When I told people I was going to go work in Papua New Guinea (PNG),
these are some of the responses/questions I got.
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‘You are going where!?’
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‘Where is that?’
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‘Why would you go there?’
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‘Is it safe there?’
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‘What are you going to do there!?’
Truth be told, I also had to look at the map to
certify where the country is located and confirmed it was located on the other
side of the world – at least according to my American-perspective. Initially I was hesitant about going to PNG because
many of the stories or reports I had heard mostly involved violence and poverty,
and a quick internet search only furthered my hesitation when I found plenty of
stories relating to these subjects. Digging
a bit deeper, however, I found other stories that did not relate to violence or
poverty but rather were stories of discovery.
There were stories about explorers encountering new people, languages,
animals, and species of plants that have never been encountered before. These are the stories I decided to focus on because
as a Pakistani-American growing up in America, I learned to see the negative
but focus on the positive.
I was born and raised in America and am proud of my Pakistani-background but
sometimes that proudness was tested, especially when terrible news would come
out of Pakistan (which unfortunately was the only time Pakistan would be in the
Western news). It was then I decided not
to ignore the terrible news from Pakistan, but I wanted to focus on the many
great things that Pakistan holds in my heart: my relatives (khalas, chachus,
cousins, etc.), the amazing Pakistani food (garam naan straight out of the
tandoor with rich salans), the rich culture and heritage of Lahore, and general
good nature I found while visiting Pakistan.
It was these aspects of Pakistan I would try to focus on and illustrate
when talking to people in America, so they could also appreciate the Pakistan I
know and not focus on the Pakistan they heard or saw in the news. I wanted to find the balance and that is the
same lesson I applied when I set off for Papua New Guinea.
When I first arrived into Papua New Guinea, it was a complete culture
shock; the motto of Papua New Guinea is ‘land of the unexpected’ and everything
I encountered on my first trip was COMPLETELY unexpected. Papua New Guinea is nothing like America –
the food, the culture, the way of life, the way of working, the climate, and
the intense security – and the country
has no overlap with what I am accustomed to, but as I spent more time with the
people I noticed more similarities with Pakistan. Yes I did notice the violence that plagues
the country – there is communal violence, rampant domestic violence, as well as
petty thefts – but I also noticed warm hearts and inviting people; people who
would welcome and embrace you as if you were part of the family.
My job required me to travel to different parts of the country and in one
city the hotel shuttle forgot to pick me up from the airport. This wouldn’t have been a big deal except
that the airport was about an hour outside of the city and would only open when
the plane landed and the shut when the plane took off (an hour after it landed). The shuttle driver only worked when there were
passengers to be picked up so the shuttle was not available, so there I was stranded
at the airport and I was the only foreigner there so I stuck out. It could’ve have been one of the scariest
times I experienced, but I never felt unsafe or unprotected because the Papua
New Guineans surrounded me with warmth and security. Person after person would stop and ask me if
I was ok, if I needed a ride to town (some even willing to go the complete
opposite way to drop me off thus adding another hour to their commute), or if I
was ok standing there by myself. In the
end, it was the airline ground staff who eventually stayed with me and dropped
me off at the hotel but I never forgot the warmth and security the Papua New
Guineans showed me while I was stranded there.
This showed the Papua New Guineans capacity for warmth and protection,
but they also showed great heart.
In another instance I had been working in one city for about 2 weeks doing
intense training with a group, which provided enough time to get to know
someone but not enough time to consider someone family or a part of their tribe
(at least not in my mind); I found out later that I was completely wrong by PNG
standards. My flight was in the morning
from another city so we had to drive down, but due to traffic (and bad roads) I
missed my morning flight and was rerouted to the afternoon flight. Instead of leaving me at the airport or
dropping me off at a nearby hotel, I was invited, as part of the family, to
witness a PNG tradition – the
bride price
ceremony. The
bride price ceremony involves “an amount of money or property or
wealth paid by the groom or his family to the parents of a woman upon the
marriage of their daughter to the groom.”
[i] It is very similar to a dowry in Pakistan,
but in PNG they have an elaborate ceremony in which all family members are
invited and this is what I got to witness as a member of the family. The leader of the group I had been training
had recently gotten married and was now conducting his
bride price ceremony and invited me to be a part of the celebration
as part of his tribe. As soon as I
stepped in I was immediately welcomed as part of the groom’s side and got to
witness an AMAZING tradition which has a lot of heart, but also has elements of
community and oneness and of coming together as one. Witnessing a
bride price ceremony was an incredible opportunity but when it was
over it wasn’t the ceremony or the customs that I took with me, rather it was
the feeling of a community or tribe coming together and welcoming everyone that
remained with me. I felt a part of the tribe,
a part of the family and that is something which I could not read about in the
news; I had to experience it.
