5k Kate

I was woken up to the sound of knocking  on the steps at around 3am. I called out in Russian and when that didn’t work I realized where I was and had to wake up and see what was happening. It was Wareka, Georgina was in labor and things weren’t going right. Could they take my fuel and stretcher? I slipped on my shoes and got the fuel canister from below the house. Just a few litres left, but should be enough to get to Upiara - at least most of the way. I followed Wareka to Georgina’s house and dropped the fuel, then headed straight off to aid post to get the stretcher, in case the transport had to be fast. Two women followed me and lucky because my headlamp died on the way. When we reached the aid post, we found Matthew there who came to help but didn’t know what the stretcher looked like. We grabbed the stretcher and some gauze then rushed back across the village in the fading solar light.  When we arrived at Georgina’s there were plenty of women gathered. About fifteen feet ...

I may have just enraged a violent village leader but (1) I’m on a post-birth high (see last post) and (2) he enraged me first.   Last week Geoff Rowak burned his wife with fire when she didn’t cook for him. Let me be clearer, HE HELD A FLAME IN HER FACE, BURNED HER NOSE, CHEEK AND NECK, AND LEFT BRUISES ALL OVER HER BODY. This is a man who has helped me many, many times, was the jokester at Christmas, shares a passion for writing lists on whiteboards...and he set his wife on fire! Because she didn’t listen to him! Well, after getting his wife some medicine, I took to the streets   street  path and told everyone how angry I was. Then I went to the women’s fellowship meeting and demanded that next weeks feast be replaced by an anti-violence march. I asked the very religious group - what would we do if someone burned the village church? They gave appropriate responses: take him to court, hold a meeting, make him fix it, hold community lectures to stop the behavior. I said, y...

This trip, though my longest, has not been a great one for blogging. This is partly due to the fact that (1) Grace was here for a little more than a month and is a wonderful listener, (2) a month of nearly straight rain eradicated my running and though it’s stopped raining, food supply is so low, that I can’t bear to be more hungry, and finally (3) my return home (home!) is drawing ever so nearer that in the evenings I often think of nothing else but avocados, regular exercise, and cuddles. Oh and my to do list which broke my app when it surpassed a million items.  I can tell you about the movie we are making -  but I hope it will also speak for itself when it’s finally ready. This trip was partially funded by the Firebird Foundation to support a project in which knowledge is passed on - from elders to youth and also from me to the community. This has manifest itself in the form of a community movie, in which the stories of four of the oldest Ende people are illuminated for th...

This Saturday, I went on a family trip to beat sago with Wagiba, Warama, Tonny, Wendy, Uba, Ibetty, Nicole, Nicky, and Willie.  Although I’ve witnessed sago processing before, I’ve never been actively involved besides carrying the heavy bags back to the village. However, most of the old women in the village seem to think I’m ‘built for sago’. Often when in close proximity to me, they mutter things like, “Ae mälla gullbe” (What a woman!) “Bogo ai dan aoli patkoll bîtne?” (How many sago bundles you think she could beat?!) “Matta? Ddîll?” (Eight? Ten?). This is a very flattering number and makes me forgive the otherwise uncomfortable chatter about my size. So off I went to see just how much sago I could beat. Sago processing involves (1) chopping down the sago palm with an axe, (2) debarking the tree with the use of an axe and a pointed stick, (3) beating the palm’s pith into the consistency of fine wood chips using a tool called an abor, an instrument with one hitting edge the size o...

Hello from inside my sanctuary but now I’m tucked into the far side of a large sleeping room in a tall house owned by an incredibly hospitable Lewada couple named Kila and Sibi. We arrived in Lewada this evening after a very long trip. We took off on Thursday morning from Limol. First stop was Upiara for Grace to catch an MAF’s Friday plane to Daru. The journey was a little stop and go, but we arrived with plenty of daylight to settle in at Kwale and Aruwa’s house and have one of Kwale’s famous meals. We did a bit of exploring in Upiara, which is a much bigger village than Limol. We normally stay with Aruwa on the school compound as he is the headmaster. The other families in this corner also speak Ende or Kawam. We got to greet plenty of Ende school children. We walked out to the furthest point in search of a man named Darema who was the main consultant for one of my linguist friends Phill. He gave us some updated files he had been working on for us to send to Phill with Grace.  F...

The journey of a flying titi Wind rustling the coconut palms A single note from the kokopasi Foreshadows a darkness soon to come.  A stir creeps over the village As they expect the mourning wail Whose name will be in the message? From near or far has it sailed? “ Ngämo män, ngämo män, ngämo män! ” Leaps from mats, houses, and stairs. Collective cries and sighs of kandärmang. A strain as the village prepares.  A blast from the conch for loved ones away, Fronds chopped for filling the hall. New wails arrive in every language to say, That shovels clang to turn a hole far too small. An avalanche of coconuts for scraping, Beating starts of the sago towers. Hymns carry the girl through the weeping. A final prayer as the grave fills with flowers. Titi - ‘bat’ Kokopasi - a type of bird known to bring messages of death Ngämo män - ‘my daughter’

Travel update: I’m back in Limol! A very quick trip through Sydney, Cairns, Moresby, Daru, and Upiara in just two and a half days! Running update: Back to my every other day routine, trailed by a gaggle of children. I would write about it more if it were more interesting. Lack of food, abundance of sun, and rolled ankles keep me at a cautious pace, but I’m feeling happy. A, meanwhile, is killing it - he ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 32 degrees this morning! Language update: this week has been about settling in and typing up all the transcriptions that Tonny and Warama completed while I was in Canberra. They did amazing work! Hope to get to some more fun activities soon.  Writing update: I’m very excited about my writing progress! While in Canberra I was able to complete rough drafts of four chapters to send my advisors! I’ve decided to devote weekends to writing this trip, and each weekend I’ll spend two days on a different chapter. This weekend was Chapter 1, the introduction...