Special for The RepublicThu Mar 21, 2013 3:26 PM
I was fortunate to travel to Papua New Guinea last October after cruising to Sydney, Australia, from Seattle. You might wonder what the connection with Papua New Guinea is. My son, Rick, works there as the head of Qantas Airways for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The opportunity to travel to one of the most remote, primitive places on the planet was too good to be true.
A brief background will give you some perspective on this nation of 6 million people. Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. The western half is occupied by Indonesia, which took it over from the Dutch in 1961. The controversy about this occupation continues to this day.
Over the past 100 years, Papua New Guinea has been transformed from a primitive culture to a nation struggling to come to grips with immense wealth being generated by the discovery of minerals and natural gas in the highlands.
The place could best be described as diverse in terms of wealth, culture, language (more than 800 languages — not dialects — are spoken), opportunity, health and security.
The capital, Port Moresby, has a central business district of just a few blocks. Spreading out to the nearby plains and hills, hundreds of thousands of people live in homes ranging from huts to fine apartments. Outside of Port Moresby, most people live in small villages along the coast or in the highlands.
Because of the massive development in Papua New Guinea, many Australian expatriates live there and fly home weekly or monthly. Many leave their families in Australia because of security concerns and the fact that there is little in the way of Western health care or schools.
Papua New Guinea is Australia’s nearest neighbor. It is north of Australia, and the historical connections from colonial days remain. Australia provides about half a billion dollars in aid to Papua New Guinea every year, as it does to Indonesia.
The coastal regions are stunning, and Papua New Guinea has some of the world’s finest scuba diving. The coastal people are gentle in nature and appreciate visits from Westerners, some of whom bring small gifts such as sugar and flour.
The highland regions are mostly jungle, with some of the rarest birds and other animals in the world. Colorful birds of paradise live on the island and sadly are prized for their feathers by highlanders who hunt them. Tree kangaroos live here as well.
If you look online for images of Papua New Guinea, you will see the beautiful scenery as well as the villagers who dress in incredible costumes for ceremonies.
The writer lives in Mesa.
