Words by BIG PAT
Pictures by STEVEN UMARU of POST-COURIER
The guitar man humbly sat in his dusty corner gently plucking his strings.
The folksy tune was a 'moale' one. It was
happy hour in the village of Kalo last Saturday.
The singing was reverberating on the stage
and the music was sweet, chorused along by the once in a while grunt of a tied
up porky pig.
Elsewhere on the sandy ground, the women of
Kalo swayed in their colourful grass skirts, moving gently to the rising rhythm
of 'peroveta' singing guided by the laughter of their children.
The lofty coconut palms, agreeably, swayed
to the rhythm of the pesky 'hamamas' moments.
Under the Papuan sun, an old fuzzy haired man
appeared with the aid of a walking stick.
Proudly holding his greyed head aloft,
dignified yet humbled, the story of Kalo written in his creased face. It seems
old Golo Doge was and is the oldest member of the Kalo Salvation Army corp.
His job as a pioneer Salvo in Kalo was a
special one - to raise the colours of the new Kalo Salvation Army Church.
His sons Veao and Tau, carrying on in the
fine tradition of their father in establishing the foundation of the church,
had hammered in the nails on the new building, labouring for free.
They also had the great honour of handing
over the keys to Territorial Commander Captain Andrew Kalai, himself a local
from Kalo.
The Salvation Army arrived in Kalo in 1991
with Lieutenants Vali and Diane Ila. As is usual with new churches, they
started humbly in the yard of Tau Kila, also a pioneer soldier.
Last Saturday, amidst great fanfare,
singing, dancing and prayers for a fruitful harvest, the Kalo church was
officially opened by Central Province Governor Robert Agarobe and Rigo MP Lekwa
Gure.
Governor Agarobe thanked the churches for
the important role they play in delivering services to the communities where
they have a presence.
"Churches play a very Important role
and have done it well overtime by harnessing our traditional clan system and
merging it with the church structure, these then maintains order in our
communities and makes government work a lot easier," he said.
"As your governor my job is to empower
you so you can build and sustain such infrastructure and institutions on your own
through the offerings and 'boubous' at the village level.
"It is not right for me to donate large sums of money, and for that we have created ANIANI as a vehicle to bring the markets back to our villages where our people are, by doing that we are cutting out all the hardships of finding a market to sell.
"The money earned from your produce
can then go towards improving livelihood and allow you to contribute to local
churches to continue spreading God's word."
The Aniani (food) project is a new concept
being driven by the Agarobe government to encourage Central Province locals to
farm their land and on-sell their produce to the CPG.
"We as their government is committed
to buy all their solid garden food for starters with fruits and sea food later
on once our wholesale market at Bautama is completed later this year,"
Governor Agarobe said.
Besides donating chairs to the church, he
also made a commitment to complete the ceiling of the church.
On hand to witness the opening were SAPNG Secretary
for Business Administration Lieutenant Colonel David Bateman and the Salvoes Boroko
Primary School Administrator Lieutenant Colonel Margaret Bateman.
The Salvation Army officially commenced in
PNG on August 31, 1956 and the first
meeting was held on Sunday, October 21 at the Royal Police Constabulary
Barracks in Port Moresby.
The first officers appointed to the work
there were Major and Mrs Keith Baker and Lieutenant Ian Cutmore.
On July 4, 1994, after 38 years as part of
the Australia Eastern Territory, Papua New Guinea became an independent command
and on December 9, 2000 was promoted to territory status.
As the Papuan sun wound its way over the
Kemp Welch river and rain clouds gathered in the distance, the guitar man was
packing his strummer, his spot taken over by the wheelbarrow man!
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