Rain, Rain go away

I am sitting on my couch, drinking some hot tea and listening to the rain pour down.  Since we have tin roofs, rain can be a noisy presence.  In someways this could be a scene in the United States.  However, as I look at the window (made of glass louvers), everything is a verdant green, quite a difference than the October colors in the United States.  Here leaves never change color and don't drop at one time.  This long, late rain is a concern to food supply of the students.  First of all they can't always get to their gardens to dig their crops.  Second there is more occurrence of mold type plant diseases.

I have the morning off, which is normally unusual for a Tuesday.  However, this term my classes are clumped on Monday, Thursday and Friday.  So that leaves open time on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I have spent quite a bit of time working on the small school bookstore I have taken over.  It needed some repainting and other work, so I have been keeping things in boxes, and selling out of them during the Thursday afternoon hours the last couple of weeks.  However, everything is now ready to go, so I am setting it up.  It is interesting to look at the stock we carry in an area where few other stores are around.  We carry the expected pens (biros) pencils, notebooks and school books.  However we also carry guitar strings as they all have guitar lessons as part of their music classes.  Since churches do not have pianos or organs, learning the keyboard and guitar can be very useful for leading worship.  We also carry supplies that are used by our congregation and the congregations in the area.  This includes altar wine, communion wafers, and Sunday School books.  I have added in a few English language reference books the students can buy, such as the Book of Concord and theological dictionaries.  It would be nice if these were available in Tok Pisin also, but they are not.  The church press has closed down, so the schools work to make sure the Tok Pisin texts, such as Sios Histori (church history) are reprinted.

My other new adventure this term is being on the OPAC-IC committee.  OPAC (Overseas Partner Churches) includes the churches that send missionaries and this committee looks at administrative issues such as housing and insurance.  I am currently the English speaking rep. (most of the missionaries are German speaking)  We met in September and then met with the bosses who were in PNG for their annual meeting.  It all ended up being more exciting than I had expected.  The big issue was that the road to Goroka, where we were to meet, was blockaded by protestors for several days.  So, there was a lot of discussion as to whether to move the meetings or not.  There was also more fighting in the meeting than I had expected.  In retrospect I should have known that many people together would have disagreements.  However, I had previously remained blissfully ignorant of missionary politics.  Thankfully things seem to have worked out in the end.  We have another meeting on Monday and Tuesday next week.

A fun event this month has been an "Amamas" night.  This is a night we get together to eat a big meal together, have singing and other entertainments.  It is usually done at the end of the year.  But, this year we moved it up so we could say goodby to some colleagues also.  They leave this weekend to return to Germany.  They have been in Papua New Guinea for 14 years.  Christa has been a doctor at Butaweng, the local hospital.  Wolfgang has been a mainstay on the faculty here at Senior Flierl.  During my second semester here he was Academic Dean, Treasurer, Bookstore manager and taught 18 credits.  Needless to say he is hard to replace..

Time to wrap this entry up and go attend the daily staff meeting.  Have a wonderful autumn (those in the northern hemisphere)_ or a wonderful spring (those in the southern hemisphere).  Here we are just hoping the dry season returns.

Time for some catch up!

Well, time to give some summary of what has been happening in my call here in Papua New Guinea.  After that I will try to get back to regular postings

Home leave - most of June, July and August I spent on home leave.  That is when Global Missions brings you back to the US for 2 months.  I added on vacation time to make it closer to 3 months.  This time is partly vacation, especially nice to catching up with friends and family.It is partly work tie, visiting sponsoring congregations and attending a Summer Missionary Conference

Back to Senor Flierl - I have been back to the seminary for about a month now.ame right at the end of a term so have not been teaching. However, I will be back to teaching at the end of this week. I will be teaching three English classes.

I have also taken on some  new responsibilities.  This includes running the small campus bookstore and being the English speaking rep. on OPAC-IC, a group that helps coordinate services for Lutheran Overseas Missionaries.

Time to go to bed.  I am currently in Lae, having been to a conference in Goroka.  Tomorrow I will catch a speed boat back to Logaweng.

Preaching adventures

Going to Kwalansawa 

I am the leader of a Waspapa group, or in my case a Wasmama group.  In this role I act as an advisor for some studeents and their families. Members of the staff also participate. We get together every other Wednesday night to worship together.  I also look over the men`'s exigesis and preaching manuscripts.

