Bill's Brush

This is my guess - Bill will be the artsy type and Jester will be the athletic type. We had a big downpour this afternoon so we got out the paints.

she left

Despite the popular vote that she would stay - she didn't. Auntie Arlene left on Monday. I keep wanting to set the table for 5....



We ended off our time with Arlene in Madang. Drew and I attended a conference with our organization for the first 5 days (all expense paid at the hotel!!!). Arlene watched the boys for us while we were in meetings. After the conference was over and the free stay at the hotel was over we moved to the 'guest house' flat for a few nights (I can't mention the names of our organization on my blog). Arlene got to experience a night in Sarang (our POC village). Her and I slept at our wasfamili's house and Andrew went back to Madang with the boys and picked us up the next day. It's about a 45min drive from Madang. We had a great time catching up with our dear wasfamili. Arlene was presented with a beautiful Madang bilum which was a pretty big deal! They treated her like a guest of honor - if she's our sister than she's family to them too.



One memorable moment.....we took a boat taxi to a secluded island for a morning. I had the unforgettable experience of getting stung by a jellyfish. It was really scary because we were pretty isolated and I was in a whole lot of pain. To make a long story short we found a boat ride back to Madang and I went right to the doctor where I got two injections - one penicillan shot and one anti-histamine shot. I would say that the pain was different than childbirth, but definitately on the same scale. I hope that never happens to me again!



Check out these pics from our time in Madang:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/Madang0109

sweet 16

here's my 16.....

1. I love taking pictures and wish I had more time and money to spend on my hobby.

2. I have a sweet tooth like you wouldn't believe. I don't understand it when someone says they're too full for dessert.

3. I think Crystal has the most beautiful skin and eyes. I'm kinda jealous. (You go girl!)

4. I never ever get tired of hearing Jesse's raspy, gravelly voice. It makes my insides smile.

5. I love playing Lego and hope and pray my boys will be big into it....especially castles. I'm always up for playing Lego....or 'Legos' as we call it.

6. I've recently discovered that scuba diving is way more fun than anything else you can do in the water. It's really hard to drown....which is a fear of mine.

7. I had a major crush on McGuyver once.

8. My least favorite chore used to be emptying the dishwasher.....now I wish I had a dishwasher to empty.

9. I want to be like Elf one day.

10. I have this amazing ability that I look like I'm listening and following along, but really I'm not. It runs in the family.....right Chris?

11. I'm scared to call to make appointments. I wish my mommy would still do it for me. Drew refuses.

12. I want to learn how to make bagels and black bean sauce. Anyone have a good recipe?

13. All I want is a big slab of farmer sausage.

14. I need to lighten up more. Life shouldn't be so serious. Laughing feels so darn good.

15. I wish I could be more opinionated on stuff.....I'm on the fence a lot.

16. I've discovered that homesickness is an incurable disease. I could use a little Winkler lovin' right about now.

my day off.

My day off means two things.....I got off the centre - WOO HOO! And I had a day off from the regular routine - WOO HOO!!! On Tuesday we travelled to Goroka with Arlene, Nato, and Ryan & Crystal. Goroka is a big town about a 2 hour drive from Uka. We definitely pray for safety when we travel because rascals are unfortunately a part of life here. We had no glitches...only came close to hitting a few pigs and one goat....oh yeah - and a car veered into our side of the road, but missed us by a hair. Thank the Lord for his protection!

The scenery on the way to Goroka is absolutely breathtaking and we were fortunate enough to have a clear day so we could see the mountains. Goroka is known for it's coffee, bilums, and woven baskets...and you better believe I bought some coffee to send home to my coffee lovin' friends. That was practically the reason for the trip!

This is 'Blue Mountain Coffee' - we actually watched them package the coffee I'm sending home for everyone! It doesn't get much fresher than this. The smell in the place was intoxicatingly wonderful. I wish I could put in a bottle and wear it as a perfume.

Here are Ryan & Crystal - having a hoot in the back of the Land Cruiser. No Ryan, we're not there yet.
This was probaby my favorite part of the day - eating out! We rarely get the chance to eat out so I enjoyed every bite! And sharing a milkshake with my honey just topped it off.

Here's the group! Cheers to great day!

Oh yeah - and I'm still eating my words....I'm sharing this to keep me humble.

1. I said my kids could NEVER drink pop until they were 18 years old. Being in a developing country changes that.....they're averaging about one a week. Gotta keep hydrated, ya know?

