Sister Cyd James - Notes From The Homefront

News From The Home Front - August, 2001     It was good to get back to Port Moresby once again. Our apartment complex has a good security service so all of our belongings were intact. It is a great blessing to have dependable security. Besides the
security guards at the main gate to our apartment complex, there is a Christian Youth Group in our area
who have started a neighborhood watch program and do it on a donation basis. We don’t mind
contributing to this because they are trying to stand for a worthy cause instead of joining one of the city
gangs. The young man Frank talked to today said that a gang did come into our neighborhood recently in
order to steal a vehicle and they stopped them, but in the process one of his friends was shot and later
died. So in actuality, they are putting their lives on the line in providing our neighborhood watch. Crime is
still out of control in the country. The first week we were back, the city gangs shot two Australians in
different incidents. One was killed and the other just wounded.
    After reading the news, we found out that the recent unrest caused by the university students was
politically backed. There is now an official inquiry into the matter. The nightly curfew for the city was set
at 10:00 p.m. when we first got here, but it is now lifted. During the rioting, many of our mission members were stuck in the settlements and had no way to get to work or to get their paychecks to have money to buy food. It was a difficult time for them. All public transportation was shut down. Almost everyone stayed home during the worst of it. One Australian lady told me that Port Moresby looked like a ghost town. It is sad to hear about these things happening.
    Also upon arriving back, we found out there have been landowner/compensation problems going on with the city and it has affected the electricity and water service. They are being shut off and on. Our
apartment complex has several backup water tanks and a backup generator, but many people do not
have these things and have to do without. The worst is not having water. One weekend, none of the
mission people had water and were having to go around to people like us who have the backup water
tanks in order to fill up plastic containers. Most of them didn’t eat much during the weekend either due to
not having water to cook with.
    The city or government pays the landowner’s compensation for the power stations and main water
supplies that are on their land. But every so often the landowners decide they want more money, and if
they don’t get it by a certain day they shut off these services. Anyway, we are praying the problems will
soon be solved.
    Our apartment had a lot of mold in it when we got back. We forgot how it could grow so fast in a
closed-up apartment in a hot and humid climate. It’s not a pretty sight to see mold growing on things it
isn’t supposed to be growing on. Like bags hanging on doorknobs, the outside of dressers and trunks,
picture frames, windowsills, and even in a dish of butter that I forgot to clean before we left. Also, the
city is building a road nearby and that stirred up a lot of dirt. That with the strong winds and humidity
caused it to stick to the windows. Our apartment was dark inside. So as you can imagine, we have been
doing some spring-cleaning. Here’s a tip from Frank. When you get a hose to spray off the outside of your window, be sure you spray your own apartment window and not the neighbor’s. Yes, he accidentally sprayed the window on the apartment below ours, and ... his window was open. So, the water went spraying all over the inside of his livingroom. Frank realized his mistake immediately and went running down with beach towels and cleaned it all up and apologized. It was one of those embarrassing "senior" moments that are funny later.
    Thanks to everyone who donated children’s books for us to take back this time. The illiteracy rate in PNG is over half of the country’s population, so we are trying to encourage the importance of reading.
Especially teaching children how to read when it is so much easier to learn. When we handed out the
books to the children, they were as excited as could be. Most do not own a book, so it means a lot to
them.
    Last Saturday we had a mission fellowship at Ela Beach. The adults visited while the children swam in
the ocean. Times of fellowship are special and we enjoy getting everyone together. Our lunch consisted of
baked bean sandwiches. (Canned baked beans on bread.) I’m not sure if this type of sandwich originated
in England or Australia because I have seen people from both of those countries commonly eat them, but
it has caught on over here and the people really like it too. If you are an American and used to peanut
butter and jelly or tuna sandwiches, it takes some getting used to. It is interesting to see what people in
different countries eat.
    In a recent newsletter, I teased the Kentucky Hillbillies about knowing geography, so now I have to tell
something on a fellow New Mexican. When I went to get my hair permed, the beautician asked me where
I lived. When I told her Papua New Guinea, she said, "Can you speak Swahali?" When I explained no
because PNG is located just north of Australia and is not a part of Africa, she still thought I should be
able to speak Swahili. Oh well. Before I started traveling to and from Papua New Guinea, I didn’t know
world geography very well either. But speaking Swahili just tickled me.
    Yes, the gecko pets were here waiting on us when we got back.
    A friend in Christ,
    Sis. Cyd James