We begin

 Our feet are now on the ground in Papua New Guinea though so far only in Port Moresby.  We will have three days of orientation, safety and health briefings and cultural awareness training here before we fly to Lae on Thursday.  We are both well and happy.

Papua New Guinea is a complex nation.  There are 1000 tribes and 800 languages.  Lae and Port Moresby are melting pots, in part because of urban drift, and people from many tribes hang out together.  Traditional enmities bubble away and new ones form so violence is ever present.  Bystanders can be hurt in the ruckus that ensues.  'Raskols' have been a problem in PNG for many decades.  Unemployment and urban poverty have made this worse and there are 'no go' areas in PoM and Lae for Australian Volunteers (and sensible others!)  We will be carrying trackers with emergency buttons to use if we feel in danger.  Hopefully they will not be needed.  Already I am the trouble maker - the phone SIM I was issued with turned out to be a dud and it has taken a bit of mucking around to ascertain it wasn't me or my phone that was the problem.  Then my emergency button activated itself while sitting on the desk and caused a bit of confusion.  Hopefully all just teething problems and it will be smooth sailing here on in.

In the briefings a great deal of time has been spent talking about the challenges faced by women in PNG.  Gender based violence is ingrained in the culture.  The 'Bride Price' system means men feel they own their wives and can treat them as they see fit.  Daughters are sold into marriage often at too young an age.  Accusation of sorcery is just another form of misogyny used by men to keep powerful women in what they see as their place in subordinate roles.  Abuse of children and other vulnerable people is also an issue.  There are many other issues holding back development too.  Hopefully we can have some small impact in strengthening capacity in agriculture.

We visited The Australian High Commission and met the officer who oversees the AusVols program in PNG.  We are paid for by DFAT after all!  The High Commission values the program and helps where it can.  We are lucky to have a Consul in Lae so will have High Commission help close at hand.

The Airways Hotel where we are being put up by AVI is very grand.  There is a wall of photos showing dignitaries who have stayed here and it includes royalty - Princess Anne - and several Australian Prime Ministers.  Mama Samia, now President of Tanzania, stayed here when she was Vice President.  I have enjoyed my pre breakfast swims in the pool and the food has been excellent.  We are quite spoilt!

We have been taken to one of the large shopping malls in Port Moresby which had a very wide range of products for sale.  I was very relieved to see that Twisties are available here - these packets were for sale in the pharmacy which is fitting given their mental health benefits.  The slogan on the packet in pidgin says 'Life is happy together with Twisties' and I couldn't agree more though I wasn't so sure about the Cherry Tomato and BBQ Curry flavoured Twisties available in one of the other stores.  We will have some Tok Pisin (Pidgin) lessons during these few days of briefings and will have a tutor in Lae to help us improve.  It seems that even in our work place Tok Pisin will be the common language and it will certainly be in the markets.

One last photo - as we flew over the Great Dividing Range near Armidale and Glen Innes there was so much snow on the ground.  The pilot said he'd never seen so much in all his years flying that route.

I appreciate comments - let me know what you want to hear about.  More soon, Jenny