Family members reunited at last

IT was an emotional day for a Western Highlands province family at the Jackson International Airport last Friday morning.
Pinina, 19, and Westley Pook, 12, of mixed parentage of Western Highlands province and Autonomous Region of Bougainville, met with their father’s relatives in Port Moresby for the first time.
Their uncle, Johannes Pook, said Tepi Pook, his brother, left his family in 1979 and flew to Bougainville for a nationwide labour recruitment in mines and plantations.
Mr Pook had thought his brother and his son had perished in the midst of the crisis that culminated later.
They were stunned in 1998, when Tepi returned to Port Moresby alive and well.
Mr Pook said he had returned with his brother to their village in the Dei district where he remained for two years until he decided to revisit his family in Bougainville.
During his time in Bougainville, Tepi married a local woman from Kieta and the couple raised four children.
Westley, 12, was only eight months old when his mother died.
Mr Pook said his niece and nephew would be with the family from now on and hoped to reunite with his brother and the niece soon.
In the mean time, there was another reunion in the nation’s capital.
 A missing wife and mother was reunited with her family following her disappearance last month.
Glenda Bill, 35, from Simbu province was reported missing on Jan 29.
Kaman Mau, who reported the matter to The National last Tuesday, was surprised  by the response the next day after the article appeared in the newspaper.
“It was to my surprise after the media reported that my wife turned up at home,” he said.
“She knew how serious I was when I went to the media.”
He said his wife had gone to live with relatives who were unaware of the nature of the family’s plight until the news report.
Glenda’s mother, upon reading the article, urged her daughter to return to her family.   
“Thank you for the report, especially for  the children who are now enjoying their mother’s love and care,” Mr Mau said.