By Kels Lua
The festive
season is always my favourite time of the year because I get to spend time with
my family and the best part is, going home to my home sweet home Maopa Kwalu
Raga Rage village in the Aroma Coast natively known as KEAKALO. Aroma Coast or
Keakalo is located in the East coast of the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port
Moresby with about 3-4 hours’ drive (depends on the road condition) and is made
up of more than 15 villages starting from Paramana to Vuru.
The road is a
dirt road and gets a bit rough when heavy rains falls and the rivers get
flooded but otherwise it is in a good condition for travelling.
During the
festive season all the PMV’s from village always make two trips to the village
and back. The PMV’s drop off the first load of passengers then return to town
to pick up the afternoon passengers and return in the night to do the same for
the next day because everyone wants to go home for the festive season.
There is no
electricity and water supply in the village so generators, solar and Coleman or
hurricane lamps are used for lights and water from the well, mountains, kulau
or young coconuts and rain are used as water supply. I love not having
electricity supply because you really get to see the pure beauty of the great
southern sky. The night sky is just magnificent with all these beautiful stars
shinning down on you and when the moon comes out, that is the most romantic
moon you will ever see. No disturbance from the city lights and you can almost
feel the presence of the moon so pure and bright reflected by the cold sand.
We have a lot of
freedom of movement in my village and everyone stays up till whenever they feel
like sleeping then they do so. Others go about visiting families, friends or
just hanging out in public.
Most of us look
more Polynesian than Melanesians and share some of the traditions and culture
with other Polynesian and Melanesians countries. Our land is blessed with a
beautiful long beach, fertile land and rivers and of course beautiful people.
My people are mainly hard working subsistence farmers who work the land, hunt
the forest and fish the sea for survival.
We have visitors
from the other provinces and also overseas who enjoy their stay with us because
the people are very friendly and the food is great. One of the best features of
my home is the endless long beach that could take you days to walk it and it is
always crowded. I believe it is one of the best and longest beach in Papua New
Guinea. Also there are two icons or should I say guardians we have out at sea
and they are the only island Wailaivele and the everlasting tree called Nawale.
Walaivele is the
only island with white sandy beach and is not inhabited; it is one of our
sacred places that is respected by everyone. Nawale is a lone mangrove which
has stood out at sea for centuries and I believe will stay there still when my
generation perishes.
We have surplus
of food and you won’t go hungry. Bananas, Taro, Kaukau, Yams, Tapiokas or
cassava, singapore, breadfruits, watermelons, cucumbers, pineapple, greens,
seafood, wild pig, birds, bandicoot, wallabies and many more fruits and
vegetables and of course lots of betelnut. I love and enjoyed my betelnuts and
had lots of them while on my holiday. The best part when it comes to food is
the traditional Aroma Dish called RIGA that comes in the traditional wooden
dish called RIVU made out from a special tree. This dish is always prepared in
special occasions like bride price, headstone kaikai, village gathering, big
church activities, welcome special visitors etc.
A lot of festive
season activities like church activities, traditional dancing, canoe racing,
food displays etc take place and the two main events that stand out during the
festive season are the Aroma Coast Rugby League Tournament and the Junior Aroma
Coast Rugby League which follow in sequence of each other. This event features
the local talents in rugby and pulls in big crowd to the village. The other
event that will be revived this year is the Aroma Coast Netball Tournament for
the ladies and also pulls in big crowds to the village.
During the New
Year’s Eve before the clock strikes 12, everyone is ready to make noise or
throw water at anyone they see. I love this part of the festive season because
you will have so much fun. Traditionally we have string bands who go around
singing from house to house to collect money and the songs are so beautiful to
hear. Parties go on and most people head on to the beach to wait for daybreak
so they can throw anyone they see out into the sea, this is one of the fun
parts of the New Year’s Eve. I got chased and thrown out and could not help but
laugh as I saw the others get thrown out too. Whether you are old, young,
married, single or a visitor, you get thrown out if captured. It is part of our
tradition that has been going on for generation where we say we are washing off
the past year for the New Year.
I always enjoy
my holidays at the village because it is the great getaway from the busy and
noisy city life. I miss my home and can’t wait to see it soon, my home sweet
home Keakalo – Aroma Coast.
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