Bridget, in the centre of the front row, with some of the community in Telefomin.
LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE & CULTURE Story and photos by Bridget Ingham
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ll new staff arriving in the MAF PNG programme begin their service with two-and-a-half months of cultural orientation, including learning the lingua franca, Tok Pisin (formerly and incorrectly called Pidgin English). Orientation includes three weeks of language lessons in Mount Hagen and two weeks of practice in Kompiam. I arrived in Telefomin, a remote village, on a Thursday for a weeklong orientation to life in PNG. On Friday I was introduced to two sisters, Vero and Joyce. While they understood some English words, they weren’t able to hold a conversation. If I wanted to communicate with them, it had to be in Tok Pisin!
We each shared a little bit about our families, then went for a walk around the village, visiting the high school, haus sik (hospital), vocational training centre and community health worker training centre. In each case the story was the same: because there are no roads connecting Telefomin to the outside world and the river is not big enough to allow boats to travel this far inland, they are completely dependent on aircraft to bring everything in, from building materials to books, clothing and food staples like rice. On Saturday I helped carry timber along a forest track as part of a church working bee, and the following day they took me to church. People were so hungry to hear God’s word that we were packed
in like sardines. I was invited to sit on a special seat up the front (which I declined) and to share some thoughts with the congregation (which I happily accepted). I chose my favourite Bible verse, Isaiah 40:31, which proved to be a great encouragement to people: “Sometimes we can fly like eagles. If we can’t fly, we can still run. If we can’t run, we can still walk. It is God who strengthens us in our Christian life.” On Monday the three of us began a two-day hike to the village of Feranmin, where there is an airstrip. We followed the road out of town and across a precarious-looking bridge. The further we went, the muddier and narrower the “road” got. Plenty of tramping in the Tararua ranges helped prepare me for
