LIFESTYLE

Youth initiative gains momentum

By EHEYUC SESERU
TO see young people taking an initiative in organising themselves for purpose-driven and meaningful living is reassuring.
Youths are generally perceived as a liability who cannot provide anything good to society just because most are still living under their parents’ care or not formally employed. However, some young men and women have proven that perception wrong by trying to do something themselves, for the better.
Youths from Boana in Nawaeb, Morobe, who reside at Busu Compound in Lae, have done just that by launching an association with the aim of reducing social issues in their community. These young people aged between 12 and 35 years of age, have formed a group which would be a mouthpiece for them and a vehicle to bring about change in the community.
The Busu-Boana Youth Association comprises of youths from Wain-Erap local level government (LLG) who reside at the compound near the Malahang industrial centre. It all started with an idea by a tertiary student in the community, Tonias Samati who is currently doing second year physiotherapy residency at Angau Memorial General Hospital.
Samati graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Divine Word University’s Madang campus last March, and is the association’s advisor. He was a recipient of Morobe government’s Gerson-Solulu tertiary scholarship programme, during his four years at university.
After observing boys in the community engaging in the production and consumption of illicit substances, and ended up in unlawful activities disturbing peace of the families, Samati and a few other peers of his decided to do something about it.
“We pondered for moment and thought of how life has thrown at us these choices that we can’t handle. The girls were also involved in illegal activities and most ended up getting pregnant without being properly married.
“Their children are fatherless, which became an added burden to the already stressed extended families and the socially-ill community,” Samati said. He said, “As an elite and someone who was privileged to be educated to that level. I felt that I have to give something back to my people and community, apart from being employed and professionally serving others as a physiotherapist.
“So we got the ball rolling and now here we are.”

Addressing parents and other members of the community, Samait said: You have seen how we have been conducting ourselves and lived our lives. We have done and been involved in so many bad activities.
“On top of that we’ve lived with a lot of negative thoughts and said a lot of bad things. The turning point was a small conviction thought that we were not born to be just nobody and decorate the community.
“We must become somebody like all of you. So we wanted change in our lives. We realised that we can’t be like this, but must change for the better. At this juncture, we would like to thank God the Father for creating us, giving us life, sustaining, giving ideas, thoughts, wisdom, understanding, and will continue to help us to live life.”
The association was launched in late June. Community leaders, Ahi LLG Ward 12 councilor and vice president Seth Muliam as well as youths from other suburbs attending the event.
Samati said youths who were unemployed or not in school tended to cause problems in their communities through bad behaviour.
He said it was important for this segment of the community to be engaged and given value in order for them to benefit from their initiative and become assets to society.
“We want to be the change ourselves by removing the negative names and perceptions others had on us,” he said.
“We want to contribute positively to the community. We want to become somebody and restore lost respect. We want changes in our lives.”
Samati said the youths were advised by their ward councilor to organise themselves to become good citizens.
They contributed some money and raised the rest of it to register the association.
“From there we started with a first fundraising activity by hosting a coffee night. We had few more coffee night sales and later came up with the amount needed for registering the association.
“We’ve struggled and did something ourselves to come this far.”
He urged the community to pray and appealed to stakeholders and government to support the association to be strong in order to help youths involved in activities to reduce crime in the community and city.
Also on hand to witness the launching was former Morobe Tertiary students Union president and Seventh Street youth member Hans Roy Gwaiko, who shared his experiences with the Lae urban Ward Two Youth Association and encouraged the young people to remain firm and committed to build the association.
“This is a new association, and there would be challenges. But whatever dreams and goals that you have, stay focused and cling onto them. There’ll be help coming and something good would transpire from this association. Don’t feel hopeless and never give up hope.” Gwaiko told parents and the community to support the youths, and hopefully in future government authorities would support the association.

