Visiting Kompiam (part 2)

Yesterday I went for a walk with one of the Tok Pisin tutors, Lorraine. During our lesson the day before, part of my homework had been to write some sentences about coming to Kompiam. I had written,

Sampela de mi bai laik i go wokabaut daunbilo long wara mi lukim taim mi stap long haus bilong mi.

(Someday I would like to go for a walk down to the river I can see from my house.)

View from my house

A bridge across the river

Ai! Bris i bagarap!
(The bridge is damaged... most likely due to tribal fighting,
where people like to destroy infrastructure)

The hospital complex sits atop the cliff on the left hand side of the picture

Another view of the river

Traditional bush house and gardens

Ol i no tripela, ol i fopela liklik pik!
(They are not three, but four little pigs!)

Visiting Kompiam (part 1)

As part of my cultural and language orientation, I am spending two weeks in Kompiam, which is one of the larger towns in the Enga province. I'm being hosted by the hospital, which is one of MAF's ministry partners.

Here are some pictures from around the place...

MAF Caravan at Kompiam airstrip

View from the house where I'm staying

One of the local kids doing his chores
(cutting grass with a bush knife)

New hospital buildings under construction

Unusual spider

Flower decorations on arrival at church

Mt Hagen market

As part of my cultural orientation I have been to the market in Mt Hagen twice with a local lady, Janet. The market is one of the biggest in the country. The people there primarily sell fresh fruit and vegetables, but there are also people selling bags (bilum) and clothing. One of the things that has been stressed to me is that there are often lots of pickpockets around, so to only take the money I was going to need (or could afford to lose!) and never to take anything valuable.

I asked Janet if I could bring my camera and take some photos. She said it would be ok and she would talk to some of the ladies she knows there. We bought quite a lot of different things as she was scheduled to give me a cooking lesson as well.

In addition to what's shown in these pictures, people sell kaukau (sweet potato), taro, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, tobacco leaf...

Tomatoes, bok choy and random greens (kumu)

Watermelon, mangoes, spring onion, green capsicum, pawpaw...

Coconuts (Janet is wearing the pink scarf)

Fresh chicken section

Yes, we did purchase a live chicken to use in our cooking lesson...