Haus meri (post by Bill & Liz)

Julie has a haus meri who comes to the house once a week to do some cleaning. Most missionaries in Ukarumpa have a haus meri because it gives some employment to the local people who have little cash.

Julie’s haus meri is called Nekina and she is a very nice lady. She made a bilum for Liz and is now working on one for Julie. She tried to show Liz how to make a bilum, but Liz thought it looked hard.

Here are all of us with Nekina:

Kainantu Cultural Centre (post by Bill & Liz)

Kainantu has a cultural centre that displays some local handiworks, such as weaving rugs. Pottery is also made on site, although pottery is not a traditional craft, it is a skill that the local people have taken up to create income. The pottery available to buy includes teapots, mugs, vases and other pottery type items. We bought a teapot, mug and a vase.

Here are some photos of the cultural centre which show traditional artwork on the doors and carving on a pole.

What's been happening? (Post by Bill & Liz)

Since we last spoke, we have spent 3 nights at Jais Aben in Madang - a little bit of luxury before the village! We spent 5 nights in the village which we enjoyed although challenging at times. The sea was warm and unbelievably the river was even warmer! We got used to Julie being called by her village name - Mogom. We are now back at Madang, staying at the SIL Centre. We are just spending a relaxing time with Julie. We will write more blog posts next week when we have a better internet connection.

Gold 'n' Coffins (post by Bill & Liz)

Signs like this are not common in Australia!

You can walk in and choose your own coffin with a viewing window!

Before you move into your coffin, you can deal with the roadside gold merchant. This man will buy your gold for cash and when he has collected enough gold, he will sell it to a bigger dealer.

Local takeaway (post by Bill & Liz)

The local takeaway shops are called 'Kai bars'. We tried some rice balls and fried, battered kaukau (sweet potato). The batter tastes a bit like donuts. Here are the rice balls and kaukau we bought, there was too much to eat at once, so this is our second helping of it. You can see the size compared to Liz's hand in the photo.

Inside the rice ball there is rice, chopped sausages and various unknown vegetables and dear knows what else.

Goroka (post by Bill & Liz)

We had a day trip to Goroka which is about a 2 hour drive from Ukarumpa. The road is sealed and in pretty good condition, except for one or two places where it has subsided and is in need of major repair. There is dramatic scenery along the road which you can see in the following picture.

There are many villages and roadside stalls along the way.

The locals travel by PMVs (Public Motor Vehicles), which sometimes looks a bit scary. Hold on tight!

Goroka has some large supermarkets and second hand stores, along with government buildings. Of course there is the market too, where the white people stand out.

Kainantu (post by Bill & Liz)

Kainantu is the nearest town to Ukarumpa. It has shops and a market for all your shopping needs. It is on the Highlands Highway, where the road splits to go to Goroka or Lae. To our Western eyes it is quite a messy place.

Kainantu shopping precinct:

We visited several shops, the Cultural Centre and the market. We feel very conspicuous walking among the local people and they have no inhibitions about staring at the white strangers.

The market had separate areas for bilums and clothing and there was some undercover fruit and vegetables with sellers sitting at tables. Others were sitting on the open ground with their produce on a plastic sheet in front of them.

Kainantu market: