KEITH JACKSON

TEN Papua New Guinean writers share the K5,500 prize money in the 2015 Rivers awards for writing on topics related to peace and harmony with the general theme of ‘What I Was Told’.

Val Rivers, the founder and benefactor of the awards, has asked for contributions of articles, essays or poetry in which writers told what had learned from others about how to live a peaceful and harmonious life in Papua New Guinea.

Writers were encouraged to include traditional stories offering guidance about peace and harmony, present day advice about how these issues are managed, true stories about conflict that had been resolved, and insights into policies that could be implemented to create a more harmonious society.

EDITH MAKULA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

AS the day ceased and the night crept over us, it was storytelling time from grandma and grandpa.

Grandpa cleared the fireplace and started the fire to put on the kettle. The night was beautiful with the stars twinkling above us enjoying the natural light from the moon and stars. While waiting for the water to boil, grandma begins her story of the old days and how they’d enjoyed that life compared to todays.

I tuned in ready with interest. Before grandma could continue, grandpa broke in and said, “Grandchild, those days were the best.”

I wanted to hear how it was. Then grandma continued. Life was simple back then when, even though we didn’t have what you have, we enjoyed and had a great time.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Take a turn, a roundabout,
In circles, into a void,
An endless chase of cat and mouse
Chasing dreams ending in misfortune
A melee of disgust.

I was never this way,
I was told,
Never a lazy person,
Lazing and gazed at by society
As a man of failed hopes and dreams
But I tried, yes, I tried cried and died
Challenged to breaking point.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

With eyes all red in rage
I was told to calm down,
to sit and cool down,
meditate and breathe,
I was told.

This rage and anger
reduced to calm,
watered down by good
words from an open heart.

JANICE ISU

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

SOME people cross our lives briefly but their influence impacts us forever. Others remain in our lives like forever, but we won’t remember a single thing they said.

The former are in our hearts beyond their grave; the latter forgotten as soon as they are out of sight.

“Never Quit” became my mantra long after I had forgotten the poem Don’t Quit, which I will forever associate with my friend Doris.

Our paths crossed when I transferred to a remote school on the north-east coast of Nakanai, West New Britain Province, to complete Grade 7. Ms Gela paused as I entered the classroom one Monday morning and I slid into a back seat just in time for the first lesson.

“Class, this is Mary Boto our new student. Please make her feel welcome,” Ms Gela announced. I smiled shyly and sank lower into my seat as the class strained for a glimpse of me.

AGNES RITA MAINEKE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Land, our most valuable resource,
is becoming scarce
With the population increase,
the boundary markers are scarce
So many have been destroyed
by those who wish to scare and claim.

Boundaries between traditional land titles
have been handed down as part of history
“This is what I was told!”
So say both claimants
in any Melanesian land issue today
One says, “I was told by my grandmother
that our land reaches the river mouth.”

URSULA KIN

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I was told
By my grandfathers
Peace is no fighting
Peace is no violence
Peace is no quarrelling
Peace prevails when you are sorry.

I imagined the colour of peace then
There is fighting everywhere
There is violence everywhere
There is quarrelling everywhere
There is no peace when nobody is sorry

AUGUST BERITA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I was told that I am a Papua New Guinean
I must live like a Papua New Guinean and die like a Papua New Guinean
I was told to maintain unity in diversity
but promote my identity through tribalism, regionalism, and nationalism.
The Papua New Guinean way.

Taught in school to think like a white man;
out of school demanded to behave like a Papua New Guinean.
I was taught to change my world but, when I came home,
my world changed me.
I’m an educated Papua New Guinean.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

HE had to admit it. His aggressive nature and iron man pasin fuelled by alcohol was causing more harm than good to him and his family.

This was … it was his fifth time now to be locked in the police cells. Freedom deprived because, in a drunken stupor, he decided to beat up a man who cat-whistled his small sister.

The cat-whistler had laid a complaint straight after the incident and he’d been arrested at the Saturday weekend market. That was two days ago.

Sitting and listening to the sounds of the world outside the high brick-walled police cell made him realise for the first time that freedom to move around and socialise without being confined in an enclosed space is at the essence of human experience.

Or, as he may have put it, ‘Dispela kalabus i passim mu nogut tru’.

