Learning from each other
March 21, 2014 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Karen Weaver with Tim Scott When her mother, Deb Smucker, flew west to Yabru village to assist in a workshop for training teachers, nine-year-old Abigail went too. The mother/daughter pair traveled to the village by hiking, canoeing, and flying in a plane. After their plane touched down, smiling faces and waving hands greeted them. Many willing hands helped to carry the literacy materials, food, and other baggage over the trails and down the river to Yabru. Papua New Guinean teaching supervisors instructed the teachers during the workshop, but Abigail was able to help the teachers, who live near the border of Indonesia, practice the language she knows best: English. In certain years of the curriculum, the teachers are required to teach English. As their young tutor pronounced the words, the adults mimicked what they heard. During their two weeks in Yabru, young Abigail also contributed in other ways. She helped her mother organize nearly 1,500 pounds of literacy materials in the book room so that it could easily be sold to the teachers. The boxes had been covered in plastic to keep them dry during transport. Abigail’s jobs included cutting off the plastic and arranging the books on the shelves. The time in Sandaun Province wasn't all work. One of the teen girls, Sarah, was assigned to be with Abigail to make sure she had fun but also stayed safe. She discovered that paddling a canoe and getting a little wet was fun because it was quite hot in the afternoons. Sarah taught Abigail to catch fish with a net. Putting the nets out late in the afternoon, they checked for a catch the following morning. One day she watched the cooks prepare the fresh fish for lunch. Later, when asked why she wasn't eating her fish, she answered, "If you had seen how they cut that fish, you wouldn't be eating it either!" Another highlight for Abigail was playing soccer with the local girls. Sports were a great way for her to connect with people. She lamented, "I will really miss my new friends when I go home."
For more information on this release, contact, The PNG Experience, PO BOX 413, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-4431 or Email:
ThePNGexperience@gmail.com or follow the daily blog at www.thepngexperience.wordpress.com. Pictures do not always depict actual event, activities or people. “Yumi Stori” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for “Let’s talk” or “Let’s have a conversation”