Traditional Manus slit-gong drum team welcomes
Joel & Jason and their friends back to Manus.
Martins' Memos Photo Extra |
||
| Ukarumpa | Papua New Guinea |
February 1998 |
The drought in Papua New Guinea has started to ease with the arrival of long-awaited rains falling in many parts of the country. At Ukarumpa and on Manus Island water tanks are again full and the landscape has turned back to the normal lush green. Vegetables are growing well again, although it will be another month or two before the sweet potato crop can be harvested in most parts of the country. Hence, relief efforts are still underway in areas where there has been little rain and where the crops are slower to produce a harvest. The capital city Port Moresby is still very dry, however, and will run out of water and hydropower in a few weeks without substantial rainfall. The city is continuing to ration water and hydropower.
From December 19th to January 23rd we had the privilege of having Joel and his friend Rebecca Wagner visit us during their Christmas break. They had quite a trip from Egypt, which took them through New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney and Port Moresby on their way to Ukarumpa. It was fun to be all together again for Christmas, and to catch up on their many adventures in Egypt and the Middle East (see some of their photos later in this letter).
Joel and Jason (and their friends Rebecca and John) went out for three weeks to Lessau village on Manus (where Joel and Jason grew up) to make what might possibly be their last visit there. The Lindrou people were especially glad to see them and organized several welcome ceremonies, which included traditional drum beating, a singsing (singing and dancing), speeches, feasting and the giving of gifts (see photos).
In many parts of Papua New Guinea the slit-gong drum (or garamut) is beat with a single large stick, and a simple beat is used to gather the village people together for meetings, and to send simple messages. On Manus Island, however, four to six different size drums are used together forming a rhythmic band. The large base drum is beat with a single curved stick. But the other drummers use two sticks each. There are many different beats and each drummer must do his part to produce the rousing syncopated rhythms.
Jason spent most of his growing up years out in a Lindrou village. On special occasions he would hear the beat of these traditional Manus drums. The experience was no doubt one of the factors that inspired him to excel in the musical realm of percussion and especially drums. During his last trip to Manus Jason was invited to participate on the traditional drum team (see photos).
As the Lindrou Bible Translation project looks toward completion in the next 2-3 years, it is important to ensure that a good infrastructure is in place for teaching Lindrou people to read and use the Scriptures and other literacy materials. On February 4th the S.T.E.P. Course started here at Ukarumpa. Bill and Charles Kowak are taking a 5-week break from translation work to mentor Nelson Kalai and Bill Bomai who traveled to Ukarumpa in early February to attend the course. The S.T.E.P. course is designed to train them to function as supervisors of vernacular prep schools in the Lindrou area. This is the first of five modules or "STEPs" which Nelson and Bill will take during the next two years. Charles will continue mentoring them after the Martins leave for furlough this June.
During their last trip out to Manus, Bill and Charles invited people from four villages to participate in a reading contest. Although short notice was given, quite a large crowd of participants showed up and packed out the literacy school room. We were amazed at how well people of all ages could read their language, even though, for many they had had little previous practice. For the contest, the participants read selections from the Lindrou translation of the book of Genesis chapter 24. Hand axes were given as prizes to the top reader in each of six groups (groups included one for women and one for people over 60 years of age).
One of the activities that Bill did during the last village visit was to expand the Lindrou Dictionary. Equipped with a field guide to the tropical reef fishes of New Guinea, he asked several Lindrou fishermen to help him identify as many reef fishes as they could. He was amazed to find out that most Lindrou people can identify over 600 species of reef fish, categorizing them under about 150 different vernacular names. In addition, Bill reports that the traditional Lindrou classification closely matches and is often even more detailed than the scientific classification of reef fish. Would you be able to recognize a Stareye Parrotfish (Calotomus carolinus) from a Swarthy Parrotfish (Scarus niger)? To the Lindrou it’s simple. The first is called an Arau, and the other a Bada-oh. Bill admits that, before this exercise in Dictionary building, he didn’t know the difference between a Parrotfish and a SurgeonFish!
The following pages are devoted to photos with captions for your enjoyment. Be sure to note the Praise and Prayer Items on the last page.
Traditional Manus slit-gong drum team welcomes
Joel & Jason and their friends back to Manus.
The ladies donned traditional finery and danced
to the rhythm of the drums.
Jason joins the slit-gong drum team.
For Jason and friend John, surfing was an almost
daily activity.
Joel and Rebecca decorated with gifts and flowers.
Jason, John, Joel & Rebecca being welcomed in
Lessau Village where Joel & Jason grew up.
Joel turned the big 21 while out on Manus.
Inspecting the catch: Several reef fish and the flesh
of a giant clam.
Rebecca admiring one of many woven bags she was
given during her trip to the Lindrou area of Manus.
The reading contest revealed that many people
could read the Lindrou Scriptures well.
Joel & Rebecca at the Cairo Citadel
with greater Cairo in the background.
For his service project, Joel taught PE to deaf
children at a school for the deaf in Cairo.
Joel on a camel while visiting Bedouins in the
Northern Sinai.
At the pyramids in Giza near Cairo
At the Sphinx
In Alexandria, Egypt (lighthouse in background).
At the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
On the Mount of Beatitudes with the Sea of
Galilee in the background.
With friends at the Lebanon-Israel border
Outside Simon the Tanner’s house in Joffa, Israel
Praise Items: |
Prayer Items: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In his unfailing love,
Bill Martin (for Lenore and Jason).