2. I've never been a big vitamin/supplement person....I thought I'd never get into it. Just eat your veggies! But now I've got about 3 different vitamins/supplements I take with my breakfast....it's practically like a breakfast in itself!

don't leave us Auntie Arlene

The boys are having a hoot with their auntie. Arlink is thinking of extending her stay......we think that's a grand idea.

To check out all the fun we've been having click on the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/AuntieArleneIsHere

slip 'n slide

We've loved having Auntie Arlink around. She's full of brilliant, fresh ideas. She set up this slip 'n slide on a very steep down slope on our yard. Turns out we hardly needed the plastic. When the grass got soapy enough it worked as well as the plastic.....actually, better.

artsy flartsy

when i get bored.......i take pictures.

Eat Your Words

Here are a few things we said would NEVER happen and now we're eating our words.

1. I now put sugar in my coffee. I was set against this. PNG is rubbing off on me....they love hot, sweet drinks....and so do I. I'm eating my words.

2. Andrew drinks caffeinated coffee. He used to adamently be against any form of caffeine and now he "kinda likes the 'pick-me-up". He's eating his words. (and I remind him daily, but drinking coffee together is wonderful)

3. Andrew said he thought Lost was silly. Why would anyone watch it?! Now we can't wait to rent the next DVD. Yup, he's eating his words.

4. I said that Bill would wear pull-ups the rest of his life for bedtime. He has now gone 3 weeks with staying dry and is wearing big boy gitchies for night. I'm eating my words....and I'm happy to do it.

5. I said that I'd never miss a Winkler parade or a Christmas with snow. Unfortunately I'm eating my words. I mean, those motor homes ROCK every year.

If you've ever 'eaten your words' you should make a post about it. Let's hear it! I eat my words so much I'm putting on a few pounds.

A PNG Christmas

The holiday season always gives me a hankering for crocodile meat. We had some delicious crocodile stirfry the other night. It tastes like......chicken.

Mama Opa's son found us this Christmas bush - I mean tree. We actually have Christmas lights that have 7 different settings. My favorite is the 'romantic setting'.....the lights gradually fade on and off. It's pretty sweet. Bill's fave is the 'vegas setting'.

Our tree is definitely unique this year - as will be our Christmas. It will be my first Christmas away from family and away from snow. It's like having a clean slate. What will be our new tradition? Not sure yet.....I've got one more day to think about it.

Here She Comes

She made it after a 2 day delay. Welcome Arlene! She is our first visitor.

Divine Appointment

One thing I had written down that I wanted during village living was to have divine app0intments with people. It was pretty crazy how the plug got pulled on the other village and we ended up where we did. So right from the beginning it felt like God was planning something....he wanted us in Sarang for a specific reason. Looking back, being in Sarang was one big divine appointment for us!

Our connection with our wasfamili was something orchestrated by the Lord. They were spirit filled Christians who really lived a life led by the Spirit. They had so many amazing stories of people being healed and delivered. We had some great times of prayer with them. My spirit really came alive while I was with them. The Lord used them in my life greatly and I felt renewed and encouraged when we left. I know that we will have a long lasting friendship with them. I'm waiting to see what the Lord will do....I know it's going to be big!

Sarang Pikinini

POC is officially over and we are back in Ukarumpa. Living in Sarang village for 5 weeks was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. I hardly even know where to start. Please check out my picasa album to see our village living pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/Sarang

For now I'll post an email I sent to my family and friends when we got home. Here you go!!

I had 2 wonderful sisters who almost always did my dishes for me. That was a big relief and a big help for me. The river where we bathed and did laundry and dishes was about a 10 minute walk away (longer for the men because their bathing place was further upstream). It was hard for me to lug all the stuff back and forth. They could carry everything no problem, often balancing a hug bucket of dishes on their head. One thing I had to get used to was bringing dishes or laundry with me when I went to bathe. We never bring dishes with us when we shower. :) I did Laundry about every other day. This was probably my least favorite chore to do. It took a long time! I liked it when the boys went shirtless or even naked - less laundry!!

One thing that surprised me was how often the village people bathed. It was often the topic of discussion. "Have you bathed?" or "are you going to bathe?" or "you should go bathe!". They were totally into it. At first I thought they just were wanting us to bathe all the time because we were white, but it was that way with everyone. After W & J went to sleep at night Drew and I (or I'd go with my sisters) would sometimes go shower at a tap by the beach. It was quite a long walk (15 minutes), but I'll never forget being on the beach at night...looking at the ocean with a sky full of stars. And besides I felt more comfortable bathing at night when it was dark. It was definitely something to get used to bathing in public! I got better at it and felt comfortable doing it by the end.