TESS GIZORIA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I went to sit and chat with him today,
He shouted at my quiet boldness,
And sent me on my way.
He had hoped I’d always remain pliant,

He’d sit me down and preach for hours,
Never thinking I could be defiant.
I’m stronger now learning to trust,
Making my way in this world,

As I must.
All I feel toward him,
Is neither hate, nor anger nor dis-regard,
But pity, deep flowing pity, flowing to the brim!

LEONARD FONG ROKA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

AT the peak of the Bougainville Crisis my father was gunned to death while my mother struggled to save his life as she confronted blood-hungry Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) men from our own Kieta society in Central Bougainville.

So it was that great inhumanity murdered my dad, John Roka (pictured), who so loved Bougainville and his Bougainvillean family. Inhumanity was perpetrated in the name of Bougainville freedom.

This was an irony so grim, exterminating a man in betrayal of Bougainville and of the peace and harmony the BRA was fighting for.

The BRA had a gun to kill my dad; and a gun is not a living thing that can react to every stimulus with assertiveness to restore or destroy.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

PEACE and quiet hang over the closely spaced bush material houses in the Melanesian village. The coconut trees stand sentinel, moving slightly each time the breeze touches their fronds.

It is Sunday morning in Pisamoni village. Population, around 300. The village prides itself on its size in that part of the world. It has enough people to host whatever government service trickles down.

MARLENE DEE GRAY POTOURA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Over my son’s nine years, a urologist repaired the male defect with which he was born – and I have kept my vow that I made on that labour bed 10 years ago. These days, I don’t think of the hurt I went through, I only feel overwhelming joy at the sight of my handsome 10-year old son, who is also a very close friend. The end result of being strong brought peace and when peace dwelt, harmony came gliding in too…..

AT 4 am it happened.

I heaved myself from the flat mattress, in that bleak little room that I had lived in for four months.  It was sudden and I was shocked and scared, as I was going to be a first time mum too and I heard my heart strings doing wobbly tunes. I quickly grabbed my cell phone from the little night table and called the ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived, I briskly walked out the door with the baby bag in one hand and my overnight duffel bag in the other.  The ambulance attendee helped me and told me to sit on a hard metal chair. He asked me how my labour pains were going and to his surprise, I told him that I did not feel any pain at all. He looked at me in a funny way and I started to panic.

DAHLIA BIRE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE fear was all he felt. He cringed from the sting of the slap and the whiff of alcohol.

Only half awake in the morning’s early hours he perhaps wondered why someone would do this to him.

It was his community and he was a respected leader.

Earlier this year, my beloved uncle was murdered in his village. He was a cheerful, loving and humble young man. His short life was taken by heartless and cruel people.

GEORGE UME

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

IN 2003, there were serious clashes at the University of Papua New Guinea between former students of Port Moresby National High School and Bugandi Secondary School.

The resultant chaos caused many injuries to students and much damage to property. It also created a hostile environment at the university especially for people living on campus.

At the time I was completing Grade 12 studies at Port Moresby National High School and, the following year, received an offer to study at UPNG and reside on campus.

URSULA KIN

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Peace starts when you are sorry
Enduring friendship
Acceptance and forgiveness
Caring and loving
Enlighten and respect

The Rivers Award for writing on peace & harmony

Now in its third year, the Rivers Award in 2015
takes the theme 'What I Was Told'
& offers K5,000 in prize money
for Papua New Guinean writers

See entry details here

AGNES RITA MAINEKE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

AFTER a Sunday service in October, the board of management of the local Haisi school in south Bougainville called for a public forum.

To the surprise and dismay of parents, the head teacher announced that classes at the mission school were to be suspended.

There was uproar and people demanded an explanation, especially since Grade 8 examinations were imminent.

The head teacher said the previous night, while the Grade 8 students were at study, a group of drunken men from nearby villages entered school premises.

MICHAEL AGLUA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

LIVING in peace and harmony in society is life in fullness for a human because it enables individuals to achieve their full potential.

People have the basic right to live in peace. It is utterly important that every member of the community, church and government ensure that peace and harmony prevail.

The significance of this is emphasised clearly in the national goals which form the basis of the Papua New Guinea Constitution.

In the traditional era, my people had strict laws which guided them. They had the ‘hausman’ and ‘hausmeri’ system where boys and girls were drilled on how to conduct themselves as men and women because the future of society depended on them.

