.
One incident which descendants of Papuan Compound still talk about today is when the elation of the moment spurred the local community leader to strip down to his underpants and dance all around the church.
How diverse that is from the spirit of giving can be interpreted in different ways, but it was a generous display of pure joy.
And that perhaps speaks volumes for the community at the time.
The fact that the second and third generation are continuing in the footsteps of their fathers and mothers is testimony to the example set by their parents and their commitment to the Christian faith.
The spirit of togetherness flourishes and giving their meagre possession for the glory of God is indeed a noble gesture.
Hence, should it not be surprising that individual acts and actions should reflect the occasion to which their endeavours are directed.
There is a fine example in the who exercise – one that exemplifies community spirit, family values, willingness to give and above all, contributing to the glory of God.
There is bound to be a lot of emotional chords struck in this knowledge.
The Bible tells us that if you know the laws of God, giving you possession will be a delight.
We have witnessed fine examples of this many times over the years when disaster strike – Papua New Guineans giving generously for their countrymen and women.
This is the bigger of picture of what Papua New Guineans are capable of but you ask yourselves where does it all start?
Would you agree at home or among your local community?
Many homes and communities in Papua New Guinea are divided by pressures of today’s lifestyles and bad influences.
We are reeling under the increasing pressure of HIV/AIDS, lack of basic health and education services, rampant crime, drug and alcohol abuses and the list goes on.
So looking at the picture of Solu and Toksy and company leading their group in dance to the boubou tells me that they have developed well under the tutorship of the ones before them.
In their company are many from the younger generation and I hope that their example will rub off onto them in a big way.
If you count the words in this article, it would come to exactly 1,000 words and doesn’t that tell a story?
As the Wise Counsellor would say: “Bring up a child in the way he or she should go and go there yourself once in a while ...”

 

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