The spirit of Christmas By

Weekender

By PISAI GUMAR
THE first glimpse of Christmas sunlight brought villagers of out in the early morning mist before the sun lighted the dewy shadows.
A blanket of fog still hung over the Nondot and Kamdarang mountains, East of Sarawaget Range, in Morobe.
This was the interior waters of Erap.
People slowly left their thatched bamboo leaf houses to search for food to place on the fires that were already burning and adding to the thick blanket of fog surrounding the area. Irt was Christmas day and while the folks in towns around PNG were celebrating in style and looking forward to presents and eating and drinking to their hearts desire, there was not much change for the little people in the villages on this special day.
For rural villages, Christmas is a time for worship. It is a no-frills celebration of the birth of Christ, just as the first shepherds- people of not much standing in society- were chosen by God to witness the birth of Christ in a lowly manger in Bethlehem.
Finally, the sun managed to pierce through the haze to lift the spirits of the people of Nondot, Bolopan, Kamdarang, Saut and Lamang villages.
They are nestled on the border of Derim and Dinagat in Kabwum.
It seemed as though the darkness of misery was lifted off the people who had never seen much change in their lives.
Every Christmas and New Year has been the same. Apart from the Word of God, there was nothing else to celebrate for these people who live high up in the mountains which isn’t accessible by road.
To catch a vehicle into Lae means a good 10 hours walk to a PMV stop.
When it rains, even the bush track is a little muddy and a walking stick will definitely come in handy.
Cozily wrapped under a thick grey blanket, next to a fireplace, I struggled to get up as a lone rooster’s crow down towards the foothills of Kokosang village awakened me from my slumber.
I hurried out to observe the sunrise that was already streaming onto the iron roofing of a church building.
The people of Kokosang had contributed towards the K52,000 building which was opened in 1988.
The church was now decorated in aromatic leaves and plants from the bush for the Christmas service.
Nearby, a double storey elementary school classroom and three incomplete teacher’s houses sat rotting.
There wasn’t enough money to complete them.
The interior Erap villages are home to 26,735 inhabitants that speak the Nema language.
The nearest aid post and school is a day’s walk away at Lovai Two.
Four days before Christmas, a landslip at Sabang village had troubled the people of the 45 villages that make up the Lower Erap, Middle Erap and Upper Erap areas.
Sabang is 30km away from the main Markham highway by dirt road. An estimated 350m of road was damaged during the landslip.
Vice Education Minister and Nawaeb MP Gisuwat Siniwin has estimated that it would cost K30m to fix the damaged section of the road which has rendered the road in accessible.
People who use road transport to as far as Lovai One to northeast and Finongan to the northwest now have to walk from where the damage happened which can take up to 10 hours for villagers further up the mountains.
To shoulder extra cargo along these walks is extreme, to say the least. From across the fire place, the MP was still snuggled under a blanket.
A total of 10 hours of trekking over two days is enough to exhaust even a tough leader from the mountains.
Two nights ago, Siniwin had spent at Lovai Two after a six hour walk.
Yesterday was another four-hour walk to Kokosang through some tough and rugged terrain. The 90 degree climb up Kru Sako Mountain and then negotiating the treacherous mountain side towards Kokosang really does sap the energy and weakens the muscles.
Amid the trek overlooking Gom and Tagup villages to the east, the heavens opened up. The storm rocked the mountain top as lightning strikes and gale force winds brought down tree branches.
The trip was to visit the people who live under the Birakparang Mountain, one of the least visited places in the Nawaeb constituency mainly because it is hidden behind the mountains and is difficult to access.
No MP has ever visited there since 1975, and even before that.
One main wish that the people expressed is for a road to link them to the outside so they don’t have to walk for hours in bush land to get to where they want to go.
Christmas for the people of Nondot, Kamdarang, Bolopan, Saut, Lamang, Damet, Kokosang, Tagup and Gom villages was bright indeed as they brought first harvests from their gardens to share with the 20 or so visitors.
They rejoiced much that day in church. The young people beat on their kundu drums to lead the church proceedings and stayed true to their faith in God. Who knows, there may be better things to come.