SIMON DAVIDSON

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

MY mother said to me, and I’m not sure I was ready to listen.

“My son, you must work. Let your back bend. Hold a spade in your hand, till the soil, make a garden and plant seeds.

“You must learn to sweat and earn the bread you eat. You must not be lazy. You must not live and eat on the sweat of others.

“You must work and play. You must work and eat. You must work and sleep. You must work and marry. If you don’t work, don’t play. If you don’t work, don’t eat. If you don’t work, don’t sleep. If you don’t work, don’t marry. How will you feed your wife? How will you care for your family?

BRIGETTE VAI WASE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

‘PING! Ping! Ping!’ The text messages came one after the other. They all said how much he loved and missed me.

I had to find credits and text him back, otherwise he’d think I was ignoring him. I opened my purse. A 10 toea coin and 20 toea coin. All the money I had left until my next trip to Lorengau 30 minutes away.

I looked at the time, almost 5 o’clock, time to go to the room. I had spent a full day in the office on a Saturday. I made a mad dash to my room, the ‘pings’ did’t stop. I knew he would start asking, “Are you there?” if I didn’t respond sooner.

The air-conditioning hits me the moment I opened my door. I stared at frantic search for money I might have left lying around. I needed K10, the minimum credit purchase.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

HE had to tell her somehow. This feeling of turmoil inside of him was causing too much anxiety. He couldn’t sleep well and days at the workplace were spent daydreaming.

His inner peace had disappeared. He was in a whirlpool with two rivers pulling him in different directions.

He was in love with the girl who worked at the food joint. And when the inner butterflies came fluttering they had knocked something out of him. Well that’s how he felt.

So he decided to tell his mother about the girl at the kai bar.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

FOR most people having a good life involves money, because money in today’s society means social status.

Bigger house, more cars and flashier clothes all define your social status.

But there’s a saying that money can’t buy love and happiness. It’s true. As human beings we have dignity and self-respect and these are more valuable than money.

Some people get paid a lot to be used like puppets to do the bidding of the powerful or to be loyal to a fault. In some societies this is the lowest of the low. Picking up the scraps and trusting that some of their skills might rub on to you.

MADELEINE RUGA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

SPENDING time with grandparents is invaluable because you get to hear their stories and learn from them as they reminisce about their life experiences. 

Different life stories have been told over generations that have witnessed the dramatic changes including those now affecting our once peaceful lifestyle. Even the rural population has been affected immensely by these changes. For some, the changes have been for the better and for some they have been for worse.

I have been fortunate to have heard these recollections from people who have lived and experienced this life and I treasure these stories. Someday I will retell them to the next generation and so the cycle will continue.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Take a turn, a roundabout,
In circles, into a void,
An endless chase of cat and mouse
Chasing dreams, ending in misfortune
A melee of disgust.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Shift the blame
that’s his game.

Parents sit back and cheer 
that’s their son.

Was he told to be this way?
maybe, perhaps,
an excuse for noble pride.

PHILIP KAUPA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Submerge your fingers in the water
Feel it, it’s life's graceful author
Fish and coral find home there
Birds and trees are able with her
Plant a tree, but what about water?
Spills and effluents, where do they gather?
Submerged in the water.
Fly River still mourns unfair

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

A noisy cricket, hiding somewhere in the mango tree he had just passed, was screeching as if angry with him and the night.

On his way from the end of the street, he had passed a number of people. The settlement came alive at night when people walked around or stood idle in the now cool puddle-riddled street. Absorbed in their conversations.

During the day you hardly saw much activity. Everyone had left for town in pursuit of money. Activities both legitimate and not so.

The settlement was made up of the employed, the unemployed and those between – students, children, women, the old.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Dedicated to my two daughters

Protect your person
Like I protected your innocence
It cannot be bought with flattery
Nor sold cheaply in a moment

If you like a man
As I did your mother
Bring him to the house
Don’t go someplace else

PHILIP KAUPA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Inhale some fresh air, it’s free
Coming from our friendly neighbour, the tree
Too many trees carelessly felled today
Oxygen depleted, carbon dioxide at play

I wish the trees could demand a fee
Or grow legs to kick, or flee
We all have a house in which to stay
Trees are the reason we live this way

Inhale some fresh air
Take a small tree
Get on your knee
Plant a tree today

Tell a friend, ‘You must see
We cannot live without the tree’

Inhale some fresh air

VAGI SAMUEL JNR

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Shake off the dust from gloomy yesterday
Glorious waters of grace await my bath
Mercy shall put on me a fresh garment then
Knitted in love like the blue sky I see today

Have me the food in which my heart delights
Fruits from the Gospel that feeds my spirit
Defend the sagging walls within my mind
So my soul shall be guarded from evil’s trick

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Rage, a blaze,
lit by hate.

