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Loaded up in the little 6-seater plane and ready for my trip to Wanakipa in the Southern Highlands

Anton rides shotgun.

Solo... It’s his first time in an airplane and he’s pretty excited, or maybe that’s nervous.

Mt. Giluwe- the highest peak in PNG

Look, it’s Mambis! Can you see my house?

A breath-taking waterfall

I feel like I’m in the Sound of Music

An hour later, we arrive at the airstrip at Wanakipa

Our welcoming committee

Saying goodbye to our pilot

This one’s for my Gramps who loves planes

And off he goes. Now the only connection we have to the outside world is our solar-powered radio

Moving into the house the Lutz’s built years ago

The main room

Don’t let the sink fool you. There’s no running water

The house has 2 bedrooms and the boys graciously give me one to myself, although it doubles as a storeroom so people were coming and going quite a bit

Next we get a tour of the health center built in the early 90s

The storeroom

The office

The delivery room. Again don’t let the table fool you. The women give birth on the floor.

Daniel shows us the operating room

And the ward where patients wait

My new friend Nes carries some bananas back.

Our outhouse My new friend Nes carries some bananas back.

The hole wasn’t quite so big until I found the rotten logs and fell through. Oops. Thankfully I wasn’t injured

Our bathtub, i.e. the stream behind the house. We bathed full clothed all week.

Solo makes me laugh as he collects some rainwater

Solo leading an intro to HIV talk outside the health center

A lot of people gather to listen

They asked a lot of good questions

This is one of two classrooms in the school, where later that week Anton and I would lead a short course for pastors and evangelists

The other classroom

The next day we are invited up the mountain for a Singsing

Some of the folks we meet along the way

At the top, one of the men is dressed and ready to go

Don’t sneeze

One of the leaders or “mamas” begins the “bilas”ing process. First step, bag full of leaves on head.

Second step, add leaves to the outside

Then feathers

Keep adding until the whole thing is completely covered

The woman and children watch and wait

Donning their grass skirts. This whole process takes a while and some how I get the feeling this is their equivalent of girls preparing for prom

Finally a piece of clothe or “laplap” is added

This one makes me laugh. A New York towel? Who would have guessed?

The house where the Singsing will take place

At dusk everything is ready to go. Even Anton is “bilas”ed.

Inside the house the youngest boys dance closest to the pole in the center.

Beating kundu drums and singing

They tell the story of a long journey in their song

The story will last the entire night

Singing the night way

The room is divided and the women sit on one side with the men on the other.

Proof that Nes and I were there

This is a pretty cool picture if you can see it.

Solo by fire light

And Anton

A few days later we hit the road again. Solo and I a little over an hour into our hike to Wisiki.

Anton and our guide Pastor Simon, who walked the whole way barefoot and carrying our gear and still walked faster than the rest of us

Solo getting ready to cross the Pori River

Step-lightly Solo

My turn.

I’m so glad they let me wear pants, even if I do have to where a baggy shirt over them. I wouldn’t want to do this in a skirt

And finally Anton

The last picture before his camera battery died

Five and a half hours later we make it to Wisiki

Man are we tired.

Pastor Nasso’s house where we will be staying

The house is kept roasty-toasty by the fire. Here they are cooking our kaukau for dinner

There are two small bedrooms in the house and I get one

But there’s not much room for more than my mosquito net and me

The stream where we did our bathing

The pit toilet a little ways from the house

Anton’s comment “Aim small, miss small.” Sometimes it stinks to be a girl.

Sunday morning the people begin to gather for church

Wearing their best clothes for church

The church building itself

Singing to Jesus

The pastor leads us in worship

After church, Solo leads another HIV talk with Pastor Simon acting as translator

Some of the kids playing soccer Sunday afternoon

Their “pet” cockatoo who hung around the house a lot

What are you doing now, funny bird?

A family brings a sick child through on their way to the health center at Wanakipa. He started having seizures 4 days ago. They carried him in a bilum

One of my favorite kids. Always smiling even though most of his body his covered in sores.

Some of the other kids.

I didn’t get any good pictures of the kids standing up, but you can kind of see how swollen their little bellies are from malnutrition.

Nes came up to walk back with us.

Anton saying his goodbyes before we head back to Wanakipa

Back at Wanakipa we decide to go to the river for a swim

The currents are pretty strong because it’s been raining, but a lot of fun

Pastor Simon, Anton and one of the younger boys

Yet another rope bridge, this one a little smaller

I enjoy the water too

Pastor Simon is such a good guy and a good pastor

Anton grabs a picture of me