Papua New Guinea

I'm pretty lousy at geography and don't have an urge to travel to other lands - I feel uncomfortable if I'm not familiar with the cultural expections - afraid I will come off as ignorant or insensitive.

I don't know anything about this country - didn't even realise is was so close to Australia!

But here is a little bit I have been able to learn from the WDOP site and the CIA Sourcebook.

At one point a colony of Australia with independence in 1975.

Life expectancy is 66 years. Most people work as farmers and unemployment can be as high as 80 % in the urban areas. 63% of men over 15 can read, 50% of women. Close to 6 million people live here - between cell phone and fixed lined phones there is a total of 360,000 phones. More than 800 languages are spoken!

From the WDOP website (USA)

PNG's Babies and young children who are dying at high rates leaving communities to struggle with the cause of all these deaths.

Violence against women, a longtime issue, is now being challenged by women in order to meaningfully live and take care of their children.

Oil companies and corporations reaping benefits from Papua New Guinea’s natural resources while continuing to exploit the land and its people.

Environmental degradation and climate change impacting Papua New Guinea’s islands which will soon force indigenous people to move from one island to another seeking safer ground.

There's lots to pray about and as my roots are British and I'm Canadian I recognise the problems history has shown when one culture is held subservient to another, this is a good reminder of not just politics but how we treat all those we come in contact with especially in our individualistic North American mindset. Here is another Canadian link: the little girl in the photo was born in Papua New Guinea and was there until she was three.

She served in the Canadian Forces and was killed in Afghanistan in 2006. Captain Nichola Goddard was honoured by her family through raising money to provide solar powered lighting to health centres ( a project of the University of Calgary).

So we are all interconnected though people seem so far away and so different from our own culture.

Here are some other photos that just show how beautiful the land and the people are:

This boy is surfing on a surfboard donated to him. Surfing is popular and usually they use their own form of boards - not the fancy fabricated ones we buy.

As for the photos, I only try to grab photos that are on sites that are using the photos for public interest or to sell things (newspapers, tourism, Oxfam). I don't like using other people's work but in these cases I am trying to honour the artists by showcasing the moments they have captured and used in wide distribution.