Volume 40 2024
M A G A Z I N E PNG Air
MARTIAL ART IN GOROKA Goroka’s Nicholas Onare represents PNG at the World Tang Soo Do Championships in the US P8
Eye care in Madang P20
Bougainville chocolate on show P32
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MAGAZINE PNG Air
Thank you for choosing to fly with the people’s airline.
This issue of our inflight magazine marks a turning point in the airline’s history.
PUBLISHED BY Pacific Islands Publishing Editor Margo Nugent m.nugent@moore.com.pg Airline Editorial Contact Dalai Thomas dalai.thomas@pngair.com.pg Sales and Distribution Maiyola Steven pipsales@moore.com.pg
A lot of changes have taken place over the past few months as the airline slowly works on refreshing our brand and adding more aircraft to our fleet. We have been working very hard preparing for these changes so I take my hat off to the hardworking staff who have tirelessly worked around the clock to prepare for all the new things to come at PNG Air. We see these changes as an opportunity to look at the services we offer to you, our customers, and determine how we can better position the airline for tomorrow and beyond. From a customer perspective, we are also working on introducing a range of initiatives designed to make your travelling experience with the people’s airline easier, more convenient and more rewarding. The airline’s focus is on our customers and your needs – which are the driving force guiding the decisions we make in all aspects of our business. While many things are changing, quite a few remain the same. Our staff have been our greatest strength and this will continue. Throughout the brand refresh process, our staff have been involved in helping to shape the strategy, and their input will continue to be a fundamental part of the business to ensure our service and the products we offer meet your needs. While more aircraft and a brand refresh are major steps forward for us, our strength will always come from our people. Their flexibility and desire to provide the best possible service will be the point of difference for the airline as we continue to further improve our service delivery and customer focus. We appreciate your choice to fly with PNG Air. Whether you are a first-time traveller or one of our regular passengers, we hope your travel experience with us is nothing short of amazing. I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of our contract partners, Newmont and St Barbara mining, both in New Ireland Province, and also K92 Mining in Morobe Province. As always, PNG Air will continue to strive to satisfy our customer expectations of transporting you safely from where you are to where you need to be. We look forward to welcoming you on board soon as we continue to connect Papua New Guinea.
Design and Layout Anthony Lingnonge pipart@moore.com.pg Correspondence to the airline:
All rights reserved. © Copyright 2024 by Pacific Islands Publishing, a division of Moore Business Systems (PNG) Limited. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Statements, opinions and viewpoints expressed by the writers are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher, editor or the airline. Information contained in this publication is assumed to be correct only at the time it was originally obtained by the writers and may be subject to change at any time without notice. Any material accepted is subject to revision as is necessary in the publisher’s sole discretion to meet the requirements of this publication. While all care will be taken, neither the publisher nor the airline will accept responsibility for accidental loss or damage. Marketing Manager PO Box 170, Boroko, N.C.D. Papua New Guinea Ph: +675 302 3100 Fax: +675 325 2219 E: pngair@pngair.com.pg Editorial correspondence to: The Editor Pacific Islands Publishing PO Box 7543, Boroko, N.C.D. Papua New Guinea Ph: +675 321 0000 Fax: +675 321 0002 E: m.nugent@moore.com.pg Printer Moore Printing Scratchley Road, Badili N.C.D. Papua New Guinea Ph: +675 321 0000
Enjoy your flight.
Best regards and God bless,
Brian Fraser Chief Executive Officer
Cover photo Nicholas Onare, who represented PNG at the 2024 World Tang Soo Do Championship in the US in July, spars with Jessy Andrew at his home club in Goroka, Eastern Highlands “ Korean Martial Art Finds a Home in Goroka” Page 8 Photo: Joeri Kalwij
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TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT SPECIALISTS
Contents
08 Korean Martial Art Finds a Home in Goroka
Nicholas Onare became the first Papua New Guinean to compete at a world championship in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do in the United States in July this year, something his American-born black belt instructor Tabitha Lutz has dreamed of seeing happen since she started the country’s first Tang Soo Do club in Goroka eight years ago. 20 Madang Trip Sparks Missionary Journey A longing to use his skills as an eye doctor in places where
20 “Madang Trip Sparks Missionary Journey”
they were most needed brought Martijn van den Houten and his new bride Fleur to PNG last year, with their five-week clinic tour of Madang villages setting them on a missionary path that shows no sign of slowing.
46 PNG Air – Where We Fly
celebration of the region’s fast-growing cocoa industry and its network of about 50,000 farmers who produce high-quality cocoa beans for export around the world to make smooth and deliciously rich chocolate.
A map of Papua New Guinea and PNG Air flight routes, plus airline contact information, transfer information, and Inflight Games’ puzzle solutions.