One of our biggest struggles in the village was how the kids interacted with w & J. We were often frusterated and annoyed....the kids were pretty aggressive...slapping and pinching the boys (this was affection) and constantly calling out there names over and over and over. W & J were overwhelmed a lot of the time and would often cry and try and run away. But there were other times where all of a sudden the boys would just go a few houses over and start playing with the other kids...just having a blast. It was hit or miss with them. Looking back I wish I would've stepped in more and told all the kids to just take it easy, leave them alone completely and let w & j come and play when they were ready. I have to remember that there were many great moments as well. The times that the boys did play with all the kids was really awesome and they did have fun and talk about it fondly.

Another battle was sores. We had some sandflies and mosquitoes. The boys would scratch their sores and then overnight they would turn into these painful, infected sores - all pussy. I think they were actually considered tropical ulcers. Literally their legs are covered in sores. I had quite a few too for a few days. Not fun! Hopefully being in this cooler, drier climate will help us heal up.

We were amazed at how much of our time was just spent 'living'. Andrew was the water boy. He went to fill up our jugs at that tap on the beach. It was a long way to walk and the jugs were very heavy to carry back, so often he'd just take a dug out canoe to the tap. William would often go with him. We used a lot of firewood because of the drum oven we took along. Andrew went out several times to cut firewood. What he wouldn't have done for a chainsaw!! He had to hack at a fallen log with a dull axe....and then the wood had to be carried back! Even bathing, laundry, dishes took a lot of extra time....it wasn't just right there...it was a little hike everytime. Life just takes time. Typically they eat twice a day. In the morning and then again at night. Cooking in the heat of the day is just way too hot (but we did it anyway). Running water is a wonderful thing! I'm very thankful for it.

Andrew got to be part of a few community meetings (I sat in too sometimes)and was even asked for his opinion and asked to give advice. Our waspapa seemed to really respect Andrew for his business mind. There are several land disputes going on right now (very common problem in png). The village men decided they needed to go find their land marks on top of the mountain. There was another village ontop of the mountain that thinks Sarang has gardens on their land and have actually gone in and ruined someone's garden to make a statement. So Andrew decided to go on this hike along with approx 80 men to find the land markers (3 of them). It was about a 7 hour hike all together (with a lot of stops to talk). At the top of the mountain the other village made an appearance along with some bows and arrows, spears, and even a gun. The Sarang group decided to turn around and find the second marker, but soon realized that the 'enemy' had blocked off the road. So they decided to bushwack....the younger men went first with their bushknives - wacking away making a path. Overall the day wasn't a success. They didn't find the land marks and Andrew got a bit of a scare! It just seemed like another day for waspapa and all the others. Land disputes are a part of life here.

As I mentioned in my last email we used our money to help our family buy cement for their trade store. So we had no money left and were running out of sugar and oil. One day while I was doing laundry and was praying about this and I suddenly thought, 'Hey! I should bake something and sell it on the side of the road.' I had seen lots of ladies do this. So the next day I baked a few dozen biscuits and sold them for .40 toa. I made enough to buy sugar, soap, and oil! Towards the end we ran out of money again. We had little food left. Andrew and I were praying that the Lord would provide for us somehow. We had no way of getting money. The day after I prayed this prayer one of the mamas in the village asked me to go with her to her garden. It was about a 45 min walk. Not too mountainous so it wasn't hard. While we were at the garden she started filling up a bilum of food for me. Then she gave me a rope of buai and said to me that this was MY buai and I needed to go sell it to a buai buyer. I smiled at her and told her she was my answer to prayer! That afternoon I took my rope of buai to the buyer and got 8 Kena...enough for the rest of our time there. Oh and by the way...I saw 2 snakes on my trip to the garden...one of them was extremely poisonous!

I'm proud to tell you that William speaks and understands tok pisin better than any other kid at POC. Seriously, I think he's better then the rest. This afternoon him and Jesse were speaking to each other in tok pisin...even Jesse is mixing english and tok pisin together. They were pretending to go to their gardens and William said something like this: "mi go long gaden bilong mi. mi go kisim kaikai bilong yu. mi kisim korn na kaukau na onions. mi go long dispela rot. yu laik sampela kaikai long gaden bilong mi?" And it's so cute because Jesse responds to him in his tok pisin. It's great! I hope they won't lose what they've learned. I'll have to be sure to speak it to them and get my hausmeri's to keep talking to them too.