One of our activities each year is going to a congregation in the region and doing the service for them.  Since they usually don't have phones planning is an interesting exercise in oral communication.  This year we went to the home area (asples) of Asemba, one of our staff members.  Fortunately he took care of the organization part - talking to someone who would talk with the church leaders.  Then the church leaders sent word back via this friend. 

My Waspapa group has only 7 students, but they, along with Asemba, have many children (11 I think).  This means that we were able to take the school truck. Otherwise adults are considered able to walk.  However, this village was about 15 kilometers away, so it would have been quite a walk!  Some groups walk to their church on Saturday and then walk home after church on Sunday.  Since it is the rainy season the drive was quite an adventure.  Fortunately Asemba  is the school driver and knows the roads, so he did an excellent job of getting us there.  The road is muddy and several of the crossings had some water on them.  At one crossing we had the high school aged sons of Asemba walk across first, so we were able to see how deep the water was.  Otherwise we would have had to wait until the water went down.

I did the preaching and the students did the rest of the service.  I have several excellent students and they did a great job of organizing and presenting everything.  Two of the Year 5 students came Saturday night and helped straighten out the language in my sermon manuscript. 

The church was open air like many of the churches here.  The side walls go up to only about waist high.  Then it is open air from there to the ceiling.  There is a wide, covered area outside the church.  During the worship I was wondering why there were so few women in the church.  Then when I got up to preach I saw that many of the women were sitting on benches outside.  There were few children at worship, so I assume they were in Sunday School.  There is a high birthrate in PNG, so normally there are children everywhere.  Several dogs did wander in and out.

Afterwards we went to the covered platform area in the center of the town.  They provided us with lovely food.  This included the usual staples of corn, sweet potatoes and cooking bananas.  There was also some luxury food like rice.  A real treat for me was all the fish as the village in on the ocean.  Afterwards they sent us home with bags of sweet potatoes, taro, and other foods that travel well.  Since this is a time that food shortages are common, it was very much appreciated by the students and their families.  The gift also included buai or betel nut which most adults here chew.  I haven't started chewing it, so they gave me some lovely grapefruit instead.

Preaching on 2nd Kings

I preached on 2 Kings 2:1- 11 at morning chapel on Friday, May 30.. One difference with week day preaching is that I have to (get to?) preach on texts I am not that I do not know as well as the Sunday texts.. This last year is the first time I have preached from Revelations and 2 Kings. It is a good thing I still use a proof reader for my Tok Pisin. Among the mistakes I had made were confusing to surprise (kirap) with dance (kalap). So, the priest of Baal were surprising around the altar and the disciples were dancing while Jesus ascended into Heaven. Actually the second one has some good theological potentials! 

Hearing loss considered

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I have lost much of the hearing in my left ear. In some ways Senior Flierl Seminary is a great environment for someone with a hearing loss. It is such a small community that every adult knows I have a hearing problem and are good about repeating if necessary. 

This has also given me some new insights.  I sometimes have trouble hearing students in the classroom, especially when rain is coming down on the metal roof. I think the most frustrating time is during church, including our daily 
chapel.The women are not allowed to sit in the front rows, (we sit in 
the back right hand side) so I can't get close enough to always hear. 
The fact that I still struggle with Tok Pisin adds to the challenge. 
Fortunately our students are trained to work in environments without 
microphones, so they generally know how to speak loudly.

There are some interesting differences in how the Germans versus the 
nationals respond to my loss. In Germany, like America, quite a few 
people have dulled hearing due to noise exposure. Several people have 
compared their experience to mine or told me about friends that wear 
hearing aids. The nationals (people from Papua New Guinea) are much more puzzled by this loss. In a culture with very few engines or music 
amplification, adult onset hearing losses are less common. Also since 
they die younger, fewer develop old age hearing loss. They are much more used to ear infections and ear drum injuries, so expect the doctors to be able to do something. Especially when I came back from Australia, they assumed I would be cured. I think some of them expect me to be cured when I get back from the US and home leave. Cure is unlikely, but I may come back with a hearing aid. I think people will be quite intrigued by one.

The Rainy Season

The rainy season has arrived!  There is a big change in the weather.  It is cooler,though not cold by Wisconsin standards.   I do enjoy using a blanket at night.    I often wear a jacket in the early mornings and evenings, but not too much during the day. I am also thankful for some waterproof, close toed shoes to negotiate the muddy paths here. The big feature of the weather is RAIN!  It often rains quite heavy for short periods of time.  However, last Saturday it did rain for 12 hours straight.  Umbrellas are an important part of  life.  Most classroom entrances have a area for you to put your umbrellas and lean them against the wall.  Outside church we stick the umbrellas in the holes in the concrete blocks that hold up the roof over the entry way.