32 Celebration of Bougainville Chocolate
The Bougainville Chocolate Festival – held in Arawa in September – is an annual
48 PNG Air – Inflight Comfort A few health tips and easy
42 PNG Air – News
PNG Air news bulletin and updates. 45 PNG Air – Inflight Games Exercise the mind with
exercises to help make your PNG Air flight as comfortable as possible.
Christina Lovatt’s crossword and puzzles for your enjoyment.
44 “Enga Fashion Fair”
32 “Celebration of Bougainville Chocolate”
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MANAGED Wi Fi
Words: Tabitha Lutz, Goroka Tang Soo Do Club founder, master level black belt Tang Soo Do instructor Photos: Joeri Kalwij (in Goroka) and the World Tang Soo Do Association
Korean martial art finds a home in Goroka
Nicholas Onare from PNG proudly carries his country’s flag into the stadium
at the opening of the World Tang Soo Do Championships in the United States
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Watching a Papua New Guinean competitor of Tang Soo Do represent his country at a world championships is something I have dreamed of since starting the first local club of the karate-based Korean martial art in Goroka eight years ago. That dream finally came true in early July when I took my 25-year-old student Nicholas Onare to the American city of Greensboro, North Carolina, to compete in the 2024 World Championships of the World Tang Soo Do Association. Arriving at the giant sports stadium, I followed the crowd out of an aisle to find a seat with the best view, the excitement rising as I watched the WTSDA flag brought in, then the host country USA flag, and finally, alphabetically, each flag of the 25 represented countries. As the announcer got to the Ms and called Mexico, I prepared my camera. “Mozambique! Netherlands! Nicaragua!” Scattered applause followed each one. “…Pakistan! Panama!” Then “Papua New Guinea!” Another of my Goroka students, Grace Ward – who is now living back in the US and had come to Greensboro specially to support Nicholas – joined me as we cheered the loudest, trying to clap and hold our phones out to record the young man proudly carrying the PNG flag into the arena and up to the flag display with the other country flags. Only we knew how far he had come to get there, and almost didn’t make it. Here is our story.
School’s secondary campus and turned the back room into a computer room, but they did not kick us out. Instead, they gave us a bigger training space in a cleared classroom. By word of mouth our group grew, and people came from many locations: nearby villages, missionary compounds, school students, people who came to Goroka for work, and more. Goroka’s master level black belt Tang Soo Do instructor Tabby Lutz (right) with red belt student Nicholas Onare, who this year attended the world championships in the United States – the first Papua New Guinean to compete at that level in the Korean martial art
T he Goroka Tang Soo Do Club began in 2016 in the back room of a former restaurant called The Haven that was popular in the Eastern Highlands town. We used empty Coke bottles as kicking targets, hand-drawn flags for protocol
and trained in sweatpants and t-shirts. At those first classes we had about seven children and 10 adults and teenagers, but little by little we grew in numbers and gained gear. The Haven transitioned to Goroka Grammar
At the opening ceremony of the World Tang Soo Do Championships in the US in July, PNG’s Nicholas Onare took his place alongside 1400 competitors from around the world
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Practising the ‘form’ (movement) called ‘Bassai’
“Nicholas has quick high kicks which he can throw from spinning, jumping or facing head-on”
A superbly executed roundhouse kick
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pattern of movements using blocks, strikes and kicks). Even though forms (called ‘hyung’ in Korean) are one of his favourite things to practice, he finds them one of the hardest. Higher level belt students learn more advanced forms, and the movements are complicated to remember. As a red belt – the first level in the advanced levels – the form Nicholas practised for going to the worlds is called ‘bassai’ and has 52 individual movements! After he memorised the form, he had to put focus, strength and meaning behind each movement. Sparring is a little less challenging since it does not rely on remembering a sequence of moves. In watching Nicholas grow as a martial artist over the last four years, I have seen his sparring become fast and skilled. He has quick high kicks which he can throw from spinning, jumping or facing head-on. Sometimes he gets together with
Nicholas delivers a a 360 crescent kick on a target held by his instructor Tabby Lutz in the club’s grassy training area at Goroka Grammar School
In 2017, six months after starting, the World Tang Soo Do Association certified our club, and now it boasts a regular base of 50 to 70 students per year. Nicholas Onare is from the Eastern Highlands town of Henganofi but lives in Kamiliki which is close enough to Goroka to allow him to train. In 2020, his aunt told him about our club since she knew about it from babysitting my children during practice times. Nicholas had never
heard of Tang Soo Do before so she explained it is a martial art with kicking, punching and self-defence. Nicholas thought this sounded interesting as it would be useful to have skills in case he ever needed to protect himself, such as “in case of tribal fighting,” as he puts it. He and his cousin joined together that year, but soon found out there is much more to TSD than fighting. He learned the three purposes of training are self-defence,
physical fitness and improved person (as in character-building). Through TSD, he has learned skills that help with self-control, focus, concentration and perseverance; and TSD keeps him in good health through demanding physical exercise. He really likes working on his fitness, particularly sparring (moving around with an opponent while blocking, punching and kicking to gain points) and working on fighting forms (a
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Arriving in the US city of Greensboro for the world championships
First time on a plane for Nicholas
