It seems a world apart to consider another person a possession to be valued at a bartered price. But attitudes that the western world might have thought were left behind in Georgian times are alive and well in much of the world. Gender equality may for some be a matter of career equality, glass ceilings or even access to children following a messy divorce. For others it is whether one has any self determination. Where does slavery end and independence begin...

Pigs are definitely the thing in Highlands Papua New Guinea. Our walk down hill each morning is punctuated by a variety of snorts and grunts. Pigs of various sizes root around in the grass and roadside ditch each with a rope tied around a leg the other end is staked firmly in the ground. In town one frequently sees somebody walking round with a lik lik pik (baby pig) cradled in their arms like a new born baby. The lik lik pik will be for sale. A version of ...

It was a day of firsts. For VSO it was the first time they had trained Boards of Management, the PNG equivalent to a school governing body. It was a first to partner with Simbu school inspectors in providing training. It was the first time Heather had lectured a large audience power point at the ready. It was the first time we have been caught up in a looting mob driven off by rifle shooting police. And we got home in time for a very nice tea. The day st...

Thank you for so many questions. I counted 15, that is an awful lot to answer so I will do my best and Charlie will try to answer some of them in more detail later. What is the wild life and plant life like in Papua New Guinea? This is a great question. Nearly all the rare and exotic animals and plants are far away from where I live. They are in the forest in the mountains by Indonesia on the western border of the country or near the Sepik River where the S...

Charlie was really looking forward to Easter in Kundiawa. He would get 4 days holiday to rest and have fun in. Special holidays usually mean special meals as well so he thought it would be a good idea to go to the market and see what he could buy for a special Easter Sunday meal. The market was fairly busy and different from markets in England. First of all he checked his money to see if he had enough small coins and notes because he knew people in the ma...