“Walk with faith aligning with your objectives and you will see great things happening,” he exhorted the youth association.
“God is the source of everything and he alone makes all impossible becomes possible; never forgot about the creator. Don’t forget Anutu, keep the habit of praying, cooperating and you’ll see fruits of what you have started.”
He appealed to community and youths to start changing to see great things happening.
There are people from all walks of life making up a community. Representing the professionals was former provincial government worker Jerry Lamu, who said he felt a little guilty that parents were not taking the lead in organising the youths.
“I am ashamed because we as parents should be the ones leading you guys but we haven’t played our part.”
He further agreed that youth issues were a time bomb and would explode with catastrophic impacts on community.
“We parents created the time bomb and left it there. It will explode soon. There’s a lot of children around here that I call ‘mistake pikinini’, for they were not properly planned by parents.”
“Children’s actions and involvement in negative activities are a result of parents not planning and having control over them.
“The association is not just for us and current youths, but this organisation would go a long way for the future of all our children in this community,” said Lamu.
Muliam gave K300 to association as a start-up capital. He said as ward member and vice president of Ahi LLG, he did not much in terms of finances to support the association but would provide advice when needed.
“I am very happy that you (association) have started small and launched yourself. You’ve taken my advice and worked hard to have this association registered. Thank you for your desire to keep working to see positive change in our community.
“Parents must be proud, and please give full support to these youths.”

Gone but their stories will remain

By DANIEL KUMBON
FOUR elderly people died recently, a couple of weeks from each other immediately after my book Victory Song of Pingeta’s Daughter was published.
The oldest of them all was Thadeus Kaka Menge who died most recently at his beloved Kopen village near Wabag on Wednesday, Aug 25 at a festive time when the Society of Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) celebrated 125 years of work in PNG.
Thaddeus and another man named Pupukain were the first to give land to two SVD missionaries who came to their village in 1948 to build the first church in the area.
He was over 100 years of age and had witnessed the Tole massacre in which, Pingeta the Piao leader was shot dead by Mick Leahy in 1934.
This incident is featured in the documentary film ‘First Contact’ and a book of the same name. Pingeta was Tukim’s mother. Tukim is prominent Enga businessman, Cr Paul Kurai’ mother.
Paul Kurai had asked me to write a profile of his bosboi father late Joseph Kurai Tapus whom I found out had assisted the kiaps or government patrol officers to pacify Wabag district. In the course of my research, I met Thaddeus Kaka Menge at Kopen in 2019.
When Pingeta was shot dead, his wife had disappeared somewhere, perhaps killed by enemies or drowned in the Lai or Ambum river.
He told me how he had given them land and how he witnessed the transformation of the place and people.
Immediate relatives will continue to miss their loved ones and I of course share in their sorrow but I am glad at the same because I recorded their stories in the book for posterity.
I feel privileged to have compiled the family profile of the bosboi Joseph Kurai Tapus of Kaiap village in Wabag. In writing the book, I have immortalised the four people forever.
I wrote about Kipaukwan, Joseph Kurai’s eighth wife. She had been a great soccer player and had stood for election, one of the few women in Enga province to have done so.
In fact, I had written about Kipaukwan in the early 1980s when she worked with the Enga law and order project under the World Bank-funded project called ‘Enga Yakaa Laseamana or EYL for short.
After my book Victory Song of Pingeta’s Daughter came out, the first person to pass on was Cr Alapyala of Monokam in the Ambum valley. He died a couple of weeks after I’d interviewed him in Wabag. I was able to attend his funeral and used a picture in the book which came out a few weeks later.
Cr Alapyala had assisted Joseph Kurai Tapus in opening up the Kompiam Ambum valleys during the colonial administration period.
Then Joe Tamlane Kurai, the first son of Joseph Kurai died. He had trained as a correctional officer and had built the first permanent house for his father at Kaiap village. He is the reason why his mother, Tukim composed a song, which is the title of my book.
She had been despised by some members of the Kamainwan tribe because she was short. She was prompted to compose the song because Joseph Kurai’s first wife had died young without giving him any children.
This left Tukim and her brother as orphans. They were taken in by their uncle. She was not a pretty girl and at the same time short. But Joseph Kurai Tapus selected her to take the place as first wife. Has it turned out, Kurai had made the right choice.