TSD friends on weekends to do informal sparring sessions just for fun. At last year’s club Christmas party, Nicholas heard the announcement about the chance to go to the world championships to compete in his two favourite parts of TSD so decided to try since he had never travelled before and wanted to see what TSD from other parts of the world was like. paperwork process, including miraculously securing his birth certificate in record time, the waiting for a passport began. He checked in with the passport office often and was told that it would be done the next week… for a couple of months! It looked dismal. This long wait was the point where Nicholas felt his lowest. At one stage, he heard his application may be lost and he felt so sick to his stomach with disappointment he wanted to quit – not just the trip but give up on TSD. But something inside him made him stay and But after signing up and immediately starting the
“I had a lot of fun travelling with Nicholas, who had never travelled outside of PNG or even been on a plane”
keep practising and following up about his passport. When he got word at the last minute that the passport was completed, he felt so relieved and set to work to get his US visa. This shows immeasurable perseverance and indomitable spirit, exemplifying two of the tenets of TSD. The turning point came after local business, Niugini Fruit Co got involved, helping with sponsorship and getting Nicholas’ passport fast tracked. Without their help, the trip to the USA would not have happened, and the support also gave Nicholas confidence in knowing there were people who believed in him. I had a lot of fun travelling with Nicholas, who had never travelled outside of PNG or even been on a plane. We arrived in the US a week before the championships,
staying with my family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we trained every single day. It was good to be back at my home studio, Mimidis Karate, where my TSD training had started 24 years ago when I was just 13. I made sure to get a photo with Nicholas and Master Mimidis – two generations of student and instructor. As a child I began TSD as just a fun activity that my younger brother had started a few years earlier and I was eager to join in, but over time the martial arts skills were not just about self- defence but taught me many lessons in perseverance and self- control. These helped form me into a confident person. When I was 17, I tested for and earned a black belt. When I went to university I thought I would have to give up TSD but found a studio nearby
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studio to continue my training, and where I earned my third degree black belt at age 28. Even when I moved overseas for study and work, and could not find TSD studios, I still trained in martial arts, trying Tae Kwan Do in Spain, and Kyuokushin Karate in India, and then Hapkido in rural Indiana back in the US. When I moved to PNG with my husband David’s work with the Rural Airstrip Agency, I was not permitted to work in my field and missed training in martial arts, but couldn’t find any
train in and get experience from other teachers, and in styles of teaching and leading. Every day we ended classes sweating and happy. We talked in the car rides about what was different and the same in the studios we visited, and also managed some sightseeing, especially in rural Pennsylvania with its sprawling farms, Amish communities and scattered towns and cities. Most memorable for Nicholas was a tour of a chocolate factory in the town of Hershey! Two days into our stay, I received a very excited message from a former student who had trained in the Goroka club years ago, Grace Ward. US expats, she, her siblings, and her dad were among the first people to start lessons at the club in 2016, but they had moved back to the USA three years later. Grace’s text read: “R u in Pennsylvania with PNG crew?!” so I happily explained Nicholas and I were heading to the Worlds. A few messages later she surprised me by saying she was going to try to come too. Her positive memories of training in Goroka five years earlier were still strong, and she wanted to cheer on her old club and country. As the date of the Worlds arrived, we drove to Greensboro,
Nicholas meets Tabitha’s old instructor Master Paul Mimidis at his US karate studio
so continued, earning a second degree black belt the same year as I graduated with a social work degree. When I moved to Chicago I found another TSD
consistent training groups. This was what led to the creation of the Goroka club. While in Lancaster, Nicholas and I also visited other studios to
“We also visited other studios in the US to train in and get experience from other teachers, and in styles of teaching and leading”
At Mimidis Karate in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Nicholas joins a group practising blocking drills
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the two days of competitions involving 1400 participants from around the world started, Nicholas and I joined different training groups with instructors from different countries. These specialised clinics gave him in-depth training in weapons, ‘flow’ in TSD, and competition preparation. Grace arrived on the first day of competition, just in time to watch Nicholas carry in the PNG flag, and Nicholas was very pleased to have someone else to speak to in Tok Pisin. He momentarily felt like he was back at home conversing with an old friend. They walked around together to watch the black belts compete while I judged one of the 28 competition rings on the first day. It was very lucky to have a third person in our PNG group. Since I had ring assignments to judge the whole time, I unfortunately missed most of Nicholas’s competition. His
division was called near the end of the second day. As soon as my ring was over and I had no more responsibilities, I ran over to where he was competing. I couldn’t get very close to see clearly. They had already finished weapons forms and were near the end of open-hand forms; Nicholas had already competed in both. Thankfully, Grace had recorded both of these events so I could see them and Nicholas could re-live them. When the ring started setting up for sparring, I saw Nicholas stand up to put on his gear. He was the third match in his ring, and his opponent was from Great Britain. I could see Nicholas’s signature high kicks multiple times, barely blocked by his opponent who followed up with multiple quick punches or responding kicks. After the captivating fast-paced match ended, the British opponent had won and moved on to spar another match. Disappointed,
Nicholas practises some basic sword movements in a class at US studio Legacy Martial Arts in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
North Carolina, where I immediately saw friends and teachers I had trained with when I lived in Chicago, and who gave Nicholas a very warm welcome and congratulations. Before