Destruction and turmoil
lie in its wake.
A trail blazed from destruction.

Destructive and impossible to
defend. Your sins and horrors.

Like pins and needles,
sewed into mindset,
you bask in the ambience of my misery.

VAGI SAMUEL JNR

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I stand with trembling body
A harsh angry thought crippled by fear
Afraid in a sense where desperation of a life
I so deserve as a child being deprived hidden

My right to freedom is shattered and forgone
Mother scold’s me like a stray dog nomadic
Foul language being her slang of choice
The feeling is like I am not welcomed at all

DENNIS URAMANI

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

This poem is dedicated to the young generation of Papua New Guineans who are now in contact with bad influences like alcohol and drug abuse. They must know that such influences are a major obstacle for a bright future

You is you and no one is you
You are the champion of your of destiny
You say yes or you say no

Make right choices now
Think for tomorrow
Prepare for the rainy day

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Always utilise your wisdom
By protecting the widows

Taking care of the orphans
Keeping the weak and old aged

Giving to the poor in need
Cherishing the lame and blind

Harbouring the rejects
Serving their common interest

AGNES RITA MAINEKE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

THIS story of “Pohikah” (one who was struck in the head) was told by my mother who was told by her grandmother.

In the old days when tribal fights were still being fought, one of my male ancestors from Miiko clan married a woman from the Korungo clan in the Mariga area where the people speak the Banoni language. Our people speak the Siwai language.

One day this ancestor, Nousi, returned to his homeland for a visit. It happened that a female cousin of his had become deranged and couldn’t take of her only daughter, Kaharo, who was about 12 years old.

Out of pity for his young niece, Nousi asked permission from the female clan elders to take Kaharo with him when he returned to Mariga. He was granted permission happily, for although our society is matrilineal, Kaharo had become a burden to her family. They were relieved of another mouth to feed.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Five truths I have learnt. We must be responsible, we must be able to forgive, respect is earned not deserved, contentment leads to a satisfied life and we must believe in something. It’s only human to do that

Be responsible
Nothing comes easy in life
You work hard, you earn

Forgiveness, the key
Let go, forget and keep none
Peace will be your friend

Respect is the word
When you give and show respect
It will be returned

Be content with life
You cannot have everything
Peace will be your life

Believe in something
God, Jesus, Buddha, world peace
It’s our essence

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE sun rises in the east and sets in the west and, whatever the weather, it will still penetrate and enlighten the human heart.

The sun also indicates time. And within those times are situations men encounter, bad or good.

Humankind is bound to make mistakes and, hopefully, learn from its failures. A pure heart glitters like the sun.

Creating a conducive environment in every society depends on the heart. In a diverse culture a simple and humble heart promotes harmony.

DOMINICA ARE

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I am filled with anger, to go on a rampage
A burning desire for revenge
But then I remember
You told me to forgive, to love my enemies
For it’s the greatest of all virtues

I wanted too much, desire for worldly treasures
I indulged myself with earthly pleasures
But then I remember,
You told me about the riches in heaven
For its everlasting, and I will be given

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

I am principal of a mission boarding school for wayward boys. Those who cannot continue in the formal system find themselves in my school.

Applicants sit a mandatory entry test on basic literacy and numeracy. Then the academic committee and I do the selection based on scores.

In school, my students are taught normal academic subjects. But unlike their peers in the formal education system, they get to learn a vocational trade. Currently my school offers courses in carpentry, metal fabrication and motor mechanics.

DENNIS URAMANI

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

PNG is the land of unexpected
PNG is the land of thousands tribes
PNG is the land of double tongues
PNG is the land of different colours

We once lived as wonderers and gatherers
We once were colonised by European powers
We once were caught by the quest of modernization
We once tasted globalisation at every level of the society

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Shift the blame
that’s his game.

