Christmas sounds of kundu

By MAZIE SELMBIA
CHRISTMAS brings the creativity out of everyone and such is the case of the St Michael’s Catholic parish in Lae, Morobe, where parishioners build a kundu drum to house their Christmas crib.
Under the initiative of Fr Jomi CJ, the parish priest, the kundu drum-structured crib was built out of bamboo and iron steel frames with coloured fabric and papers covering the exterior.
The structure was eight metres long and two metres wide, placed in front of the church building facing the busy city traffic.
With the help of parishioners, the structure was built and decorated in only two weeks before the long Christmas weekend.
CJ said from the very beginning, church enculturation was part of Christianity and, in line with the diocesan plan for this year, had prompted the idea of building a crib inside a kundu drum.
“The kundu drum symbolises that we are praying for our nation and that baby Jesus be born into our culture, become part of our culture and sanctify our culture,” CJ explained.
He added: “A kundu drum is a popular traditional musical instrument in PNG and, with this Christmas crib, it will echo the Word of God across our country.”
The kundu drum-structured crib was the main attraction for children who frequented to take pictures as well as other non-Catholics who visited for a photograph.