One thing that gave me some purpose during village living was baking. I taught my sister how to make cookies and demonstrated to some other women how to make bread and banana cake. Our waspapa LOVED bread and would say, 'oh baby bilong mi, yu kilim mi long bret'. Once he bought me flour so that I would make him bread. I baked him 2 loaves of bread, cinnamon buns, and a tray of buns that day. He was a happy man. Wasmama would tease me that she wasn't leva bilong (sweetheart)Papa anymore, but I was! We taught them the saying, ' a way to a man's heart is through his stomach.'

We slept really well for the most part. The boys seemed to wake up in the night more often. We were so tired by the end of the day that we'd just cash out in a matter of minutes. I loved hearing the sound of the waves as I fell asleep. The roosters started crowing around 3:30 am, but we got used to that. Our family's pig was also noisy sometimes....the pig's name was naughty girl which we just got a kick out of.

Spiritual warfare is a big reality for Christians here. Papa has been spiritually attacked a few times to the point of death. People who don't appreciate his faith will put curses on him. There are witch doctors around who work their 'magic' and put curses on people. While we were there there was a group from another village who came down and tried to kill someone using witchcraft and curses. (we didn't see it, we just heard about it a few nights after it happened). There was one night I went to story with one of the mama's in the village. It was just her and me sitting in the dark. She started telling me about her brother who had died when he was 22 years old. The night he died he came to visit her in her room and he was glowing white and had white skin just like me. He visited with her for several hours and wanted to give her a huge bag of money. She didn't take the money...didn't want it. She told me that others from her family (that have died) come and visit her in her house and they glow too and have white skin just like me. They always try and give her money. Then she went on to talk about the tourists that come to their area. She said some of them are her relatives that have come back as whiteskins. She had seen her brother one time who had come back as a white tourist. Let me tell you my hair was standing on end and I had such a heavy feeling. The whole time she was talking it really felt like she thought I knew all of this or had some special knowledge because I'm white. This is a typical 'cargo cult' belief and is common in PNG. I felt like I had to get out of there! I told her I needed to go back to my house and drink some water. She walked me back to the house, then left. I went to sit down with Andrew and Papa and told them everything that Mama Kristine and just told me. I was shaky and scared out of my mind. Papa told me that I cannot be scared. I can't let the enemy laugh at me because I'm afraid. I can't let him win! I have Jesus living in me and he's more powerful then any 'die spirit'. There is a lot of crazy, evil stuff in this world, but we are more than conquerors! I felt kinda silly for being afraid. I have Jesus!

I am incredibly thankful for this experience. One of the things it did for us was it gave us a better understanding of the life of a translator. I have a better appreciation for the work they do and what they all go through to bring God's word to a people group. Another great thing that happened is that we are now pretty fluent in Tok Pisin. It is so crucial to speak in Tok Pisin in order to relate with the nationals and now we can!

Mysterious Ways

Most of you have probably heard that I have not been feeling well the last few days. I had a lot of stomach aches and then two days ago I started having some sharp pain on my right side. Yesterday the pain was a lot less and only hurt when I pressed down on my right side. We went to see a doctor in Madang. She was concerned it might be my appendix. She highly recommended that I wait to go to village living until I met with the surgeon. Thankfully today I got an appointment with the surgeon. Today the pain was virtually gone and he said I very well could have been my appendix and gave me some very very strong antibiotics to take. He thought it would be fine for us to go to village living as long as we weren't in a very remote area and could easily contact help. So we are so relieved!

Meanwhile the rest of the POC students were being dropped off at their village allocations. It turns out that out of the 11 allocations ours was the only one that wouldn't have worked out today. Our wasfemeli hadn't vacated the house that we were to live in and they didn't even have the hole dug for our 'liklik haus' (outhouse). This is a bit of a red flag for our village allocator. If we had gone today we would have had to have come straight back to POC. When we got back from my appointment we found this all out. The Lord definitely had this all planned out and knew that today would've been a big disappointment and very stressful if it would have gone according to our plan. Another thing we found out is that the police were in this village less than 2 weeks ago on a drug raid. A riot broke out and the police ended up burning down their market.