It is interesting that there is no one uniform rainy season in PNG.  Rainy season depends on the trade winds coming in from the ocean.  These trade winds shift during the months and the rainy season comes when the trade winds come off the ocean in your area.  Being an island means there is always someplace getting a rainy season.

Another major feature is that it is overcast most of the time.  Since many people wake up at dawn, the darker sky means the dawn is less noticeable  and often people sleep longer during the rainy season.  Most people don't have clocks or alarm clocks so the sun is an important factor.  There is a bell that rings at 6 a.m. to warn the men they have 1 hour to prepare for the 7 a.m. classes.  Also, my hot water comes from a solar tank, so the amount of hot water is limited.

It is also a difficult time for growing food because there is too much rain.  The seminary will likely have to give rice to some families that don't have enough food from their garden.

Medical Adventures in Papua New Guinea (and Australia)

I am sorry I have not been posting much the last month. My life ended up taking a detour through the adventures of medical care in Papua New Guinea.

At the end of last term, I had a cold/ throat infection. After that my left ear felt full and I wasn't hearing well out of it. I assumed that it was either a middle ear infection or a wax blockage. After the Women's Retreat (for which I was a leader) I checked in with my two German friends who are doctors at the local hospital (Dr. Christa Thumser and Dr. Demaris Kneif). After some work on the ear, they realized that there wasn't that much wax in there and the ear drum looked fine. So, they gave me that name of an ENT in Lae, the nearest city.

Since it was Holy Week and I was confused about the doctor's name, it was a week before I saw the ENT. He referred me for a hearing exam with an audiologist. After a day of chasing around after the test (first try the power was out) I had the hearing test, but not the tympanogram (which is what I most needed). Finally I was told that I would have to fly up to Goroka to get that test. I decided that I didn't want to risk having the same go around of problems and made an appointment in Australia instead. Thankfully, my Boss, Pr. Franklin Ishida, gave me the go ahead.

I finally saw an ENT in Australia that was able to do the neccesary testing. It turns out to be a senory-neural loss for which there is not any medical treatment. The hearing in my left ear is quite reduced and I have fair amount of tinnitus (ringing or buzzing sounds) in that ear. Usually this sort of loss is tied in to a head injury or loud noise exposure, but can happen spontaneously, which is what apparently happened in my case. I go back to the US on home leave in two months. I will have further testing and decide whether to try out a hearing aid.

This was all quite a shock to me. I have always had good hearing and expected to not loose any hearing until into my 70s or 80s. So far the biggest problem has been hearing students in the classroom. I tell them that they have to speak up (especially on the left hand side of the classroom) but we are all getting used to the situation.

It was also sobering to have so much trouble with getting medical care in PNG when I had traveled to the referral hospital for the area. Even with access to a car and "waitskin priviledge" I spent a lot of time just trying to get what would be basic services in the U.S. I am very thankful that I was able to go to Australia and feel for the locals who do not have that option. I also understand why other internationals (and rich nationals) do almost all their medical work in Australia. I will certainly consider going to Australia more quickly next time.

With all this traveling around I missed teaching the first two weeks of the term. Fortunately everyone was supportive of my efforts to get treatment and helped cover things for me. Now I am busy teaching my two English classes, a library class, a study skills class and an elective class on International Church Issues.

New School Year Continues

Well, we are close to half way through the first semester. Our semester is broken into two terms and each term is 10 weeks each. We just finished week 8 of term 1. Unfortunately I feel behind on things and will have to do a lot of paper correcting tonight to get caught up. I tend to teach in an American style with lots of student projects, worksheets and short written assignments. Many teachers here lecture and write things on the board. The students then write down and memorize what is on the board. Sometimes the students seem puzzled that I don't seem to have more to say. However, I think active learning is important, especially in teaching English. I am the "queen of the photocopier" here, photocopying worksheet and reading assignments. We had a wonderful new photocopier, but we ran out of toner The last time someone went to buy toner there was none available. I pray that the current shopping trip in Lae is successful in finding some. Meanwhile I limp along with the old one.

