Wanpela dei tasol insait long Covid-19 lockdown
08 April 2020
MICHAEL DOM
English translation follows
Sampela taim mi save tingting planti tumas
Long wanem as tru bilong ol kainkain bikpela hevi
I bagarapim sindaun bilong yumi ol man meri
Kuru bilong mi i kamap ston, na het bilong mi pen
Na sampela nait mi painim hat long silip
Long apinun mi bin wokabaut igo long strit maket
Mi hamamas long lukim ol wanwan mama salim banana na kumu
Wanwan man meri tu ol i raun painim kaikai
Mipela tok halo long ai tasol na igo bek gen long haus
Grisim kumu long kokonas em i kamap swit moa iet
Long bik moning mi kirap long gutpela silip tru
Mi sekim PNG Attitude na lukim Deni Tokunai long Twitter
Em putim piksa blong ol maket mama
Sanap insait long sting baret wara na hapim ol kaikai blong ol
Long ples we polisman ibin kikim igo pundaun
Mi lukim baksait het blong ol mama na ai wara i kirap nating
Lewa blong mi bruk olsem tomato long ston bilong baret
Em ino wanpela bikpela hevi bai bagarapim yumi
Nogat, emi liklik pasin nogut tasol, liklik pasin nogut
Olsem liklik binatang nogut i save bagarapim kaikai
Em wankain olsem Covid-19 na yumi poret na wari
Dispela em yumi tok olsem emi bikpela hevi
Tasol olgeta i stap wanmak aninit long ai bilong Anutu
One day of the Covid-19 lockdown
Sometimes I think too much
About the roots of all life's troubles
Which affect how we live together
My brain turns to stone, my head hurts
And some nights I hardly get any sleep
In the afternoon I walked down to the street market
I was glad to see a few mothers selling bananas and greens
One or two other folks were also buying food
We said hello with our eyes and each returned home
The greens in coconut cream was as sweet as ever
In the morning I awoke from a pleasant sleep
I checked PNG Attitude and saw Deni Tokunai post on Twitter
Pictures of some market mothers
Standing in the sewer drain picking up their vegetables
Where the policemen had kicked them down
I saw the backs of their heads and tears welled up
My heart was smashed like tomato on the concrete drain
It is not a very big thing that will destroy us
No, just a small thing, a small thing
Like the small pests that destroy food gardens
And just like the Covid-19 that were afraid and worried about
This we say is a very, very big problem
But big or small, all stand equal under the eyes of God
The danger now is that Covid-19 will create a vast famine in politically fragile places like Africa.
PNG is in a good place in this respect. Better than many developed countries in fact. Its politicians are irrelevant. Only its mama maket matter.
Its not a good idea to beat them up.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 23 April 2020 at 03:09 PM
Africa, Papua New Guinea, is this our Black heritage that we prize so highly?
Yes
It is that part which lurks in the shadows of our minds, the fouled recesses of such pitiless hearts, emptiest of souls
No
It is not all that is Black that is darkest, neither is all that is good the lightest white or idealistic of White history
Posted by: Michael Dom | 23 April 2020 at 12:53 PM
Reported today on the ABC:
"In a pre-dawn raid in food-starved Zimbabwe, police enforcing a coronavirus lockdown confiscated and destroyed 3 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables by setting fire to it.
Wielding batons, they scattered a group of rural farmers who had travelled overnight, breaking restrictions on movement to bring the precious produce to one of the country's busiest markets.
The food burned as the farmers went home empty-handed, in a country where food is in critically short supply.
It was an extreme example of how lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus may be choking Africa's already-vulnerable food supply.
Lockdowns in at least 33 of Africa's 54 countries have blocked farmers from getting food to markets and threatened deliveries of food assistance to rural populations.
About one in every five people in Africa, nearly 250 million, already didn't have enough food before the virus outbreak, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation."
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 16 April 2020 at 10:11 AM
Translation (for better digestion)
One day of the Covid-19 lockdown
Sometimes I think too much
About the roots of all life's troubles
Which affect how we live together
My brain turns to stone, my head hurts
And some nights I hardly get any sleep
In the afternoon I walked down to the street market
I was glad to see a few mothers selling bananas and greens
One or two other folks were also buying food
We said hello with our eyes and each returned home
The greens in coconut cream was as sweet as ever
In the morning I awoke from a pleasant sleep
I checked PNG Attitude and saw Deni Tokunai post on Twitter
Pictures of some market mothers
Standing in the sewer drain picking up their vegetables
Where the policemen had kicked them down
I saw the backs of their heads and tears welled up
My heart was smashed like tomato on the concrete drain
It is not a very big thing that will destroy us
No, just a small thing, a small thing
Like the small pests that destroy food gardens
And just like the Covid-19 that were afraid and worried about
This we say is a very, very big problem
But big or small, all stand equal under the eyes of God
Posted by: Michael Dom | 14 April 2020 at 07:31 AM
Sori tru long ol maket mama blo mipla.
Long Goroka, curfew stat long 4pm. Asde, me stap long haus na lukim tupla mama wantaim bilum kaukau laik go bek long haus, tasol taim pinis na polis stat long ronim Ol manmeri raunraun yet. Me wari tru long lukim tupla mama run wantaim bilum kaukau.
Posted by: Dominica Are | 09 April 2020 at 10:35 AM
Mi tu leva i buruk tasol tok ol mekim #HarimTok.
Long Kona bilong mi, ol save man meri
painim buai na korona
market mama salim buai na salim korona
save manmeri baim korona na karim igo long opis
save manmeri baim korona na karim igo long meri pikinini
save manmeri baim koronna na karim igo long komuniti
komuniti na kantri baim save bilong kisim save long #harim tok.
wokmanmeri ikisim korona, ino kisim buai
meri pikinini ikisim korona ino kisim buai
komuniti ikisim korona ino kisim buai
mama market kisim korona in kisim buai
#harimTok em tomora nau yu mi em ol
riskim na painim korona.
save long #harim tok istap long ples baksait.
Posted by: Baka Bina | 08 April 2020 at 04:25 PM