Aihis celebrate 50yrs together

By HELEN TARAWA
ROY and Helen Aihi celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Port Moresby last Saturday.
Surrounded by family and friends, the husband and wife remembered the first time they exchanged vows which was at the Fatima Catholic Mission Church in Woitape, Central on June 4, 1972.
Roy, 70, and Helen, 72, credited their faith as a major factor in keeping their marriage going for half a century.
Roy, from Hisiu in Bereina, and Helen from Lese Oalai, Gulf, first met in Woitape in the early 1970s; he was a patrol officer stationed in the area while she was a school teacher.
Speaking at the 50th marriage anniversary celebrations at the weekend, Helen who lived with Catholic nuns thought she would not be able to marry as she was practically living like a nun.
“I am privileged to be here tonight because the long way I came through, sitting here today some of you will not make it,” she said.
“I am delighted to be here with you all to celebrate the golden jubilee anniversary of Mr Aihi and I.
“It reminds me of the date June 4, 1972, when our marriage took place in the remote Fatima Catholic Mission Church in Woitape.
“I wanted to run away; I couldn’t do it because I was living with the nuns and I was like a nun.”
Helen said their courtship started at the beginning of 1972 and they married after six months.
“We walked side by side with God and we came out to be what we are today,” she said.
Roy and Helen have been blessed over the years with six children, five boys and a girl, unfortunately one of their sons passed away.
From their children have come forth 29 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Their wedding also set something of a record as the first one at the Catholic church in Woitape.
“We were happy to be the first couple to have our marriage blessed in that church and that is special,” Roy said.
“I am happy that all my friends and family have gathered to witness this important occasion for my wife and I,” he said of Saturday’s gathering.
From Woitape, Roy got a job with the Finance Department as an accounting system officer so the couple relocated to Port Moresby.
His profession as an accounting officer took him around the country and overseas.
Roy was eventually promoted to manager and helped set up all accounting system software in all Treasury offices.
Helen on the other hand started her teaching career at Araimiri Community School in Gulf before moving to Woitape.
She joined her husband in the city and taught at Hagara Primary School in Hanuabada and then at Wardstrip Primary School and finally at Tokarara Primary School up until her retirement.
She has a diploma in teaching from the PNG Education Institute and spent 16 years teaching and three years as deputy school head teacher at Tokarara.
The Aihi’s 50th wedding anniversary was celebrated and blessed by Fr Don Sylvester of St John Catholic Church.