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A group photo of Nicholas with others in his competition division after the medal presentation, and (above) demonstrating a series of forms and sparring techniques for the judges at the World Tang Soo Do Championships
Nicholas removed his sparring gear and watched. After all 18 competitors of the division had competed, the judges in the ring awarded the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
medals for all three categories. Nicholas did not get any medals this time. However, as the three of us walked back to where the closing ceremony would be held shortly, he seemed
very upbeat. He was proud to have come all this way to compete among such skilled martial artists and be at the level of international competition. He knew he had done his best
and had done very well. As we walked, he said, “Now I know what to do for next time. I already started thinking about how to practice to get better for the 2026 World Championships!”
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Impressed, I nodded and agreed with him that he should come back and compete again. Teaching traditional martial arts in Goroka has been an amazing experience – both challenging and gratifying. One of the challenges is how transient the population in Goroka is. Students of all ages start training and practice consistently, then for various reasons they need to stop. It was a slow process to build a base of students. I see such skilled individuals leave even though I want them to stay a part of our group. While moving around occurs universally around the world, it happens at a
very high rate in Goroka since it is a big town in the Highlands region. Usually the club consists of 70% PNG students and 30% expatriates, but the numbers are always changing. Expats have come from 17 different countries. In PNG, martial arts tends to be more popular among males; however GTSDC has a pretty close ratio of 60% male and 40% female. In addition to the main location, we also have early morning training in a field near my house. Many of the students at the second location are gardeners or security guards or students who have all come from the same part of remote Madang.
Former Goroka student Grace Ward, now living back in the US, arrived to cheer on Nicholas at the Worlds
Some have only moved to Goroka recently and do not know Pidgin very well when they start training. This has led to some very fun morning practices. I translate from English to Pidgin, and the brown belt students,
who have been around for a while, translate from Pidgin to their ‘tokples’ (local dialect) for the newcomers. On top of these three languages, we use Korean terminology throughout the practices and repeat
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leading and teaching more often than before we went. He takes on the responsibility more willingly and more confidently than he had before going to the Worlds. We have talked several times since returning, and each time he says he can’t wait to go back to compete again or travel anywhere to train with others. I asked him if anything about TSD has changed for him since going to the Worlds, and he said that TSD at GTSDC is exactly the same as before, but he is different now; he has expanded his perspective and experiences, and he feels more confident in leadership. “What do you think your future in TSD is?” I asked a month after we had returned. “I was thinking that I will be one of the teachers of Tang Soo Do so I can travel, like in [within] Tang Soo Do so I can take some groups to the Worlds,” he replied. Next generation of Tang Soo Do students, start lining up! • To enrol in classes , email gorokatsd@ gmail.com or message Facebook page Goroka Tang Soo Do Club
“Brook was one of the first people in all of PNG to reach black belt level in 2022”
Brook Stegman, 15, of Goroka, training earlier this year for her second degree black belt test (she passed)
the words in multiple languages to learn them thoroughly. From the time the club started to now, one PNG national student has been there the whole time – Brooklyne Stegman. Still only 15 (at the time of press – soon to be 16), earlier this year Brook tested for second degree black belt and was awarded this at our annual Goroka Championships local tournament. This event marked a new milestone not just for her but for the club, too, as she has became a symbol of what people can achieve with hard work and perseverance. It is an empowering story for PNG girls and women. She already stood out as one of the first people in all of PNG to reach black belt level after being awarded this in 2022. She was the only person to test at any black belt
level this year, and she ended the test with a powerful jump spin kick to break a very strong board on the first try while airborne. Many, many students stand out over the last eight years of the Goroka Tang Soo Do Club. People start training for so many different reasons, and everyone has a different journey in their training despite all classes being group practices. I could tell many stories of the group’s successes, challenges, and of individuals who persevered to achieve their goals. My dream to bring someone from the Goroka club to the Worlds started in 2019, and I had four skilled students sign up to attend the 2020 event, but then the COVID-19 global pandemic struck and halted events around the world. I decided to try again
in 2022. It was a last- minute decision, and so only one student had the means to make it happen. However, due to some unforeseen outside complications, we had to cancel that trip too. In 2023 I announced we would try again, and several students expressed interest, but I put up strict stipulations and mandates to follow in order to go. Nicholas was the only person able to fulfil all the requirements. In order to go to the Worlds, Nicholas was required to have perfect training attendance, attend extra practices, and be a student leader at our club. He volunteered in self-defence seminars provided to Goroka businesses as health and wellness initiatives. Now that we are back in PNG and training regularly again, I put Nicholas in charge of
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Madang trip sparks MISSIONARY JOURNEY Photos: Martijn van den Houten
Fleur dances with Anna, one of the children the youth worker befriended while doing mission work in her village of Malas, north of Madang
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One of Martijn’s spectacular drone shots of the palm tree-lined northern Madang coastline
“Everywhere he went, his camera and drone were taken along, and especially the drone drew huge crowds!”
