TESTICLES FOR TEA!

17th October 2009

Warning!Do NOT read this if you have just eaten, are about to eat or are eating!We returned from shopping this morning (Saturday) to discover a blanket had been hung up on next door's washing line, obscuring our view of their back garden.Thought nothing of the significance of it.All seemed normal, wife hanging out washing, children playing, pig snuffling, dog barking and husband sitting on his balcony watching nothing, intently.A pretty normal Saturday morning really. We were unpacking the shopping, when this grotesque squealing emitted from the pig - nothing could be seen from our house except Mr I bending over the back end of the pig, while the front end, which was enclosed in a sack, was being held down by another man.The noise was ghastly and at first I thought it was being killed (puzzled, as it isn't very big yet, only about the size of a large German Shepherd dog) but the squealing went on too long for that.Children actually stopped their games to watch.This went on for a good 10 - 15 minutes, with a lot of shouting by the men on top of the squealing.Eventually, after what seemed an age (which probably seemed like much more to the poor pig) the the pig was freed, with much blood around it's back end - it's testicles had been cut off!!So we now know what's on the menu for tonight, fried testicles with boiled grass and rice - Mmmmmm!!

On to less gruesome matters, three secondary schools in Madang are in danger of closing because they have run out of money. Either they haven't claimed or been given their government subsidies or the students haven't paid their fees, or both.We are aware of at least two schools in Simbu who are likely to come to the same end very soon.There are 7 weeks left of the final term, but now that the exams are over for grade 10 students, it feels as though everyone has given up already.School here was closed last week because exams were going on.Many teachers have been occupied doing exam marking this week, so not attending to their normal lessons (they get paid for marking, so everyone turns up).

To-day, Friday, is Drugs Awareness Day, so on Wednesday, the head teacher, in his wisdom, suggested that the school would suspend lessons on Friday and march into town as a body, carrying banners and perhaps they could perform a drama - In one day?!!The rest of the day would involve students standing in the blazing sun, being harangued by every Tom, d*** and Harry who felt they had something (interesting or not) to say about drink and drugs.One member of staff said that as they hadn't received lunch money last time they took students into town, he and some other teachers weren't going. So there!

Sex and rock and roll hadn't been included in the Awareness Day, but it might have been appropriate, as one of the students here got raped last week on school premises.Two grade 10 boys were arrested, but all that happened was that they had to pay compensation to the girl's family - some punishment and hardly a deterrent I suggest.

The ultimate in disgusting behaviour (opening paragraph apart) occurred this week in staff briefing, which John, I or both of us attend most mornings.We have got used to it starting whenever people feel like it, being poorly attended, staff reading the newspaper, chewing buai or carrying out other insignificant tasks while the head or his deputies are trying to engage their attention, but for a woman teacher to be intensely occupied cutting her toenails, was the utter pits!!I then go to the office of the senior teacher to try to sort out a time for us to do some workshops with the staff this term and she had actually come up with some dates.'I won't be here though', she said, of one of the dates.'I'll be on compassionate leave'.'Oh, sorry,' says I, 'what's happened?''Nothing,' she says, 'I'm just taking a couple of weeks off.Every teacher in Simbu is entitled to two weeks compassionate leave each year and I haven't taken mine yet.'Speechless VSO volunteer exits office, refraining from kicking the door down on the way out!!

As I have mentioned before, domestic violence and child abuse is an every day occurrence here.If the newspaper is to be believed, one in two women suffer domestic violence daily - an horrendous statistic.We witnessed it first hand the other day when out walking.John and I had been on a long walk, up mountain and down valley as you do here, when a man, carrying a large stick, thicker than a broom handle and as long, ran past us.He was followed by another man who told us that this man was, 'Going to fight his wife, as she had taken their pigs and was heading back to her village.'We hoped and prayed we wouldn't encounter this meeting, but as we rounded the next corner, the drama played itself out.

It was a very narrow path and we had nowhere to go - we were ending our walk and to go back was too daunting, so we just retreated and waited.There was quite a knot of people, children included, witnessing the argument between man and wife, which seemed to centre around two pigs.Lots of shouting and gesticulating went on, but there was a moment when things seemed to be calming down, so John made a strike for home, while I hung back.As John drew level, the man took a two handed swipe at the woman and narrowly missed John, who managed to get past, he hit her twice more which felled her and broke the stick into the bargain.A knife was drawn, not sure by whom and the woman was pulled, painfully to her feet by the man.The argument continued and none of the bystanders showed any signs of intending to intervene, so I managed to sidle past and we legged it fast, pretty shaken up.

In three week's time we are hoping to go to Karamui again, as allegedly all raskal activity has been sorted out and before that, we are running the final conference for new graduate teachers.Then only three weeks until the end of term.We are needing to recruit new volunteers for Simbu, as three of our number are leaving.We require one person to join us in the Secondary Leadership and Management Team and the other to work in the Primary Sector.We also need one to replace Jake as Project Facilitator.These would all have to be male.So far, applicants have been few and far between (hope my blog hasn't put people off!) and time is running out, so if you know anyone……..?

Don't mention that at independence, 34 years ago, PNG was around the middle position of the Human Development Index.Now, over 70 countries have overtaken her and she lies, if not right at the bottom, pretty much there.A shocking statistic!I've heard people talking about bringing back the colonial days and putting English speaking teachers in schools, as the level of teaching and speaking English is appalling.What a retrograde step that would be, but if they're not able to govern their country satisfactorily themselves, then someone needs to show them how.We're trying to 'show them how' in education, but it's a damn hard slog and at times I fear it's never going to happen until someone with clout shakes up the whole system, routs out the rot, ditches shackling cultural practices (wantokism, sorcery, corruption, compensation, bride price etc) improves the infrastructure and gets the country educated and working effectively.

The fire is going next door and I can smell cooking - bon appétit !

Love from both