24 November 2015

PNG childhood

Hi!

Thought you might like to see some old photos from PNG (Papua New Guinea) where I grew up. As a family we left in 1982, but Mum and Dad went back again in the 90s for a short while. These photos are from that time.

This is the house in Mt Hagen where I grew up. It is a duplex. We lived in the end close to the road for 10 years, then moved to the other end for a couple of years just for a change. There was no big fence then, just chainlink. Although we had an alarm system and were burgled a couple of times it was quite safe compared to now. We could walk the streets alone quite safely.
The views (of which we have no photos!) are to die for. Right across the valley to the mountains.
 

Mum at the markets...note the hairdo of the seller. Mum is carrying a bilum.

Woman wearing meri blouse and laplap...ubiquitous.

Firewood...very precious.

Towels and fabrics in bright colours.

Woman making a bilum and selling wool to make them. Very modern...in the past they used tree bark.

Bilums for sale at the airport. Extremely strong used for carrying everything from food and clothes to firewood and babies! I have a few and will do a post on them sometime.

PNG was a lovely place to grow up and we have so many happy memories. Nowadays things are a little more dangerous but the general population are still as friendly and welcoming as ever.

I am grateful to have grown up amongst poverty. We, who had nothing according to Western standards, were the rich people! It certainly puts our world into perspective.

It certainly isn't how much we have that makes us happy!

Keep creating and showing your beauty to the world,

Love,

Jazzy Jack

 

 

12 comments:

  1. Connie24 November 2015 at 17:32

    How fascinating. It sounds like you had a wonderful childhood. No boring suburbs for you. It explains your love of colorful fabric. And OH I really want a bilum. Beautiful.

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  2. bahnwärterin24 November 2015 at 22:27

    thank you jack for that post!!!
    what a world to grow up! just yesterday i saw a docu-video about the wilderness of PNG - the "bewiched island" as they said.
    i´m totally for sending the usually complaining people to such corners of the world to live there on their own - how healing that would be!
    <3 <3 <3

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  3. Kezzie25 November 2015 at 00:38

    What does PNG stand for? Where is it? I've not heard of it! These are fascinating photos. I've bot even heard of a bilum before so this was doubly fascinating!

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    Replies
    1. Jazzy Jack25 November 2015 at 04:21

      PNG is Papua New Guinea. The country immediately north of Australia. JJ

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  4. Anonymous25 November 2015 at 01:55

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane to see that wonderful place and people. We certainly were enriched by living there. We can taste those juicy pineapples. Papua New Guinea makes great tropical fruit. D&M xxxx

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  5. Olga Rani25 November 2015 at 04:33

    How interesting! What an exotic place to grew up! I enjoyed the photographs and just wish there were more. Thank you for sharing!

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  6. Shybiker25 November 2015 at 08:08

    Wow, what a surprise. I didn't know you grew up there. The first school paper I ever wrote, in grammar school, was about Papua New Guinea. After research, I wrote that indigenous tribes there were cannibals. I hope you aren't offended by this; it was based on encyclopedic research and I was too young to understand cultural bias.

    You've never... um... eaten anyone, have you?! :-)

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  7. Vix25 November 2015 at 08:46

    How wonderful! Your photos are fantastic and I want a bilum now! I'd love to hear more about your time in Papua New Guinea. xxx

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  8. Anonymous25 November 2015 at 19:24

    Nice pictures Jack. Good to see it again. I thought it was a good place to grow up. Love from Lynnie

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  9. Curtise28 November 2015 at 02:02

    What an interesting post, great to see the photos. I know very little about Papua New Guinea, I didn't realise it was so different economically and culturally compared with Australia. I know, I am ashamed of my ignorance. Those vibrant colours are extraorordinary! xxx

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  10. SewTypical7 December 2015 at 17:39

    Thank you for posting these great pictures.
    Loved seeing this little slice of life!

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  11. Natalia Lialina9 December 2015 at 22:26

    Thank you for sharing these precious photos, my dear. Such a rare opportunity to see a little bit of the world which is a part of you and made you who you are! Certainly living in different places of our beautiful planet can help us to grow appreciation for... everything really - life, cultures, languages, people, the world.

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