T ravelling to remote villages of Madang Province to deliver life-changing eye care over five weeks in July last year felt a bit like a camping trip at times for newlywed Dutch couple Martijn and Fleur van den Houten. Part of the Christian missionary group YWAM (Youth with a Mission), the couple recalls a memorable three nights at Bogia on Madang’s northwest coast where they slept in a church that had a floor of sand since the village was basically built on the beach.
“The pastor made sure we were as comfortable as we could be and brought in a tarp for us to sleep on,” Martijn says. “We laid down our mats and hung the mosquito nets and were set for a great sleep after our busy first day. However, a rooster decided to camp in the tree right next to the open church so we were woken up almost every hour during the night as the rooster challenging, our team learned to love others while having little sleep – one of the great kept on crowing! “While this was
Children crowd around Martijn as he flies his drone above the beach after one of the clinic days at Bogia in Madang Province
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says she was initially most excited for the opportunity this trip offered Martijn, as they grew closer they both knew it was something they could do together, with Fleur’s background in organisational management with a focus on global social issues also adding to what the couple could offer. But then COVID-19 spread to the Netherlands, confining the couple to their homes just as it did to people in countries all over the world. During that time Martijn was able to continue working as an optometrist while Fleur started and finished a Master of Communication degree, but any plans for travel had to be put firmly on hold. All the while though, their relationship grew, along with their longing to go to PNG. Last year, on May 11,
Martijn and Fleur were married in a small town in the Netherlands, a beautiful day overflowing with love from family and friends. Then just a week later they flew out for their honeymoon in Thailand and the Philippines, then straight on to PNG together. “I had a long-held dream of using my skills in a place where they were most needed,” Martijn says. “PNG presented the perfect opportunity to fulfill this dream, especially with the support of organisations like YWAM.” Although the couple was initially supposed to work on the MV YWAM Liberty ship, the plan changed because of ship repairs in dry dock so they were instead directed to a land-based mission in Madang. Nestled along PNG’s northeastern coast, Martijn and Fleur found the province beckoned
Martijn and Fleur on their May 2023 wedding day in the Netherlands, just a week before they left for their PNG missionary adventure
challenges of ministry. We never did learn to love the rooster though!” ended up in PNG on a trip of a lifetime starts in the Netherlands in 2020. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, optometrist (eye doctor) Martijn had contacted YWAM to ask about volunteering The story of how Martijn and Fleur on its medical ship with other doctors, dentists and medical professionals from around the world. It was around this time that he also met his future wife Fleur, and she recalls that he showed up on their third date with an information kit that YWAM had sent him. “He had the dream to make a valuable
difference to people in third world countries with his profession as an optometrist,” she said. “I knew right away that I wanted to join!” Although Fleur
Fleur helps Martijn at a busy day at the eye clinic in Mirap, where a long queue of people were waiting to be seen. The young girl doing a reading test on a Bible was later fitted for glasses that will help her in school
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“Madang Province beckoned with unparalleled natural beauty, from pristine beaches and turquoise waters to volcanoes and high mountains”
Days in the villages typically involved working with the local community to set up medical clinics and services. Martijn and Fleur’s optometry clinic was a crucial part of these efforts, with Martijn conducting vision checks, taking eye measurements and dispensing many sets of glasses while Fleur helped by registering patients and providing eye-care education. She and some other volunteers also organised community activities such as children’s games. A favourite was ‘What’s
the time, Mr Wolf?’, the children screaming the question as loud as they could, then taking nervous steps closer each time the wolf (one of the volunteers) replied with a number up to 12. “Each time we asked it would get a little more exciting because at one point of course the wolf replies, ‘it’s dinner time!’ and everyone has to run for their lives to not get caught. There were so many laughs and screams of joy by the kids. It was truly one of the best games we played.” The volunteers also
Martijn’s drone camera captures the Madang coast and Kranget Island near Madang Resort where the couple sometimes relaxed on the weekend
with unparalleled natural beauty, from pristine beaches and turquoise waters to volcanoes and high mountains. While PNG is known for its linguistic diversity, in Madang alone there are roughly 200 languages. During their time in Madang, the couple lived in a volunteers’ house with other short- and long-term
missionaries. During the week they travelled by truck or bus into the lesser-reached villages along the coast. Some they visited for just a day, which was the case with Bilbil, but for more remote villages, they would stay for one, two or three nights, often sleeping on the floor of the church as was the case with Bogia and Korak.
