Papua New Guinea

Some time back I told you about Kiribati, one of the Island nations where we have several humanitarian projects in progress. This week I want to give you a brief introduction to Papua New Guinea (PNG). PNG is a fairly large country of over 8 million people. It has twice the population of New Zealand. Its main island is split down the center with Indonesia on the west and PNG on the east of the dividing line. It has been an independent state for about 25 years – previously controlled by Australia. It is a very poor country with a Gross Domestic Product of only $1,300 per person per year. The people in the highlands are mostly just subsistence farmers, self-growing and/or scavenging what they need to survive.

We recently completed a wheelchair project in Port Moresby and in Lae. We provided over 700 wheelchairs for the physically disabled. The wheelchairs we sent to them were all-terrain styled, with extra wide tires and a wide center wheel, for stability. The chairs were provided at no cost to the recipient or their families.

Most of the pictures I have to share with you are of different schools. We just received approval for two projects at five different primary schools.

The government has constructed permanent structures in most of the communities for the children to attend.

The first project will provide school kits to 250 primary age school children. The schools provide lap boards (slate), but the children have to provide their own pencils, paper, eraser, pencil sharpener, crayons, etc.

The children cannot enroll in school until they have these basic supplies. Since most of them are too poor to purchase these supplies, they are not able to attend school.

Note that only the teacher has a chair to sit on. All of the students sit on the ground. In this picture the tarp on the ground provides a cleanable surface for the students to sit on.

The second project involved the distribution of basic hygiene kits to the school children to take home. These kits are pretty standard with tooth brushes, tooth paste, soap, wash clothes, comb, and towels. The school will teach a series of lessons about personal hygiene, and then we’ll come and distribute the kits to the students. (We’ve learned that if we give the kits to the schools, the children never see them).

Just this week we received approval to provide emergency response aid to several communities in the highlands above Lae, PNG. They are experiencing a serious outbreak of cholera and dysentery, which has claimed the lives of more than two hundred people so far. Teaming with the provincial government and health officials, we will provide 2,000 plastic buckets, like the one in this picture. The health officials and military will distribute disinfected drinking water to each family in these buckets. We will also provide 14,000 bars of soap to be distributed at the same time.

We have been very busy for the past several weeks, but it has been most gratifying to be part of this effort in representing the Savior of all mankind in relieving the suffering of the poor and the needy.

Countryside

We've been anticipating a drive south of Auckland in the Springtime. The hills there are beautiful all year, but we knew Spring would be even better! We could have taken a picture at every turn in the road - be glad this is all we have to bore you with!

A little stream was running in this meadow, and cattle and sheep on the hillsides.

The shadows allow you to see some of the terracing on the steeper hillsides.

A big stand of evergreens on the higher hillsides behind these hills.

A trip south of Auckland wouldn't be complete without a stop in Pokeno. This pictures includes about half the downtown of this little village. Anyone who has ever traveled south of Auckland knows about Pokeno. The place only exists to sell fish and chips (take aways) and ice cream. The brand name is Tip Top, as you can see in the blue and white signs. The sidewalks were so full of people we had to stand in the street to wait in line. There was even a wedding party stopped there on the way back to Auckland from the Temple. The ice cream's not Blue Bell, but it's the best we've tasted since!

And this is the two-fisted ice cream lover. Actually, he's holding mine too. But he does love his ice cream!

Green, Green, Our World is Green

Another day, another volcano to climb. Actually, we climbed two of these grassy hills this day. There are about 50 dormant volcanos around Auckland, and we may see the majority of them before we leave here.

We normally pack a lunch (see the plastic bag), find a hill we haven't climbed before, and spend a relaxing several hours wandering around it. Although Auckland stays green year round, when Spring comes, the grass greens up even more. There are daisies blooming in the grass below.

Most of the hills are part of the city park system, and are well maintained, clean and beautiful. All the walls and edges of roads are made with volcanic rock, which, obviously, is not hard to come by. The hillsides are fresh green, and flowers bloom everywhere. The happy hiker is up ahead, always ahead of me :o). He loves these hills!

All of the hills around Auckland were terraced by the early Maoris. We've been on many, but this was the first time we'd seen the crater of one.

This view from the high edge of the crater shows just how steep the crater is. A road has been built down on the lower edge of the crater, where the lava and ash must have flowed out into where the city now is below. These hills and craters are still considered sacred spots to the Maoris. You can see the size of the crater by comparing the car size. Also the two white spots in the bottom of the crater are people.

What a beautiful day! The last of the winter camellias were blooming. Sun shining, light breeze, green grass, flowers in bloom, beautiful views. Spring will be here to stay before long. This is a beautiful land any time, and we feel so fortunate to have this time to enjoy it.

Bridge Adventuring

With temperatures and sunshine improving, we're venturing out again. A couple weeks ago we decided to explore the coastline of the harbor not far from us. We walked about four miles over to the little area of Northcote Point. We explored what little is left, thanks to the construction of the Harbor Bridge. At one time there was a village on the point of the peninsula across the Waitemata Harbor from Auckland. The North Shore, the general area where we live, was largely undeveloped because boat or ferry was the only way across the harbor to move goods or teams.

We got down on the shore of one of the little bays and found NO sand at all. It was really hard to pick our way among the rocks and debris on the shore. The water was beautiful and sparkly, but you can see the rocks along the shoreline.

We walked along for as long as we could, heading for the point where the bridge now connects to the peninsula. The views were great, even if the shoreline was less than desirable.

This was just a portion of the sailboats we saw out out enjoying the great weather.

Sailing under the harbor bridge.

In the late 1950s the city decided to build a bridge connecting Auckland and the North Shore, which in turn connected the entire rest of the North Island. On the North Shore, the bridge was built from the Northcote Point peninsula. Unfortunately, that all but eliminated the village of Northcote. In the early days of Northcote, there was one "news agency" (kind of a general store) where the Auckland newspaper was available to residents of the North Shore. Early each morning, the owner's son would row across the harbor from Northcote Point to Auckland to pick up the day's papers and bring them back to sell. He must have had some biceps after doing that for awhile! Fine in good weather, but rowing that distance in a storm would have been a real challenge. To this day, a ferry is still available from Northcote to Auckland several times daily.

This is the view from the shoreline right at the place where the bridge attaches to Northcote Point.

We went up on the point and took this picture from under the bridge. This view was not achieved without its cost. There was a monument there for three bridge workers who were killed in accidents during the bridge construction.

Greetings from Auckland!

Sping Is Busting Out All Over

For all our sighing about winter and rain and wind, we're happy to say that our much anticipated Spring has arrived! August began as winter and ended in a beautiful, flowery, green Spring! Below are some of the many beautiful scenes we've experienced in the past several weeks.

Trees in bloom in the countryside.

Millions of daffodills along The Promenade through giant old trees in a city park.

These beautiful tulip trees also come in a deep, deep, almost purple-magenta color.

Hillsides of this yellow prickley bush, and daisies blooming everywhere in Spring-green grass.

Clumps of calla lilies blooming in the wild! Here I thought they were a pampered garden plant.

The next four pictures were taken in a hothouse in the Auckland Domain. Gorgeous displays of everything Spring you can think of. These are primroses and TALL snapdragons.

Yellow and orange tulips, with orchids in back of them.

A giant display of every kind of tulip you can think of, and a Dutch windmill besides!

Outside in the park, lillies bloomed everywhere, here along a duck pond.

And in our own little retirement village, every yard is bursting with something in bloom.

Big clumps of daisies...

and a rhododendron covered on blooms.

We feel so fortunate to be here and see all the great beauties around us. Hope you enjoyed seeing them too.