These two stories are just some of my experiences travelling and working
around Papua New Guinea and it taught me that no matter what is being reported
or told or heard, every country has heart and good people. The goodness and warmth of people is what I
experienced in both Pakistan and Papua New Guinea, and my experiences in
supposedly two countries that are considered ‘dangerous and high-risk’ showed
that while there is some negativity, the people of these countries are filled
with heart and joy and welcome everyone.
That is the message that needs to be delivered.
Anyone flying into Lahore in December knows that fog plays havoc with
flight departures and arrivals, so I had been checking the website to ensure my
flight was on time and was not cancelled (most airlines had rescheduled their
flights or cancelled them completely to avoid the fog). The flight was scheduled to depart Lahore at
00:35 on January 1st and airblue had advised passengers to check-in
2 to 3 hours prior to departure. We had
arrived 3 hours prior to departure and it was a good thing we did; check-in for
the flight was done at an ad-hoc counter on the side of the international
terminal and it was extremely chaotic.
There were 3 airblue flights leaving around the same time and nobody
knew what line (there were 2 counters open) was for which flight (or if all
flights had been open to check-in). When
we finally got to the counter, I put my bags on the counter and waited for the
boarding pass only for the check-in attendant telling me I need to go and get a
‘credit card verification’. To decrease
credit card fraud, any flights booked via credit card must go through credit
card verification to ensure it is the same passenger (this information is
stated on the reservation). I had read
the statement, which said ‘the card
holder must present (in person) the Credit/Debit Card and their Photo ID to Airblue
personnel for verification. This can be done at the airport at the time of check-In,
-or- at any Airblue sales office prior to travel’ and as it had said it
could be done at the time of check-in, I waited until then. The airline representative said that she
could not do the verification, but rather I had to exit the terminal and go to
the airline office housed at the airport, do the credit card verification
there, and then come back and receive my boarding pass (when I pointed out what
their statement said, their response was ‘oh that’s not correct anymore’ even
though I had received the changed ticket only the day before departure). After an hour of going through this process,
I was finally able to come back and complete the check-in process and receive a
boarding pass. Seats were assigned at
the airport, thus another reason to come and check-in early. 
Air Niugini is a full-service airline so
the plane contained both business and economy section (although no one was in
the business section) and had a 2-4-2 layout in economy. All of Air Niugini’s Boeing 767’s are used
planes, many former Iceland Air planes, and their age and sound are well
apparent. In spite of that, Air Niugini
has refurbished all the planes with new seating and interiors to make the
journey pleasant (also a plus is that the older planes have more legroom and
bigger overhead bins). Once airborne,
the in-flight service commenced which first included a beverage (alcohol is
available and free on all Air Niugini international flights) followed by lunch
– a choice of either chicken or pork. I
choose the chicken which consisted of 3 pieces of chicken (with bones), rice,
vegetables, bread, cheese and crackers.
The chicken was bland did not look appealing so I stuck to the side
dishes. Dessert was also present, but as
none of the passengers could figure out what it was, I left it to the side.
After serving the main meal, the flight attendants came around to offer tea or
coffee and also came back to refresh any alcoholic beverages (choice of beer or
wine). To pass the flight time, a movie
was shown on the main screen (no personal IFE) or you can read the in-flight
magazine (which also contains duty free options). We landed in Port Moresby right on schedule
at 13:45.
After I checked-in my baggage and
received my domestic boarding pass, I went through security and waited in the
lounge for my flight. Because of delays
in flights, Air Niugini usually allots a long layover at Jacksons Airport, Port
Moresby (POM) to ensure passengers make their connections (90% of the flights
are to/from Port Moresby). In spite of
the long layovers, there is very little to do while waiting for your flight. Cushioned chairs (not in the best condition
but still comfortable) are available to sit and there is a kiosk that sells
soft drinks, water, tea, and light snacks in the back of the waiting area (they
only accept PNG currency, but there is a bank kiosk located in the
international terminal which will exchange foreign currency). Roads are not very accessible within PNG so
to get from one domestic city to the other is done mostly through flying (in
spite of this, domestic fares are relatively expensive). Most flights within PNG are about 1 hour (the
longest being about 1.5 hours) and because of the short distances most planes
utilized by Air Niugini are either a mix of new and older Fokker 100’s, Dash
8’s, or Q400’s (they recently required a brand new Boeing 737 to be utilized on
domestic markets and for special international flights). All domestic flights have both business and
economy class, with business class usually contains a bigger seat (similar to a
lazy boy in feel and size) and passengers are served a light snack/meal. In economy class, the seats are smaller (but
equally comfortable and this 6’1 author fits in comfortably) and you are served
only juice and a biscuit (on early morning flights coffee or tea is also
offered). Given the short duration of
flights, the flight attendants are quick and efficient in serving all
passengers and collecting all trash and still have time to relax before
landing. 
