single lucid movement
A Single Lucid Moment
Robert Soderstrom, Peace Corps Volunteer
Country: Papua New Guinea
Dates of Service: 1996
As the plane buzzed back over the mountains, it was now just us and the villagers of
Maimafu. My wife, Kerry, and I were assigned to this village of 800 people in the Eastern
Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It looked as if we were in for a true Indiana Jones adventure! The mountains were dramatic and thick with rain forest. No roads had ever scarred them.
We had loaded a four-seater plane with cargo (we would fly out every three months to resupply) and flew for 30 bumpy minutes southwest to the mountain ridges. From the plane, the village looked very much like a shoebox panorama from a grade-school science project. My wife and I were the first Peace Corps Volunteers ever in Maimafu. We had been greeted by a large group of beautiful people, all wearing gorgeous, curious smiles. Giggling, naked children hid behind trees during the trek down the mountain to our new home, and a lively entourage followed using their heads to carry our boxed supplies through the muddy trails.
It was quickly becoming clear that we had just been adopted by a very large and unique family. The basic culture of subsistence living had not been replaced; there were no cars, electricity, or telephones—just grass huts, large gardens, and a whole lot of rain forest. The women spent the day in the gardens planting, weeding, and harvesting. The men grew coffee, from which they generated their sole income of about $200 a year. The village had lived in harmony with its natural surroundings for millennia.
The villagers had built us a beautiful bamboo-thatched hut on short stilts. Planted behind the house was a three-acre garden, carefully tended and ready to harvest. Its bounty included corn, greens, tomatoes, beans, peanuts, onions, potatoes, and pineapples. To top it all off, the path to our new home was sprinkled with flower petals the day we arrived.
Robert Soderstrom, Peace Corps Volunteer
Country: Papua New Guinea
Dates of Service: 1996
As the plane buzzed back over the mountains, it was now just us and the villagers of
Maimafu. My wife, Kerry, and I were assigned to this village of 800 people in the Eastern
Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It looked as if we were in for a true Indiana Jones adventure! The mountains were dramatic and thick with rain forest. No roads had ever scarred them.
We had loaded a four-seater plane with cargo (we would fly out every three months to resupply) and flew for 30 bumpy minutes southwest to the mountain ridges. From the plane, the village looked very much like a shoebox panorama from a grade-school science project. My wife and I were the first Peace Corps Volunteers ever in Maimafu. We had been greeted by a large group of beautiful people, all wearing gorgeous, curious smiles. Giggling, naked children hid behind trees during the trek down the mountain to our new home, and a lively entourage followed using their heads to carry our boxed supplies through the muddy trails.
It was quickly becoming clear that we had just been adopted by a very large and unique family. The basic culture of subsistence living had not been replaced; there were no cars, electricity, or telephones—just grass huts, large gardens, and a whole lot of rain forest. The women spent the day in the gardens planting, weeding, and harvesting. The men grew coffee, from which they generated their sole income of about $200 a year. The village had lived in harmony with its natural surroundings for millennia.
The villagers had built us a beautiful bamboo-thatched hut on short stilts. Planted behind the house was a three-acre garden, carefully tended and ready to harvest. Its bounty included corn, greens, tomatoes, beans, peanuts, onions, potatoes, and pineapples. To top it all off, the path to our new home was sprinkled with flower petals the day we arrived.