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A sunrise view of the active Manam Island Volcano and small islands in front of Bogia where the couple slept in a church
quickly warmed up to us and our fun games. Afterwards they were eager to jump into the church service and even bring their friends and family in. They enjoyed the singing and the bible story plays and dramas by the white-skinned people! For many of the people we met, it was new to see people with a white skin. This made for curious looks – and occasionally a crying baby!” Martijn and Fleur say their team of about 20 young people felt much-loved by the local people, not just because of the medical care they provided but even more for the care provided on other levels. In return, the hospitality they
A tiny Island just off Jais Aben Resort near Madang
experienced was “incredible”.
over 100 patients to be seen on one day, Fleur and Martijn introduced a screening system to speed up the process, with Fleur conducting a small interview with each patient before they were sent to Martijn. She soon learned some phrases in Tok Pisin to better communicate
Their four days in Bogia turned out to be some of the best and busiest clinic days of the whole trip. Many people were able to receive the care they truly needed, but there were also great personal interactions between the team and the villagers. With
conducted church services tailored for families as a chance to share the gospel. “It was amazing to work with the local kids,” Fleur says. “While at first they were quite shy and nervous, they
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Eye tests at Korak village (left) and Kranget Island (right)
with her patients and pass what she learned on to Martijn so he could prepare which eye exam to do. Another of the volunteers, Nathan, who had never done any optometry work before, also became an invaluable assistant to Martijn due to the Tok Pisin words he had already mastered, along with his care, wit and rapport with the people. “We learned that we shouldn’t focus on what we can’t fix or what we can’t do, but what we can,” Martijn said. “Although difficult, I also tried to focus on the individual in front of me and
not on the other 100 patients waiting!” While Fleur was chatting to people, she really felt invited into their community. Some people shared deep stories about their family or about their struggles and asked her to sit and pray with them before they were seen by the doctor. A woman she will never forget is Gloria, a woman in her 40s who came to get her eyes checked and carry out a reading test, but ended up having a heart-to-heart personal chat with her and telling about her life as a single mother of
two boys, how important they were to her and how she valued people and love over material things. “I was surprised at her interest in me too, asking questions like, ‘Where are you from? What’s your family like?’,” Fleur said. Before leaving, Gloria said she wanted to give Fleur something and promised to come by the house later, but in the course of the busy day and seeing over 60 people she thought no more about it. However that night, after dinner with the pastor’s family they were staying with, someone
A shy boy at Malas village, which the YWAM team visited for the first time
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An aerial view of Korak village with its black sand beach and river flowing into the ocean in the middle of the Madang jungle
“The bilum’s best and most unexpected use by local women is as a cradle for babies and infants”
approached Fleur to say she had a visitor. She was shocked to find it was Gloria! The gesture after their time of connection really touched her heart. Gloria had brought gifts of a beautiful meri blouse and bilum for her to take home. While these were such generous presents, it was the thought and the effort Gloria had made to travel from three villages away to meet with Fleur again that really counted. “She was generous at the very core,” Fleur said. “Where she could have sold her beautiful gifts to buy something for her boys, she was so touched by what YWAM did for her and her community that she wanted to show her appreciation.” For Fleur it was the type of encounter that made the trip so fulfilling. While Fleur started to use her new bilum for carrying everyday items such as notebooks and a
A baby sleeps in
this bilum at Korak village
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she adds with a laugh. While Martijn and Fleur have travelled to more than 30 countries separately and together, PNG was a whole new experience. “We were warned about the dangers of PNG beforehand,” they said, “but what everyone failed to mention was the hospitality of the Papua New Guineans! Every community welcomed our YWAM team with such warmth and open arms. In some there was even a welcome ceremony where we all received crowns made of palm leaves and the whole community came to welcome us and shake our hands.” For these remote villages medical aid is often far away if it’s there at all. Where in the Netherlands, for example, there are 54 eye surgeons per one million inhabitants, in Papua New Guinea there is only one to serve the same number of people. It is slightly better in Fiji where Martijn and Fleur travelled to next on a second outreach mission, where there are eight per million people. One thing that made the PNG trip unique for the couple was the cultural diversity made up of Germans, Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders, Swiss, Brazilians and Peruvians – and the Papua New Guineans they worked alongside. of both their own volunteer team –
Stilt homes at Korak village
Some of the Korak children who took part in the YWAM team’s games
water bottle, she was amazed to learn that their best and most unexpected use by local women is as a cradle for babies and infants, carrying them hands-free with the bilum strap resting across their forehead. How inventive! Fleur said she hopes one day she may do the same with a baby of her own. “But surely the Dutch will look at me twice!”
