Sailor Girl

You? A sailor? How did you ever end up at sea?

STV One and All

Well, it just kind of happened. I never planned on a career at sea…

When I was 15 there was a careers expo at school where the sail training ship Leeuwin II had a stand. I thought it looked like a fun adventure, but one that I couldn’t afford. When I found out it was possible to get sponsorship through the Captain’s Fund, I applied. I also got a job at the customer service training agency known as Maccas to pay the rest of the voyage fees. So I had my ten day adventure at sea…which I never planned on as a career, just as an adventure. An adventure I figured was finished when my family and I moved interstate to a land locked country town a few months later.

Then one day Mr Dooley came to school and spoke of sail training and the sponsorship he could help provide. A bunch of us signed up as interested, but I was the only one who followed through on it, so I got sponsored to go to sea a second time! My savings from the service agency paying the remainder of the voyage fees. So I had myself another ten day adventure at sea, this time on the ship from the city I then went to university in, the ship which has been part of my life ever since, the One & All.

Sunset on One and All

Moving to Adelaide for university, I joined One & All’s volunteer crew, slowly learning what I was doing then forgetting half of it before the next chance I had to sail. Maintenance days, day sails, voyages… they all added up and I found that I did indeed know what I was doing. When I graduated university six years later I knew that my long term plan was Bible translation, but I also knew that I was not yet ready to commit to that path. A job as a watch leader on One & All became available, so I took it. That which had started as an adventure, had become a volunteer pastime and was now a full time job!

A few years as a watch leader, including some experience overseas, and I was ready to return to university to start my theology degree and start the journey down the road to translation. I had also reached a point where I was bored with being a watch leader. As I had the sea time, I went to Maritime college and got my Master Class V. This allowed me to keep sailing, but gave me new challenges and responsibilities. It also gave me an income to help pay my way through a theology degree.

With other casual jobs, you can usually juggle them around your study schedule. With sailing, I would miss weeks of classes at a time, always pre-warning my lecturer and getting notes and readings to do so as not to be behind when I returned. Always keeping close tabs on the 80% class attendance requirements. I doubt I ever made it to more than 85% of any subject, but never to less than 80%. Mostly I worked over the summer holidays, often missing the last week of the school year to go to sea, and the first week of the new school year as I’d not yet returned from sea. Somehow, with no real holidays in three years, I managed to not burn out and to pass all my subjects. Thank you to all my lecturers who made it possible for me to juggle study and sailing, as well as to my compassionate and long suffering housemates.

When I left One & All it was as first mate, with a passion for sail training and an unexpected yet successful career at sea. I had also worked as an officer on other traditional sailing vessels, enjoying expanding my accidental career path. When I left Australia to work as a Bible translator, I thought I had given up on sailing. My best hope was that it would be an occasional pastime when home on furlough.

Playing with a telescope on HMB Endeavour

Then the organisation I am part of joined the Wa’a partnership with other organisations working in the Pacific region. They asked for volunteers to help build the partnership, in particular by joining YWAM on their medical ship, Pacific Link, during her annual season in PNG…

…so it was that I found I could bring together my former life at sea with my new life in PNG. The adventure that started in high school and became a career was once again needed, but as part of my translation career. Sure, this was a far cry from sail training, but it was still a chance to bring my lives together and contribute to something worthwhile. A chance I very much enjoyed.

Cultural Leaps

Hand cranked Singers for sale

One day I’m working in the PNG regions, the next having pizza at an air conditioned shopping mall in Port Moresby and the following day sitting in a café on the boulevard in Cairns. Such leaps between localities and cultures can take some adjusting to. Returning to Australia for the first time in fourteen months, I was unsure how much I’d suffer from reverse culture shock. It was not a big problem (thankfully), but I did have some observations along the way.

Before arriving back in Australia I had a day in Port Moresby with a friend who works there. We walked along the foreshore, her boys splashing in the water and dodging the rubbish along the high tide line. We went for lunch at a shopping mall with the first escalator I have seen in PNG. Much of what was available I was not used to seeing in PNG, yet the mall was an odd mix of developed meets developing nation.  Across from the expensive jewellery store was the fabric store with a window full of brand new sewing machines…hand powered Singers for the majority who have no power to plug an electric machine into. Some stores sold skimpy fashionable clothing, other sold cover-all meri blauses.  It was a good way to ease myself out of regional life and prepare myself for a return to ‘the west’.