Ray (the POC director) left shortly after 4:00 this afternoon to try and find us a new allocation. He came back with some very great news. He found a family that was willing to take us in. They were a wasfemeli for someone about 1 1/2 years ago. Ideally they try not use a village that frequently for village living allocations, but they were desperate to find us a place. This family just happened to have a vacated house and liklik haus for us (which is a miracle in itself!). This village is even closer to the beach than our last village allocation. Ray said he saw a bunch of fishing boats out on the water and our wasmama and waspapa were in the middle of drying cocoa. Hopefully they will put us to work! Our house is an older house, but it has a metal roof - ideal for collected drinking water. We are the closest village out of everyone's to POC and Madang, which is a good thing if my pain should flare up again. The family is a wonderful family - they attend a four square church, which is a charismatic type church. We are very excited and it just feels right! The Lord is so good and he does not give us more than we can handle - it's true! I feel like he's really keeping me in the shelter of his wings. He knows I am weak right now and he's protecting me from added stress. He's a such good father. Yesterday and this morning I spent some time reading Psalm 121. This scripture has come to life for me today.

Tomorrow at 1:00pm we will be heading out to our new village, Sarang.

Mirap, Drum Ovens, and BEYOND

It is difficult to convey to you what we've all done and been through in the last 2 months at POC. We've learned a lot about the culture, learned to speak Tok Pisin, completed a lot of assignments, conquered a 3 day hike in the jungle and made a lot of great new friends. It hasn't been easy - in fact this has been some of the most challenging times we've been through. We have little privacy and communal living can be stressful at times. God is definitely our strength. Little Jester has been finding life at POC very difficult. He is quite moody and clings to me a lot. It's been getting better now, but it has been a strain on our family. Please pray for him! William on the other hand has loved his experience at POC thus far. He's enthusiastic as always.

This week we'll be leaving for our village of 'Mirap'. Our little family will be living there for 5 weeks trying to learn all we can about Papua New Guinean culture and improve on our Tok Pisin. We'll have our own village house and our own 'liklik haus' (outhouse). We'll have no electricity, wash our clothes by hand, and be cooking over the fire. Our village is a hop, skip, and a jump away from the ocean. Andrew is hoping to get in some fishing! We feel excited and nervous, but up for the challenge. We 'waitskins' have so much and we're used to a pretty cushy life compared to most Papua New Guineans. It will be quite an experience to say the least.

We will be putting out a new newsletter shortly before Christmas. We will be back in Ukarumpa December 3rd. Thank you for praying for us through this difficult time!

Here are some prayer requests as we head off to 'village living':

*Quick adjustment for the boys (especially Jesse)

*Marital Unity

*Divine appointments with fellow villagers

*that we'd be a blessing, not a burden

*meaning relationships with the villagers

*that our Tok Pisin would improve

*good Health!!!!

Stay tuned! I'll update again after village living (5 weeks).




We were able to celebrate PNG's Independence Day with the local people. It was so great to see the traditional dress and dance.

This is Andrew with our 'waspapa'. He taught Andrew how to weave mats out of coconut branches. While we've been at POC we've been 'adopted' into a local family that we call our wasfemeli (was means to watch). We've shared meals together, gone to the market with them to sell fruit, and even had an overnight at their house.

There is an endless number of bugs around here. We saw this baby praying mantis on this bright flower. Other bugs we've seen: Millapedes, stick bugs, bugs that look just like leaves, and many amazing butterflies. We've even seen the biggest moth in the world (I'm not kidding).

This is a drum oven that Andrew made for us to take with us to the village. With this great little oven I will attempt to bake bread and cookies.

This is W & J with our 'wasfemeli'. This is taken at their house the time we spent the night with them. The little boy beside William made the kids little balls out of coconut leaves. He even made William a little wrist watch! Who needs toys?

so long Ukarumpa....for now.

This could be my last posting in a while. We're heading off to 'jungle camp' tomorrow morning. Internet access is slow in Madang, so posting may not be an option. We'll have to see.

I have mixed feelings about leaving for Madang. It's amazing how quickly you put down roots...especially when you have a family. Although the roots we have here are still shallow they're roots nonetheless.

My greatest fears of jungle camp:
1. living in close quarters with 50 adults and 30 children.
2. the weekly attempt at swimming 1 mile in the ocean.
3. having a break down in front of strangers.

My greatest anticipation:
1. learning tok pidgin fluently
2. living in a village for 5 weeks all on our own
3. a 3 day hike without the boys
4. chillaxin on the beach

But I do know that the Lord promises to be with me wherever I am. He will sustain our family. Daily I think of the promises he spoke to us through our church family...many encouraging words and prophecies. He will see us through it. We're trying to see it as a big adventure...another unique experience. Drew and I have been many places around the world and been through many tough trips with the boys so we're happy to have that experience under our belts. So here's to a good attitude and a positive 'jungle camp' experience. God be with us.