I have started two informal conversation groups. Many people have commented that they can read and write English, but don't feel comfortable speaking it. So, I meet with some of the faculty every other Monday. At our first meeting 5 of them came. I have had my first meeting with staff and students on Friday night - 19 came. We hope to meet every Friday and spend some time talking about a set issue and some time just talking. Fortunately, the two volunteers from Germany are helping. One of them, Marlene has excellent English. The other one, Christian, is a good speaker, but makes some mistakes. Fortunately he is a fearless speaker, asking questions when he is not sure how to say something. I think he acted as a good role model for some of the students who also are good speakers, but are shy about saying things. I do have sympathy with the shyness of speaking. When I chat with friends I can do OK with Tok Pisin. However, when I get up to make an announcement in church I really freeze.

A time to be born and a time to die...

Death and sorrow has come to our campus here at Senior Flierl Seminary. The infant son of one of our students died a few minutes after his birth in the hospital this morning. I guess it is a reflection of the high infant mortality rate how quiet the reaction has been. A small coffin was made and the child was buried in our little cemetery this afternoon. We are not cancelling classes, though it was discussed that we would possibly cancel them if it had been an older child. For an adult there would be a week of "haus krai" or large community mourning gatherings that included food, worship services and loud wailing. However, the family is still being cared for - food, people to cry with,prayer gatherings at their house etc.

Ironically, a mother of a 4 month old was telling me last week how Logaweng is a good place to have a baby. She said that all the babies "kamap strong" or "grow up healthy". Despite this death, we likely do have a lower infant mortality than most places.(PNG average is 55.9 per 1000 live births. U.S. is 7.1) We have the advantage of being close to Braun Memorial Health Center. Our women usually go and stay down there close to the time of their delivery. That way we are not trying to drive them down the mountain while they are in labor or suffering possible complications in a home delivery. Last year a set of twins were delivered by cesearian section. Without that intervention they likely would have both died.

On the brighter side, my niece Diane Klavano Hennebert had a healthy baby boy - Robert Charles. He is "7 lbs 9 oz and 19.5 in of perfection!" according to his mother. this birth is especially joyous as Diane had a very difficult first pregnancy and it had been predicted she would not be able to have more children. It makes me happy that she was able to get the medical help to make this new miracle possible. I look forward to meeting him this summer.

Random Thought from the new semester

Below are some Facebook posts I made during the last month, mainly about the start of the new semester.

from January 28
Vacation is over. We have our first day of student orientation today here at Senior Flierl Seminary. Our orientation is for all students, not just new students. Today we had a good opening worship at 7:30 a.m. Now the students are registering and I am avoiding doing laundry. It is fun to see the students again. The year two students are allowed to bring their families along. So, some of the young men I thought of as bachelors last year now have wives and children with them. It is a bit dizzying.

from January 30
Orientation seems to be going well. It is a relief that all of the teachers expected have showed up to work (last year we had a no-show) and we will be starting on time. A few students have not showed up, but some are still on their way. The principal got a call from the district president in Goroka that two students got stranded when a boat did not run, but should arrive in town today. [note - it actually was two weeks before we had everyone}

Another bit of good news is that I have started receiving mail again (our post office had reopened, but there was no ship to bring the mail to our area). However, all I have received is mail sent to me in late November/ early December. It seems that earlier mail (including my birthday and Christmas boxes) is still in hiding somewhere. I hope to get to the post office soon and talk to them.

from January 31
More mail! They made another stop at the post office and came back with lots of boxes. I received both my birthday box and my Christmas box. I even received the textbooks from Amazon.com that I want to use on Monday.

from February 4
first day of classes went well. The new first year class has 17 students in it, fewer than we had hoped for, but a nice number. I had them for English during their first period of classes. They seemed scared but I would guess they will recover quickly.

from February 5
ah, the mysteries of shopping in another country. The local primary school has opened so I was able to ride down on the bus to do some shopping. They sell Amoxicillin over the counter (nice) and one of the choices of shampoo scents is garlic (strange). It was made in China, is fear of vampires an issue? [note - they also carry shampoo with ginger or olive oil scents].

from February 26
I just survived a 4 hour budget meeting here at Logaweng. Unfortunately there will be more discussion next Tuesday. I guess it is a necessary evil, but I can handle numbers for only short periods of time. Since there were only 10 of us at the meeting I felt I couldn't read in secret.

from February 28
Many days I feel mainly like an English Teacher, but this weekend my role as pastor is coming to the foreground. I did the Friday morning chapel (with sermon) in Tok Pisin this morning. Then on Sunday evening I will give the sermon at the English Language Lotu. So, in three days I am giving sermons in two languages on two different texts. Life is not dull.