Some of the things I enjoyed about being back in Australia were the smooth and safe roads, fast internet and all the yummy food (cheese! icecream! chocolate!). It was nice to walk down the street on my own and not be stared at, but I had to remember not to smile at everyone on the street or greet them though. I expect the locals would have thought me a little odd if I did!

Looking at the people around me, it often felt like the women had only got half dressed in the mornings…put a top on and forgot the bottom half. In PNG I am used to wearing long tops over pants or wearing skirts past my knees. On the streets of Aus  I saw ‘dresses’ I’m not sure I’d even wear with trousers here!

Being a tourist on something you do not see in PNG- a train

Public affection also stood out. No more men holding hands to express their friendship, but plenty of couples cuddling up. When a guy friend gave me a welcome hug in public, I was a little stunned. I’ve got so used to shaking hands of even close guy friends and only hugging gal friends that it caught me by surprise. In many villages it is not even appropriate for me as a single woman to look a man in the eyes. When shaking hands with everyone after church, you glance at each other before looking past them while shaking hands. That is as far as friendly physical contact goes. It’s not that people are unfriendly, far from it, it is just that they express it in other ways.

My Cairns budget can probably be split into two main categories; eating out and supply shopping. Eating out is a very rare occurrence for me in PNG, so I enjoyed catching up on all the foods I’ve not had in awhile and the novelty of dining out. Indian, pub meal, cafes, iced coffee, cakes, salads, sushi rolls, kangaroo mince, bacon, wine, cheese, all those yummy deli smallgoods…many of them are things I could buy or make in PNG, but am not willing to spend that much money or that much time to do so.

As for supplies, Spotlight, my credit card and I had a date (or two) which will see me supplied with sewing projects for a while to come. Wandering in and out of stores also supplied me with ideas for what I might like to sew, resulting in a return trip to Spotlight for more supplies. I also restocked with the boring essentials…socks, shoes, underwear, antihistamines, face cleanser.

An old photo but a good summary; books, journal, cafes...

Then there was the item I have resisted for a long time… an e-reader. I like books. I like to read them. I like to borrow them and to loan them. I like to hold the weight of them in my hand. What I do not like is to pay per kg to fly them around PNG. With the rate I read, this can become quite expensive if I am going away for a few weeks and will have little other entertainment in the evenings. So it was that I bought an e-reader and downloaded a pile of free classics. Now I only have to pay to fly a few hundred grams about while carrying a small library in my bilum. When home, I will continue to enjoy ‘real’ books, including that mouldy smell which cannot be avoided here in the tropics.

Stepping back in and out of Aussie culture went well. As my exit from PNG was made easier by an hour or so at the mall, I eased into my return to PNG by joining the YWAM medical ship, Pacific Link. Here we could be quite western on board, but step into PNG village life during the day, but more on that another day.

Pinglish

‘Pinglish’ is a term we use to refer to the mixing of Tok Pisin and English. Often this occurs when I am speaking Tok Pisin and use English instead of Tok Pisin. As the two languages are closely related it is very easily done, particularly when it comes to writing. There are many English cognates in Tok Pisin, so I have to try hard to write them using Tok Pisin spelling rather than the more familiar English.

The Pinglish effect goes the other way too, as Tok Pisin words and phrases prove themselves to be more useful that the English variant. Below are a list of some favourites which are creeping into my English;

raunraun; to go from place to place and eventually return to the start. Raunraun can be with purpose or just an afternoon wander.

daunblo; from ‘down below’ this can be used legitimately in English, but I know I now use it as a description in places I would previously not have described something as daunblo before Tok Pisin influenced my speech.

antap (the opposite of aninit); as with daunblo, it can be legitimately part of English, but it is not a phrase I used very often before learning Tok Pisin.

laik bilong yu; Whatever you decide to do is fine and the consequences are yours to live with. Whatever.

maski; Although most English speakers say there is no English equivalent to maski, in my sailing register there is a close equivalent in ‘belay’. For those of you who are still confused, it means to leave something be and pursue it no further.

ʌ ʌ   ;The gentle raising of both eyebrows in response to a question, meaning ‘yes’. This is a real problem when it slips into my English as people think I’m ignoring them when I’m actually giving an affirmative response.

em tasol; ‘That is everything’. Sometimes used in a clear way, but also used to sum up huge tasks as if they were nothing…’Today I saved the world, em tasol.’