Parents sit back and cheer
that’s their son.

Was he told to be this way?
maybe perhaps,
an excuse for noble pride.

Defender of himself
Bringer of distress.

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

MICHAEL DOM

What I was told by someone old
Is, “Do your best, be brave; be bold
God does the rest, He knows your needs
If others spite you, don’t take heed.
Trust God who told
The sun to shine, trust Him who holds
The moon in tow – in thought, in deed,
Keep faith – it grows like mustard seeds
With fruits ten-fold.”
Do your best, as cruel life unfolds,
Remember then what you were told,
For all the things we think we need
Will break or fade and death will cede
Love peace; seek harmony – win gold
So I was told.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

This tale is not based on real people or events but explains how tertiary student associations settle disputes and bring peace to conflicting members

I was forking a half-eaten fried sausage on my mostly empty plate, thinking about an unfinished post-colonial literature assignment, when someone brushed past me and took the chair at the other end of the dining table.

I looked up and was greeted with a smile. It was Mack, a good friend, originally from the Karawari River basin, one of the tributaries of the Sepik River.

“Ah, yes, bro. I’m about to finish my lunch na yu kam kamap,” I quipped.

“No worries bro, I had to deal with a situation in the dorm and didn’t notice of the time,” he explained. “But at least I made it before closing time. Mi kisim taim, hangere kilim mi stret.”

PHILIP G KAUPA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Dedicated to my daughter Everfree who recently turned three

Dear Lord

Thank you for creating me rare
when I was two, I learned to pray
today I am three because you care

John 14:14 is my favorite Bible verse
Lord whatever I ask you always bless
thank you for the pinky pinky dress

last week I had an awful injury
Lord you were there in my misery
with you nothing is more scary

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE recent spate of ethnic tensions and fights that have swept certain parts of Port Moresby’s settlements, most notably Hohola, 8 Mile and 6 Mile, have brought to light the need to police the movement of people in and out of towns and cities.

This is important to maintain law and order and protect human lives and public property.

In Papua New Guinea, discussion on rural-urban drift often raises the issue of the Vagrancy Act. While there is a definite and serious need for the government and city and town authorities to look into ways of controlling the movement of people, the Vagrancy Act will have to be a measure of last resort.

This is due to the fact that most urban dwellers are second or third generation migrants (especially from Gulf and Central provinces in the case of Port Moresby) who live, work and do business in towns and cities.

DOREEN BAULONI

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

THEY say that laughter is the best medicine. Most of us understand laughter as a way of telling others that we are happy and want to be friends.

Teachers, preachers or trainers make their audience laugh to get their attention so that they don’t get bored and fall asleep during long lessons, sermons or lectures.

While attending a training session, the trainer decided to arouse his audience before his presentation.

“This story is from Ada’s place,” he began.

“Oh no, you’re putting me off,” said Ada, one of the participants.

AKILINO POWESIU

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

HOG’S Breath Café. A petite, charming bar and grill on a lazy Friday afternoon. The customers almost blending into its furnishings, pleasant music and a welcoming air.

An hour ago, Nathan Kali had just completed his Year 12 exams and had been invited by his uncle, De Salvo Posuweh, a lawyer, to the café for a few cold ones; thus signifying his manhood and freedom.

Both men sat on the café balcony, their eyes intrigued by the passing parade of shoppers moving to and fro.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

Take my plea my uncertainty,
Take my hands and warm them.

I’m but cold and anxious,
Wayward and crooked.

Life is but a dream,
But reality is a back lash,
My utter disgrace is my poverty.

My long lost sovereignty,
I lay in asylum for you aid.

Take me and rescue me,
A life of endless misery.

I was told by pastors and priests,
The poor can go to heaven.

But I didn’t sell my riches to be poor,
A statistic of injustice,

An aimless ingrate.
Only death will bring the peace.

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the 2015 Rivers Award
for Writing on Peace & Harmony

NEWS about the water level at the Sirinumu Dam dropping to an all-time low got me thinking about what would happen if we ran out of water.

One of my good friends whom I bumped into few days ago probably summed up the situation well. He said if the dam runs out of water, the people in the Port Moresby settlements will go on a rampage.

Water pipes will be ripped apart or dug up to free the remaining water while shops will be looted as people go in search of bottled water. This conjured in my mind images of the Mad Max movies.