Life in PNG
We arrived in PNG on Saturday July 19th,
2014. It is exciting to be in the South
Pacific. PNG is truly a unique place in
the world. The absolute extremes of
culture and diversity are amazing. Of
course there is much need here. Crime
and violence, abuse against women and unemployment are all fueled by
illiteracy.
A recent study revealed:
1.
The median age in PNG is 20.
2.
40% of the population have no education
3.
About 40% have completed up to 6th
grade.
4.
Less than 20% have finished 7-12th grades
5.
Sexual heath education and STD/AIDS education
starts in 7th grade (do you see a problem?)
6.
PNG has the highest population with AIDS of all
of Asia Pacific Countries
7.
Girls 15-19 have 4 times the rate of AIDS as boys
in the same age group.
The gospel has made a tremendous impact in PNG and continues
to do so, but as Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are
few." We encourage you to get involved in
the harvest field in PNG in any way your feel led of the Lord.
Many have asked about our daily life here.
Weather:
Currently we are in the winter season which is dry and cool. This morning I am wearing a long sleeved
shirt Temp low 70s-low 80s.
Mission Compound and Housing:
We have a small furnished 2 bedroom apartment.
Stove fridge, microwave, coffee pot, Sat. TV. We live on the New Life Training Center compound
about 18 miles outside of Port Moresby.
The compound is fenced and gated with 24 hour security The compound consist of married and single
staff housing, dorms for the boys (current population of about 170), the CEO’s
house, vocational ed building, kitchen, elementary school and we have a public
coffee shop on the highway. New Life Training Center teaches basic education in the midst of Christian discipleship, vocational training, job skills and has a working farm with pigs, rabbits, wallaby, chickens and a variety of fruit trees and tended gardens, with corn, peanuts, and some other crops for local use.
Church: We also
have a chapel on the compound with about 200 in attendance, including the boys,
staff and local village people. I will work with the pastor doing services,
bible studies and discipleship.
Transportation: I
drive a Honda CRV 4WD, a small SUV provided by the Mission. They drive on the left side of the road-which
takes a little getting used to. Mostly roundabouts with very few traffic lights
and NO stop signs, very few road rules – defensive driving is a matter of
extreme importance. Driving anywhere
after dark is not safe, so we are always home by 6 pm.
My job: Still a bit unclear. I will generally drive into the Koki office 4
or 5 days a week. About a 30 minute drive
with road conditions and traffic. I
leave about 7 am, home by 5. My title is
Administrative Manager. I oversee all
the services and staff in Port Moresby including: the Koki headquarters, Haus
(house) Ruth, a single women’s hostel, Meri’s (woman’s) safe house, a temporary
shelter for abused (or about to be abused) women and the Men’s hostel. I will
also provide pastoral care to the men and women in the Koki
facilities. Marketing and fundraising will
also fall under my area, Brooke will
counsel the women in Koki a couple of days a week as well as provide
administrative services in the realm of grant writing, Human Resources and
other duties as needed.
Food: We can get typical food at the modern grocery store but at 1.5 to 2 times the price in America. We will have to learn how to shop and have already decided to cut out many of the non-essential extras we typically buy in the USA.Contacting us: We do have cell phones. Incoming calls are free for us, so you can call our USA based SKYPE NUMBER 417-283-4664 and it should forward to my cell phone. This should not be an international long distance call for you. You can also contact us via SKYPE and email. We are also finding that the Internet service VIBER allows us to voice chat for free. You may want to sign up with VIBER to contact us occasionally. For all contact info or in case of emergencies please refer to our numbers on www.stevehighlander.com.