January Activities

I din't blog during the January Holiday, so will try to do some summarizing

Orientation at the Melanisian Institute learn, learn, learn

After Australia I spent 19 days at a cultural orientation for international missionaries that have come to work in PNG. The missionaries were Lutheran (7), Anglican(1), United - Methodists and Presbyterians (1) and Roman Catholic (14). We represented a total of 10 countries and 4 continents. Part of the joy of the orientation was spending time with each other, as well as what we learned. It was put on by the Melanisian Institute, which does research and publications regarding the churches and Melanisian culture (PNG is considered part of Melanisia.)

One of the things that was reinforced to me during the orientation is the wide variety of cultures that still exist in PNG. Because of the rugged terrain, villages just a few kilometers apart may have been separated by rugged mountains and have totally different languages and cultures. The islands were also settled by various waves of immigrants prehistorically, so that accentuates the variety of languages, cultural bases (such as matrilineal versus matrilineal) and genetics. While increased communication and travel is breaking this down some places, it is still quite strong. I remember that before I left the U.S. a friend that taught at a tribal college in North Dakota mentioned that I would likely be surprised how important the tribe is to people. His is right (though tribe is not the term used here).
A related concept is importance of the “wantok” system. “Wantok” is literally one who speaks your language, but means someone from your same area or “ples”. Your wantoks are very important and are much like an extended family. The advantage of this system is that you have a sense of belonging and a built in safety net. For example, if you move to the city and don’t have a job, a wantok will give you food and a place to stay. There are disadvantages also. For example, there is the perception that doctors and other professionals give better care to their wantoks. Also, successful people can be drained by all the wantoks asking for help.

These strong ties to your area make places like Senior Flierl very special. Here people live, study and play together from a wide variety of areas. We have to be respectful of each other’s traditions and ways. It makes me look at what is truly Christian versus what is part of my European/ American culture. Living together in community has a different focus than the seminary I attended. At Wartburg there was an emphasis on community, but also specific rules of behavior. For example, people who were kicked out of my seminary had violated specific rules. Here it is more often the violation of the peace of the community that is the greater problem. For example, when two students had a fist-fight, (in the evening after class), they had to apologize to their classmates as part of their restitution. Two other students were in danger of being expelled until they had a service of reconciliation.

Two other important issues stood out to me in my orientation. One was the ongoing problems of law and order. Many of the bigger places, like Lae and Port Moresby, have serious security issues. One of the underlying factors is police corruption. Another factor is that people are more focused on taking care of their wantoks than being concerned for the whole community. Another major issue is fear of sorcery. For example, when someone gets seriously ill, the question may be who caused the illness instead of what caused the illness. This has lead to people who are accused of sorcery being tortured or killed. How the church should respond to this is an ongoing debate. This is when those of us from the “western world” often are at a disadvantage. We generally reject the whole idea of demons and have trouble tying together Jesus’ handling of demons to current questions.


Australia - shop, shop, shop

I spent a week vacationing in Cairns, which is in the northern-eastern part of Australia and the closest city to Papua New Guinea. While Cairns is a nice city, with beautiful beaches, I didn't sight-see much. Having spent time on Tami Island, any place that had roads and cars seemed too developed. I did take a tour bus up to the Daintree Rain Forest. It looked a lot like PNG, but I appreciated the boardwalks and the excellent guide who could explain about a lot of the birds and insects. It was also beautiful to drive along the coast and see the beautiful rocky coasts and sandy beaches.

I normally don't consider myself much of a shopper. However, after 15 months outside of large stores, my inner shopper was awakened. Compared to PNG there was a wider selection, stores more easily accessed, and most things were cheaper. For example, I was able to check out prices on a external hard drive just walking from store to store within the mall. I ended up buying an extra suitcase for the clothes, toiletries, electronics and books that I bought. I also got some dental work done.

Cairns is one of the most intensively tourist cities I have spent time in. Many of the tourist were from Japan and Europe. So, almost every block of the shopping district had a money exchange shop and a place to book tours. I ended up talking quite a bit to shop owners as they were the only locals I ran into. There was some comfort level involved with it being full of people who looked like and sounded more like me, it also seemed a bit dull. So, I was glad I want and glad to come back to PNG

-