A drone shot of the river at Korak used as a bathing spot
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The volunteers (left) are welcomed with crowns made of palm leaves at Korak village, and (above) Fleur has a lesson in how they are made
”There was lots of fun and laughter, sometimes originating from confusion of language or different cultural habits,” Fleur said. The couple also took the chance to explore as often as they could, including driving through the jungle, seeing an active volcano, and leisure activities such as swimming and snorkelling, with Jais Aben Resort near Madang a favourite destination. “This is a resort with interesting birds to see, absolutely stunning flowers and a great beach,” Martijn said. “We were able to swim there and while snorkelling, encountered amazing sea creatures like the peacock mantis shrimp. We could also rent kayaks and paddle to a remote island.” It also gave them a sense of home to enjoy familiar western foods – like
pizza – on the resort menu. This made a welcome change from the staple diet at the Madang base of potatoes or cassava every night. Another new food were the
red fried sausages. “To this day we are not sure what meat it was!” they said with a laugh. Another fun experience for the team was finding many unusual shells, some of
which were turned into jewellery to sell and fund their mission work. Amid their impactful work, Martijn also pursued his passion for photography, capturing the vibrant colours
Boys smile from a tree branch in Korak village. When the couple learned the name of the boy on the right was Jude, they started singing the Beatles’ hit “Hey Jude” – which he thought was very funny!
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and rich culture of the communities they served. With each click of the camera shutter, Martijn documented the moments of joy, resilience, and connection shared between volunteers and villagers. Everywhere he went, his camera and drone were taken along, and especially the drone drew huge crowds! His eye for detail and appreciation of the beauty of creation, the land and sea, translated into stunning images that not only preserved memories but also shared the stories of the people they encountered. On the beach of Korak was one of those moments Martijn will never forget. “As soon as the drone took off, children gathered around me and crowded the screen to see their village from a whole new perspective. As soon as they figured out the drone was filming them they started waving and running up and down the beach to follow the drone. It was amazing to see their joy and excitement.” While Martijn mostly used his drone to photograph the beautiful nature found in Madang, he could never resist taking a few shots of the villages from above. “It is such a different world from our home country, there is such beauty in simplicity of the lives lived here.” Their five-week experience in PNG left
Fleur with her little friend Anna, one of the children who the YWAM team visited at Malas village in Madang Province last year. “Malas is a two and a half hour drive from our volunteer house in Madang and it was the first time YWAM came here so the people were so excited!” Fleur said. “They built us a shelter to sleep in and this is the village most of us had our first river bath, where the boys were upstream from the girls. Anna danced with me – she just had the most beautiful smile! – and later on she sat on my lap while we watched an educational talk about brushing teeth. All the kids received their own toothbrush and toothpaste.”
them in awe of the kindness of the people and the stunning landscapes, reaffirming their decision to pursue impactful work in places where their skills can make a difference. In fact, after leaving PNG, the couple began another new chapter in their adventurous missionary life, living on another of YWAM’s ships, the MV YWAM Koha for nearly three months and adding an eye clinic to the dental and medical services provided in isolated islands in Fiji. As well as helping Martijn in the clinic, Fleur taught dental hygiene to children with interactive puppet shows. With other female volunteers she also held group talks with Fijian women
and girls on subjects such as puberty and recognising their own
and humanitarian organisations.
The couple say that as they grow in faith and fulfil their passion for serving others, their focus is moving more towards evangelism. Although now back in the Netherlands and serving their local church once more, the hearts of both Martijn and Fleur still burn for missionary work and they know one day they will return to the developing nations of the Pacific.
value and beauty, and handing out
menstruation kits. After Fiji, and returning to the Netherlands for a family Christmas – their first as a married couple – Martijn and Fleur set off again in early 2024, basing themselves in New Zealand to take part in a five-month course at YWAM’s Discipleship Training School. After the first part of the course – which involves getting to know God better – in
New Zealand, the couple flew to Fiji
PNG Air flies from Port Moresby to Madang twice per week For bookings: Call + 675 7411 2644
again to carry out the ‘make God known’ part
in further outreach mission work with churches, schools
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Celebrating 49 Years of Independence with Papua New Guinea! Since 1975, the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) has proudly stood by our nation, contributing to its growth and prosperity. Over 49 years, we’ve enhanced investments and increased asset value, ensuring sustainability for future generations. We are committed to improving the quality of life for the beneficiaries of the mineral, petroleum and gas resources projects. We pay our respects to the leaders past and present whose vision and selfless leadership have guided and united us as a Nation. Let us work together to realise our shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous Papua New Guinea.
