A lot of time and effort goes into shipping donated books to developing countries. But far too often the wrong books are chosen. Here are two that found their way to Bougainville and caught my eye this morning. Neither is a bad book in itself of course but both are meaningless here.
If you ask google for the pigeon English for helicopter you'll probably get 'magimix bilong Yesus', but take care: magimix will be replaced with whatever the local term for food blender may be: magimix, mixmaster, blender, vitamix...
But that variation is itself the clue that this is nonsense: the word used is'helicopter'. The idea that tok pisin offers endless opportunities for etymological comedy like this is pretty threadbare.
And this came about because although the puppies under the library have not sparked any interest at all, a helicopter flying over it got everyone outside, staring and pointing, in a flash!
Squealing and mewling from beneath the library needs investigating. And here's the cause, five more dogs which has to be the last thing Bouganville needs! An event like that in a New Zealand high school would be at least a talking point and more likely bring classes to a halt, but here it is barely noticed.
My back wheel has developed a wobble. My colleague says his teenage son loves fiddling with bikes and would be happy to fix the broken spokes. I instinctively said I'd pay him for his time, thinking that encouraging entrepreneurship and financial independence in a young man was just the thing to do.
How 'waitman' was that assumption? No, no, I am told, his son must on no account be taught the sordid value of money. If he helps, it's because helping is just a nice thing to do. Payment doesn't enter into it.
It's standing room only at the library this morning as parents of graduating students meet to discuss the Grand Graduation Ceremony that will take place in October.
Planning something this far in advance is simply unheard of and the cynic might say 'Just do the same as last year'!
The decision is that each parent will contribute k40 per student. Easy for some. Completely impossible for others.
The meeting has just ended so heads are bowed in prayer. That's the way every meeting starts and finishes round here.
The streets here are usually ankle deep in litter: empty cans, wrappers, packaging and so on. With a coating of mud and betelnut expectorant. Every so often the Seventh Day Adventist church has a litter blitz and dozens of people, dozens of women and children to be precise, spend the day picking it all up. And here is the result: a clean street. Within a week it will be back to normal I daresay.
We NZ volunteers joined in, wearing stout shoes and rubber gloves of course. The local children did it in bare feet and hands. Until I insisted she stop, one child cheerfully slurped the leftover contents of each can she picked up.