This picture was taken at our church picnic. Our last time with our church family before leaving for png was filled with much love and many prayers.

this one bites. be careful.

Do you REALLY know me?

Thanks Crystal, for giving other the opportunity to get to know me better. I tag Tiffany (if she's not in labour), Karla P., and my new friend Anita.

1. The name you would've chosen for yourself had you had any say whatsoever: Anna

2. Favourite Jelly Belly flavour: Pina Colada

3. If you could trade your citizenship with any other country, what would it be? Scotish. They've got the best accent ever.

4. Have you ever been skinny-dipping? Half heartedly

5. Favourite cocktail: Paralyzer at m&m's

6. Last place on earth you'd ever want to be: south pole

7. Most recent kiss - when and from whom? from Drew.....too long ago.

8. Three earthly friends you can't live without: Drew, Crystal, Tiffy, Heather, AJ (I've got a lot of friends, all right?)

9. A meal memory that surpassed all others: Gourmet burgers and handcut french fries....oh and homemade cream cheese ice cream at Chris & Crystal's.....it was more the people than the food though (that means they're REALLY great people cuz the food was stellar)

10. How many times in your life have you moved? 5ish times

11. We can't all have our own Italian Stallion. But what kind of 'Stallion' would you have? Dutch Stallion....if he ain't dutch he ain't much. End of story.

12. Quick! Right this second, if you could be translated anywhere, where would you go? 3rd St South in Winkler, Manitoba

13. A toy from your childhood that you would still play with: Barbies with Eleroo posing as Ken.

14. How many boyfriends/girlfriends have you had? 5...and that's 4 too many.

15. Flip-flops, knee-high boots, or Reebok Pumps? flip flops

16. Ever waxed anything before? Yes

17. Favourite dance move? my old church dance which needs to be revived

18. Best sunrise you've ever witnessed: back in the day - working on the farm.

19. The one food that you make that nobody else can come close to (in your opinion, of course): marinated cheese....although Crystal comes pretty darn close.

20. Chrissy, Janet or Terry? Chrissy

21. The band or song you secretly love but would never tell until now: Black Eyed Peas

22. Article of clothing you wouldn't be caught dead in: spandex suit

23. Sprawling one-story or multi-storied mansion? multi-storied mansion.

24. Do you dance in front of the mirror? No, I'm too shy.

25. Weirdest food you've ever loved: beef crackers from PNG

26. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very strange, how strange do you REALLY think you are? 6

Uses for a Bilum

This is a compilation a friend sent me of all the different ways bilums are used. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

I've seen them used as upper body coverings for women who want to be more modest in singsings.

I almost forgot the single mose important use ever of a bilum in PNG. In 1997 the Finongan people used one as a means of delivering a note to us requesting a translator come and translate the Bible into their language.

They were used to catch fish in a stream near Areinduk village.

They are used to express friendship and relationship when given as gifts.

They have been used a sermon illustration explaining how we are like tree bark that is striped off its place of origin, washed and shredded and twisted into string then woven into something useful; a bilum.

PNG kids use them as their school bags.

I have seen them used to hold baby pigs to keep them from running off. The pigs even sleep in them.

I've seen many people wear them on their head, draped over, or even head inside to shield from sun or rain.

Carrying empty bottles to the river, then full bottles from the river. Carrying dirty dishes to the river, then carrying the clean dishes back. Carrying laundry. Jeepers, you could carry almost anything in a bilum!

The Baining women have used them before for clothing and older women still wear them - one draped over each side to dance at the periphery of a firedance.

They also use them for catching freshwater shrimp and crabs by hooking them between their feet at the mouth of the bilum.

"Babies" can be up to 4 years old and still carried in a bilum.

I was given a piece of bilum thread by one group to indicate that there was work yet to be done.

They are given as gifts, sometimes swapped to show friendship.

When I tell people at home that they are used to carry babies, they think that is really weird (carrying a baby in a bag???) until I explain that it is like a hammock and quite comfortable for them.

When I tell people in the village that we have no bilums in my home country, they wonder how we can live life.

Believe it or not, I saw a woman in the village carry her TWIN sleeping4-year olds in one bilum, on her head. I've also seen women carry dozens of coconuts in one bilum.

down by the river

Definitely a Sunday afternoon thing to do. Our wonderful Canadian friends joined us. I think Bill might have his first crush. You've got great taste, Bill.

check out our web album! it's been updated.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/UkarumpaII

Goin' Bananas

For Jester's next trick he is going to attempt to eat his weight in bananas.

Bill's already been there, done that.