Dedication

PNG is the ‘land of the unexpected,’ a motto well proven one afternoon when we found ourselves late additions to the Bishop’s VIP guest list for the decorative, ceremonial and long dedication ceremony of… a fuel pump. There were tears in the prayer of dedication, long speeches and choral items. As special guests we were ‘flowered’ (that’s what the programme called it) with a necklace of plastic flowers. As the leaders of a Sunday School translation workshop, we found ourselves singing in the vernacular with the choir. We were introduced as the ‘Tiang Translation Team Choir’… nothing like being named on the spot! We were thankful for those who could not come, as it meant less speeches and amused by the fact the longest speech was by the man who started with ‘I have nothing to say’ (that at least seems similar across cultures). Then, after three hours, we were amused by the final item, when the ladies guild and the youth group started line dancing to a praise pop song. I really did not see that one coming!

Decorations, man skirts and an official fuel pump opening

Although the events of the afternoon amused and bemused us, there is more of a story than the surface decorations suggest. The fuel pump was a dream of the late Bishop, a part of his desire that the church circuit become financially independent. I admire their commitment to not relying on outside funding and that they are working with local needs. The tears in the dedication prayer were for the late Bishop, his dreams and that he did not live to see this one realised. He must have been quite a man, as people were genuinely touched by his absence. It is interesting to note that while this church was seeking independence through fuel sales, their equivalent denomination in Australia was pulling all investments out of the oil and gas industry as an expression of their care for creation. Different reasons drive different decisions in different places.

Line dancing mamas and youth

That we were flowered guests even though the Bishop only met us that day is testimony to the generous welcome we receive all over PNG. People appreciate the work we do and so make us most welcome however they can. Singing with the choir was another way we are welcomed and included, for although we had only worked a few days with the Tiang, they claimed us as their own during that event and made sure we were part of things.

As for the line dancing mamas… there is no response but delight to such an unexpected event which everyone was enjoying.

Tiang Sunday School Workshop

Teaching editing and back translation

Heading to New Ireland to run Sunday School material production workshops with the Tiang, we knew little more about what we were doing than the start of this sentence suggests. We did not know how many people were coming, what education they had, what they had already completed or prepared or what they were expecting of us. We came with our computers loaded with resources and an openness to whatever this unexpected land might serve us this time. Between the experiences and resources of Catherine and I, we really could have run any of a dozen workshops.

Typing up drafts

As it turned out, 14 people came from Djaul island to work on Sunday School material production with education from 6^th grade to teachers college. The book we thought we were doing they had completed already and the draft they had ready for us we thought was already finished and printed.

The material we were working with was created by another translator in New Ireland and then provided for others to use in whatever language they chose to translate it into. Each lesson featured a story and some questions or activities. These were largely paper based, to encourage literacy in the vernacular. The people we were working with had asked for ways to have less paper based activities as they often had no paper or pencils available. This became one of the challenges of the workshop.

Tiang at work

We taught translation skills, reviewed the alphabet, reviewed punctuation, taught editing skills and generally encouraged a lot of work in a language we could not understand. Editing can be a challenge, when people do not want to change the work of someone else in case they shame them, yet among the group were some very good editors. Another challenge was spelling, for there is not a lot of printed material in Tiang so spelling is not always established. I often thought of the many spelling Shakespeare used for his own name as words were edited back and forth between the same two options.

While the Tiang translated and edited, Catherine and I typed all their drafts and later entered the corrections. Typing a language you do not know is a challenge, but after a few days our typing improved, as we learnt which consonant clusters did or did not exist and what the correct spelling of more common words were. It reached a point where we would correct the spelling of some words automatically, as we’d seen the edit enough times elsewhere.

Advisor checking

The stage of material production which I enjoyed the most was the advisor checks, when Catherine and I each sat down with a small group to read through the story, ask questions and discuss the activities. In many ways it became a time of Bible study and teaching, as we discussed the important distinctions and points in the text to make sure that they were clear. We talked through the activities, both encouraging literacy when paper and pen were available and discussing non-paper alternatives to the activities.

The Sunday school books in other languages

Due to prior commitments, I left half way through the workshop time, leaving the second week, the bulk of the advisor checks and all the printing to Catherine and the Tiang team. It was good to have been there for the bulk of the teaching and to have enjoyed the welcome of another people group. 

Meri Blaus

Traditional women’s wear in PNG in the ‘time before’ was topless with a grass skirt (with regional variations). This is still worn for traditional dances and ceremonies, although often with a bra, and can cause cross cultural tension when the postal services of other nations refuse to deliver mail because of the pictures of bare breasted women on the postage stamps.

