Strong Language

During a recent village stay the local member of parliament came to visit. The Member, as he is generally referred to, is a Kope man, although the electorate covers a much larger area. He was visiting villages all over the area, giving out work contracts to the community and listening to community feedback on various needs and issues. He was rather surprised to find two expats living in the village, but pleased to hear about our work.

I was impressed that for a man who has spent many years in Port Moresby, he was still very comfortable communicating in Kope. The English he mixed in was for things that Kope does not have straightforward terms for, such as 'contract' and 'parliament'. Except for these introduced terms, he used Kope. This was an encouragement to me, as it showed how strong the Kope language is. Not only do children in the village learn it and use it every day, but town folk continue to keep it strong as well.

I was also reminded of the numerous successful people from our tribe who have gone on to further study and employment, but who keep ties with home. The Member is one example, there is also the Policeman, who is a bodyguard to the Prime Minister and has travelled more of the world than me. Not only am I not the most travelled from my tribe, I am not the highest educated. There is a man who has retired back to my village after years in government work who holds an MA from an Australian university. There are probably more examples that I don't know of.

On the days when I am frustrated with village work, these well spoken and successful men are an encouragement to me. Their life story reminds me of what the people around me can achieve when given the opportunity, and to keep working away at helping people have these opportunities to thrive in faith and in life.