A trip to Bora Village

Hello everyone,

Well it's been an interesting week since the last blog. We had another crane accident that almost killed a person. This person was crouched behind a crane inspecting something at the undercarriage and the crane backed up over him. The crane operator did not know he was there and did not have a banksmen (spotter) for the crane. It broke his hip, leg and he was dragged for about 50 feet before the crane stopped. Really nasty accident.

The temperature is getting hotter here. With the heat index it averages 106 degrees before noon and cools to to 90 degrees at night. The humidity is a the hardest to deal with here in PNG.

Since this is Sunday, we have a half work day. We went in early so we could get out before noon to go see some sites. Dan wanted to meet a local - Sei-Sei - at his village to pick up some shells. So Dan, Todd, Ellis, and I went to Bora village on the water. Here are some pictures:

 The road to the village is a washboard dirt road with ruts. Right after the bend you see in the picture the grade gets real steep down the hill. We had to put our Trooper into 4 wheel drive to get back up the road when we came out.They tell me, when it rains the road turns to mud and 4 wheel vehicles have a hard time getting down this road.

 This is the village we went to. It's a fishing village in a bay on the coral sea.

 As we entered the village the childern came out and wanted there picture taken. All the people love to have their picture taken. This was at the entry of the main part of the village. Entering these village is dangerous for an expat unless you have a local in the car with you and walking around with you. We picked up Sei-Sei on the outskirts of the village. He invited us to his house so he rode in with us.

 These two little girls were trying to get down the stair quickly for a picture.

This is Sei-Sei's family. We go there about a half hour before they go to church. I met them all and felt welcome at their home. All the people hang out under there houses where it's cooler.

 This is Sei-Sei. The kids brought back some fresh coconuts and he offered us a drink. Here is is cutting the top so we could have a fresh coconut juice. The coconut juice is sweet but really good. It was suprizingly cool being inside the shell.

 As we were walking to the beach we past their church in the village.

This little boy was really shy but curious. Had to get a picture of him at the tree.

 When we got to the beach area, this house was at the end of the village way out in the water. The water is real shallow and kids can walk out 50 to 60 yard before it became deep.

 This is more of the village on the water. This area is their boat launch area for the fishing boats.

This was interesting. There is one power pole and all the lines go to different parts of the village. Most of the power was to the houses on the water. The majority of the houses do not have power or running water.

 The kids were all gathering around wanting their picture taken. I have a bundh of pictures of the kids here. This is a group shot that was hard to get. They all kept pushing one another to be in the front. What happened was they were moving forward toward the camera and at one point they were about 12 inches away. I had to explain to them stay in one place. Finally they gathered as you see and made signs for the camera.

 Here is one of the shots as they were moving forward trying to be the first in line. I had a crowd of kids around me wanting there picture taken. Once I took the picture they had to come and look at it on the camera. It was a fun time.

 This is a fisherman just coming in from being out most of the day. They make about 20 Kina for 5 or 6 fish they sell to the local markets. The local markets are upset with the big project I work at because all the fisherman work there now instead of fishing. Last I heard over 70 percent of the local fishermen are working on the project. So the fish markets are running short of products.

Here is a nice bungalow in the trees just up from the beach.

As we were leaving town this truck went by heading somewhere. All the kids ride in the back, as you see, even on the main roads. They saw my camera and want there pictures taken also. They have this thing about making tough faces and signs when photographed.

Well that's it for the day. The trip to Bora village was fun. Finally get to see how and where they live. I am trying to get to another town next weekend called Portabata. It's a bigger village on the water. One of the issues I have to overcome is the rules with the project of no expats allowed to associate with locals except at work. So all the trips I want to take will be on the sly. I have the locals helping me with getting out to some of these villages.

Take care all. Have a safe week. Keep checking in to the blog for updates.

ken