TRAVEL

Weekender

Island getaway

“In order to write about life, first you must live it.”-Ernest Heming way
Frolicking on sand and surf.

By REBECCA KUKU
LAST week Saturday, the PNG Fashion and Design Week team, who are in Kavieng, New Ireland running a 13-day fashion and design festival workshop went on a weekend trip to the beautiful Tsoi Island.
After hearing about and seeing pictures of the place on social media, provincial NBC director Roline Likas, renowned Papua New Guinea designer, AA Tribal’s Anna Amos, photographer Lynn Jonah, PNGFDW admin girl, Litemele Stevens and I were just beyond excited.
We planned three days in advance, bought our matching meri blouses from the Kavieng waterfront market, got our laplaps and food supplies from the J-Tong Supermarket and there we were, drinking wine and toasting the trip, seated on the planks inside the banana boat. There was laughter all around and talks of flooding social media with our pictures, once we arrived.
My mother called and when I told her about the trip to the islands, she being the person she was, literally screamed at me to not go, and me being me, I just laughed at her.
The sea was calm, the islands were beautiful and it took us about an hour and a half to finally reach Tsoi Island. And it was breath-takingly beautiful. The sun was just setting as we arrived and the island was cast in golden rays.
Staff at a the Lumeuas Retreat welcomed us and built us a little bonfire on the side of the white sandy beach, as we played good music from the 80s and 90s and talked about anything and everything. I realised that we had become so engrossed with our phones and social media that it was so rare to have real conversations these days.

Bungalows at the Lumeuas Retreat.

We were served with local dishes for dinner. and there was fish, fish and fish…
There’s no electricity on the island, no phone network, but the stars were brighter and the moon when it came out, was just magical. And in the night, we went into our bungalows, as the sound of the waves and the insects lulled us to sleep.
On Sunday morning, we were the first ones to wake up as we all wanted to see the sun rise. Our host, Leah Usurup, had breakfast ready and of course there was fish, fish and lots of fish.
After breakfast, we set out in the banana boat and went to a nearby island, with white sandy beach and the clearest blue seas I’ve ever seen in my life. We spent the day swimming, taking pictures, making memories and just laughing. It seemed we all needed that break and we just had a good time.
By 1pm we headed back to the Lumeuas Retreat, had a Papua New Guinean lunch, the best creamed rice with Ox and Palm and yes, there was fish, fish, and lots of fish.

A photographer’s paradise.

After lunch, we packed our stuff, thanked Usurup for the amazing experience and boarded the banana boat to head back into Kavieng town as the workshop would resume the next day. There was a sense of excitement in the air, as we chatted and laughed and looked forward to getting back into town.
However, after 20 minutes out on the sea, the wind started blowing, the waves got bigger and bigger and of course, we were all quiet. All I could think of was, “Mummy, why didn’t I listen to you and stayed back in Kavieng town?” I didn’t dare to think of my babies; those first five minutes, my whole 30 years of life flashed before my eyes. It was like I was watching my life on a big flat screen in the deep dark seas.
I quickly recited Psalm 23, a habit I had since I was a kid whenever I felt scared. Just then, another big wave came, I heard a scream, so raw with fear as someone started praying, almost crying at the back of the banana boat. I tried not to turn back and look but the half screams, half prayer made me turn, and that’s when all the fear vanished and I started laughing!
The skipper was amazing, he rode the waves almost like he was surfing. We swayed left and right, a couple of times, we went sideways, almost capsizing but like a sports car turning a curve on full speed, he got the boat back on track and on and on we went, surfing the big blue dark sea. There was no island in sight, just endless waves of dark blue sea and that’s when the saying “In order to write about life, first you must live it,” by Ernest Hemingway came to mind.
I’ve never written about people from the coast, from the islands, Papua New Guineans who had to brave these seas to access basic services in town. This was me, living one day of what they experience almost their whole lives. And I found peace, knowing, there was a reason for everything, and I must first live it.
To say that Kavieng town was a welcoming sight from a far would be an understatement. Kavieng looked more like heaven when it came in sight at that moment. Tsoi Island was beautiful but at that moment, the sight of Kavieng town beat the island’s beauty. All we saw was the land, sweet earth.
But one thing is for sure, we’re definitely heading out there again to the beautiful Tsoi Island.


Village fund pays out farmers

By CORA MOABI
MEMBERS of SK2 Linupa Farmers Cooperative Society in Unggai-Bena District of Eastern Highlands have been paid a total share-out of K64,000 from their village savings and loans association (VSLA) or village bank.
The share-out was distributed amongst all its members in a colourful ceremony in Sogomi village, in Bena recently.
The event was witnessed by Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC), Care International, Mercy Works, Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA), New Guinea Highlands Coffee Export and the surrounding communities in Sogomi.
CIC principal socio-economist, Dr. Reuben Sengere said the scheme had operated for up to 12 months. “During this period, members made savings, obtained loans from it to run or initiate entrepreneurial activities. In the process of doing this, it provided a very practical dimension to financial education as well as enhance micro entrepreneurial activities.”
Group leader Pastor Albert Ukaiya said in 2009, CIC initiated a research project through the financial support of the Australian Center for International Agriculture Research (Aciar) with collaborative partners such as Care International and Curtin University.
He said through this research work, the partners identified the farmers’ struggles and one of them was their lack of knowledge on saving money, which was addressed through the VSLA concept.
“The research work carried out by these development partners identified our struggles. One of them was how to properly save our earnings from coffee or vegetable sales. I can proudly say today that we have successfully come out of the VSLA concept since 2018 and you will witness this presentation to members today.”
Ukaiya said under the four groups, they would like to pursue other projects such as eco-friendly coffee project, bilum-making, create a rural-urban marketing system, and conducting a community basic needs training for its members.
Women representative, Tali Mati spoke well of the concept which has assisted mostly mothers in Sogomi. A men’s group emerged as a result of the positive outcomes of the three women groups. She said the association or ‘hauslain’ bank has really opened their eyes to see things differently in terms of saving and managing their earnings in a safe and secured place.
“We thank CIC and all its partners for bringing this ‘hauslain’ bank to our doorsteps.”
She said although it involved a lot of patience and hard work, they were seeing some positive changes and are willing to continue using this ‘hauslain’ bank.
In addition to the VSLA share-out, more than K5,000 was distributed to cooperative members who bring in ripe cherries to be processed at a central wet mill in the area. This is from second sales of group coffee. The group is producing premium quality coffee and getting a price of K10 per kilogram from an exporter based in Goroka. Ukaiya says this is the first time for the group to receive a higher price. He said they would not give up but continue to experiment and seek advice to help produce the best quality coffee.
CIC general manager for Industry Operations, Steven Tumae told the community to hold onto the good initiatives they have implemented. “With perseverance and support from good partners, you will surely progress and see improvement in your livelihood,” Tumae said.
He encouraged the youths to go back to the village and help their parents till the land as there is money from hard work and commitment.
The VSLA model provides benefits for women who have low literacy and whose access to the formal banking sector is limited. The savings and loans group has proved successful in advancing savings among women and providing them with access to loans. Moreover, it has had an overall positive impact on facilitating women’s movement into new income-generating/small enterprise activities and providing women with new life experiences.
Village savings and loans is a savings group formed by members of a village or community. It is guided by a constitution and runs for a certain amount of time after which members of the group are given back their money with interests during a share-out. Members of the group buy shares at the start of a cycle (beginning of a year) as their savings. They are allowed to borrow funds according to how much savings they have in their passbooks and repay with interest back to the group within a given time, contributing to the group’s dividends.

  • Cora Moabi is the media and communications officer at Coffee Industry Corporation.