FAITH

Joyous moment for Madang Catholics

By KEVIN PAMBA
LAST Friday, Aug 23, 2019 was a joyous moment for 109 Catholic students of Holy Spirit Primary School in Madang town.
It was the day they received their first “Holy Communion” in a Mass for the occasion in the Holy Spirit Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Madang.
Majority of the students are from the grade 4 classes. They are children of public servants, private sector employees, staff of educational institutions such as Divine Word University and members of communities surrounding Madang town.

Father Boniface Mom, a diocesan priest, was the main celebrant and administered the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist for the wonderful children who, with support of their parents, made a decision to continue to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church.
Fr Anton Gambu, also a diocesan priest, assisted Fr Boniface.
The Holy Spirit Cathedral was packed to capacity as fellow students of Holy Spirit Primary School, parents and church members gathered to witness the momentous occasion for these young Catholics to commit to their Christian upbringing and faith.
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, the Holy Communion (or Eucharist) is one of seven sacraments that are available to the Christians in the Church to strength their faith. The other six sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation (also called confession or Penance), Anointing of the sick, Marriage and Holy Orders (ordination of priests).
The Catholic Church’s catechism affirms that the Holy Communion or the Eucharist along with Baptism and Confirmation make up the “sacraments of Christian initiation”.
Fr Mom welcomed the 109 children to the Catholic fold, especially for them to part-take in the Sacrament of Eucharist from last Friday and onwards. He highlighted the importance of children growing nourished in their Christian faith as Catholics.
He showed a piece of bread to the children and said “you are what you eat”. He said bread or any food gives nourishment and strengthen and likewise the Holy Eucharist does the same in their spiritual life as Catholics.
It is the norm at Holy Spirit Primary School that Catholic students are educated and prepared to receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion so they grow with their faith.

• Dr Kevin Pamba is based in Divine Word University, Madang.

Kicked out of Emma Hostel

By PAUL MINGA
FORCED eviction is something very painful for affected families who have no other home to move into.
Developers and their business or political cronies who are behind the scenes in negotiating deals, do it for the pleasure of money and wealth for their personal gain and enrichment. They do what seems evil when they do not spare a thought for the welfare of other people and their children.
Their very action is like turning the world upside down or in creating the darkest world for the poor evicted victims and their family members. But the pain and ordeal of the occupants of the affected settlements or National Housing Corporation-run homes is unbearable for the victims. It is pain that leaves behind scars that are unforgettable and remain in the memories of evicted families,
Eviction in fact has so many adverse effects on the occupants of a dwelling place. It affects children’s mental ability and causes psychological disorder which results in poor performing in school while some leave school for good when they realised that they have no decent home to enjoy. A child from a broken home will not be in a good state of mind to perform well academically or continue going to school after living an unhappy and shattered life.
June 18, 2019 was another usual working and a schooling day in the Port Moresby. But that very day was sad and fateful for the occupants of National Housing Corporation’s Emma Hostel at 6-Mile . It was a day that seemed not just sad but very sad and has brought a gloomy look to the face of all Emma Hostel occupants.

SOS from a friend
I received a distress call from a friend, who was a tenant of Emma Hostel.
My friend was telling me that an eviction exercise was about to be executed in a matter of an hour or so. I was at Vision City when I got the distress call from him. My friend was raising an SOS call as he needed extra hands to remove all his valuables, furniture, household goods and other personal items. As an opportunist and vagrant I was wondering how best I was going to help out my friend who was in great need of assistance in a most critical and painful situation.
If I had a car then I would have gone to several places in the city more quickly to gather more hands to help him out. But as a poor street man, I wasn’t in a better position to offer any help. I then raised the alarm further out to other friends and wantoks through mobile texts in informing them that our friend was in great need of our help. I extended the distress call to my friends and wantoks that our friend who in good times had provided our much needed basic need of food and shelter needed our help. I informed my friends that our poor friend was hoping for extra hands to remove whatever was in the house and wanted us to arrange a truck to load his stuff to a new home.
After doing what was of within my power upon receiving the distress call, I got on a route 7 PMV to Gordon from VC and then changed buses to get on a route 15 bus in the hope of getting to 6-Mile Emma Hostel where the eviction exercise was going on. After I got off the bus at 6-Mile and heading up to what we called the rain tree or Emma Lodge way from DHL and Granville Hotel, I could sense the atmosphere was tense, frightening and not welcoming as I heard wailing and the barking of dogs.
Amidst the noise of living things was the sound of heavy duty machinery that was carrying out demolition work to the hostel structures. Also ringing into my ears was the sound of splitting timber, clatter of roofing iron and crashing of bricks and other roofing structures. Of all the sound and noise ringing into my ears, I felt the atmosphere was not welcoming and I was scared and thought of turning back.
I feared going near the eviction scene as I had seen for myself in other past evictions that fully armed mobile squad police personnel never showed any mercy to bystanders and onlookers. I knew the situation at that time was volatile and was feared going any closer.

A friend in need
But I really wanted to show my good friend that a friend in need is a friend indeed. So I braved all odds and at last made my way through uniformed police personnel, the onlookers, eviction victims and others and made my through to my friend’s house. I arrived at the scene about two hours late. I noticed that the houses and units that were at the front had already been knocked down by the blow of two merciless looking excavators.
It was lucky that my friend’s house located at the far end provided us an advantage so we had ample time to remove most of the household goods and other contents on the home. Unfortunately those occupants whose houses were in front were the first to be knocked down by the two machines.
Most of my friend’s cargoes were already out when I arrived. So I joined in helping the family in removing whatever else that was needed to be removed. As we tried our utmost best to remove as many things as possible, an excavator was already at the site. We were given signals by mobile squad policemen to make way for the demolition job.
We had no choice but did as told and eventually the two excavators were busy doing what they were always good at. We stood watching helplessly as the two excavators took turns in knocking down bricks of the last standing unit of the Emma Hostel which had been a home to many public servants for more than 40 years.

No pictures allowed
During the demolition exercise I had a thought of taking my phone out to take photos of some sad and interesting scenes but felt scared as the fully armed policemen were on a lookout for any person who would be taking photos at the demolition scene.
About two months later I went up to the eviction scene to visit my friend who is now living under a makeshift shelter. During my visit last week to Emma Hostel, I saw that the place was left in ruins. My friend told me that all the evicted people, him included, were assured by a developer that he would find a piece of land to relocate them.
However, in the meantime most are living under makeshift shelters and tents while hoping for resettlement as promised by the developer. To add salt to the wounds of these NHC hostel eviction victims, my friend who did not want to reveal his identity, said that the water supply to the area has been cut off since the eviction date.
He also the children’s welfare and education were at stake as they were living under makeshift shelters without water, another basic human need.
My friend said that a human rights lawyer from within or abroad should look into their plight. He also asked for donor agencies to look into their case.
But at the moment, the former residents of 6-Mile Emma Hostel are not fully picking up life following the ordeal and nightmare of the June, 18, 2019 eviction.

• Paul Minga is a freelance writer.