We must be active in preserving culture

WE in PNG are fortunate to have two types of customary leadership.
Chieftaincy is limited to a few areas.
The common leadership is from customary land.
In patrilineal societies the man is the leader. In matrilineal societies it is the woman who leads.
Inheritance follows man or woman. Our first parents were formed out of land.
The man was the masterpiece.
The pride of creation was completed with a woman being moulded from bone of man and man’s heart was joyful. We need men and women leaders.
On Jan 1, 2017, the Pope at Vatican celebrated the Feast Day of Mary Mother of God Son Jesus Christ.
What Pope Francis said about Mary and Mothers is very encouraging.
In part these are his words: “Celebrating the feast of the Holy Mother of God makes us smile once more as we realise that we are a people, that we belong, that only within a community, within a family, can we as persons find the ‘climate’, the ‘warmth’ that enables us to grow in humanity, and not merely as objects meant to ‘consume and be consimed’.
“To celebrate the feast of the Holy Mother of God reminds us that we are not interchangeable items of merchandise or information processors.
“We are children, we are family, we are God’s People.”
PNG must wake up and protect her customary heritage.

James Wanjik, Via email