www.mrdc.com.pg
Former gold winner Steven Saveke at his cocoa farm in South Bougainville
Celebration of Bougainville CHOCOLATE Words & Photos: Adriana Schmidt, Autonomous Bougainville Government
Chocolate from Bougainville cocoa on display at a Taste and Tell event in Australia in 2018
W hen you think of perhaps it is the people’s rich culture that springs to mind first, or the idyllic beauty of its beaches and jungles – or maybe even that it grows the biggest betelnuts in the country! But this pearl of the Pacific has another treasure to discover: Bougainville, world-class chocolate! As a leading producer of cocoa grown by a network of about 50,000 cocoa farmers – a third of the total number in PNG and the
highest number of any region in the country – it comes as no surprise that fine-flavoured high-grade Bougainville cocoa is sought after by chocolate-makers around the world. To celebrate and support this flourishing industry, the first Bougainville Chocolate Festival was launched
in 2016, over the years becoming a flagship event of
the Bougainville Government and development partners from PNG, Australia and New Zealand to bring together farmers,
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Chocolate and cocoa beans at the stall of Kathleen and Martin Linnix from Tinputz (right), who were the first to win gold at the inaugural 2016 Bougainville Chocolate Festival and whose beans from their Nunu farm are used by small Australian chocolate-maker Jasper + Myrtle to make their award-winning Black Opal chocolate bars (inset)
traders, exporters, industry regulators and
chocolate lovers. This year’s three-
day festival – held in the historic former capital of Arawa in Central Bougainville from September 24- 26 – brought together over 120 farmers to showcase their cocoa and chocolate products but also to take part in training from industry experts that will help them elevate farming and processing practices to global standards.
A program highlight was the annual chocolate competition where farmers submitted 3kg of their best cocoa beans to be judged by a panel of expert chocolatiers from Australia and New Zealand, as well as local representatives from the PNG Cocoa Board, Paradise Foods, and award-winning local
farmer Kathleen Linnix, who was the first to win gold with her husband Martin for their cocoa
on quality, aroma and physical characteristics such as weight and moisture content, with 45 samples advancing to the finals where
at the 2016 festival. Beans were judged
A demonstration of sun-drying cocoa beans
Cacao pods on display
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market is key to its long-term success. One of the sweetest success stories began in 2016, at the very first Bougainville Chocolate Festival. It was here that Li Peng Monroe, from Canberra’s Jasper + Myrtle Chocolates, discovered the exceptional cocoa beans of Bougainville and formed a unique bond with the island. That same year, Martin and Kathleen Linnix, proud owners of Nunu Chocolates from Tinputz in North Bougainville, won the festival’s gold medal for their top-tier cocoa beans. This win also marked the beginning of a collaboration with Jasper + Myrtle Chocolates, resulting in the creation of an exclusive premium chocolate range. Enter ‘The Black Opal’ – an 80% dark chocolate masterpiece with a smooth, rich finish—and ‘The Twilight’, a 63% chocolate delicately blended with a hint of milk. The accolades soon followed. The Black
Bougainville’s Primary Industry Minister Geraldine Paul (right) describes the medicinal benefits of drinking powdered cocoa (on display)
they were made into delicious chocolate. This year’s winner was James Sampai from the Siwai District in South Bougainville who won a full pre-fabricated cocoa fermentary sponsored by NGIP Agmark. Terence Sira and John Mala earned Air destination, while the bronze winners— Osbourne Tavira, Felix Mansu, Chris Alex and Edward Goarom – each received K2000 shopping vouchers. Chris Alex also nabbed the Farmer’s Choice Award. silver, winning free tickets to any PNG
Bougainville farmers are crossbreeds of the Trinitario variety – prized for making chocolates as they have the most interesting and complex flavours – and the Forastero variety, which is typically the hardier, more reliable strain and has a higher yield of cacao pods. These specialty seedlings, distributed by the PNG Cocoa Board, contribute to the fine flavour profile of Bougainville cocoa. “Much of the credit for Bougainville’s exceptional cocoa belongs to the farmers,” said Dr James Butubu, who is
the chief compliance officer at BACRA – the new Bougainville Autonomous Cocoa Regulatory Authority. “Their careful handling of post-harvest processing is what truly enhances the unique taste. Additionally, what we call the ‘location effect’—the island’s rich soil, tropical climate, and natural environment – plays a role in shaping the distinct flavour that sets Bougainville cocoa apart from the rest of the world.” Bougainville’s cocoa industry has been making remarkable strides, but tapping into the international
Almost all cocoa seedlings used by
Opal snagged a prestigious gold
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