Traditional women’s wear since the colonial era has been the meri blaus and a laplap (sarong) or skirt. The meri blaus is a long, colourful shapeless top that is all purpose and has been described as ‘the worst of pregnancy wear.’ In fact, it can be worn before, during and after pregnancy, including while breastfeeding a toddler, without showing any extra flesh.

I’ve also heard it said that a meri blaus compliments no-one, yet when three of us went shopping around Kavieng town, each dressed in a meri blaus, we had an embarrassingly constant stream of compliments from strangers in every shop and as we walked along the road. These compliments to me captured what I like about the meri blaus; they do not emphasise what you look like, but who you are.

To wear a meri blaus is not to flatter your body shape, but to disguise it. The statement it does make is that we are here to be part of the culture, not to force it to confirm to our own ways. People complimented our meri blaus because they appreciated us making the effort to belong. With our white skin we will always stand out, but wearing the meri blaus is one way we can choose to belong.

The meri blaus can also express belonging when it is used as a uniform. A ladies guild will all have a matching meri blaus that they will wear for meetings or service activities. Matching laplaps will be printed for special occasions. Meri blaus designs and colours will be patterned on the regional or national flag. In some areas it is important to wear a white or near white meri blaus to church on a Sunday. In some regions the meri blaus is sleeveless, in others it is sleeved…with puffy sleeves to rival the 80s.

Another advantage of the meri blaus, is that you are always appropriately dressed for whatever the day may hold. I was glad to have put a meri blaus on one morning, when in the afternoon I found myself on the Bishop’s VIP guest list for a fancy ceremony to dedicate a fuel pump (more on that another day!). All the other female guests were in their meri blaus, so this way I fitted in with the crowd.

Meri blauses

For all my praise of the meri blaus, I will also admit to mostly wearing it in regional locations and still quite enjoying more fitted clothing when in my own community. I also admit to preferring to match my meri blaus and skirt rather than join in with some of the eye boggling clashes of colour and pattern I have seen along the way. Yet as my wardrobe of ‘village’ and ‘home’ clothes slowly expands (the danger of a sewing machine), I shall continue to value the meri blaus as an item of clothing that does not depend on what people look like, but who they are; a pleasant change from the dress code of my own nation.

Tigak Hymn Books

When George Brown came to New Ireland with a team of Fijian Methodist missionaries in 1875, he brought with him the Methodist Hymn Book. It was first translated into one local language, but has since found its way into many more. So it was that we found ourselves with two days to help Miskum and the Tigak translation team to edit and format the hymn book in their language… or at least the 209 songs they have translated so far. There are 235 more that they’d also like to turn to Tigak.

The Tiang version of the Hymn Book

As we edited and formatted we regularly referred to the original Kuanua Hymn Book. Miskum had been singing from it for many years and the pages were soft and fabric-like from all the years of page turning. Filed among the pages were receipts, bulletins, sermon notes and Bible quotes. It was clearly a well loved book.

Many Tigak had been involved in translating songs for their hymn book. Many different people had assisted them with entering these hand written songs into the computer and with updating it as more songs were completed and corrections came to light. With a shortage of our staff available to assist with this project, people had helped where they were able, just as we were coming in late in the project to give a few days of help.

I do not know if any computer program is designed for formatting hymn books, but certainly none of them are designed for coping with multiple stages and the efforts of multiple contributors. We found ourselves fighting the computers and resisting swearing when they mysteriously undid or auto-corrupted our carefully laid plans. In the end though, we had a pdf and could print off a final draft.

A few more corrections to enter...

We printed and roughly bound the hymn book at the end of our second day. On giving it to the patiently waiting Miskum he was clearly touched by holding this final draft, complete and almost looking like a real book. He took it away and showed it to people he met in town. He found us the next day with a few more corrections and a week later found us again to request a change of picture for the cover. Clearly he was sharing it with people, getting feedback and receiving much interest.

 Now it is someone else’s job to organise the printing, but it was a privilege to help the Tigak team get to this stage. As we worked our way through the book we recognised the English names of many tunes for they were part of our traditions too. Although sometimes we muttered at the computers, more often we were found humming hymns, as familiar names came up on the screen. I take joy in knowing that so many languages around the world can sing in their own heart language ‘How Great Thou Art,’ and mean it.