BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

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

Peace and harmony can best be achieved through a healthy family built on trust and respect for one another. It is without a doubt that family is the cornerstone of human existence and thus holds the key to the realisation of a peaceful and harmonious world. Indeed, that has been the core message of great religious founders and teachers like Jesus, the Dalai Lama, Dr Rev Sun Myung Moon and others.

For those who wish to seek out love and start a family it begins by seeking out each one’s better half. A better half is the one true partner that will stand by your side no matter what. This is my story and is dedicated to my better half, my wife Dikolia Emmanuel.

SHE tended our son lying in a laplap hammock tied to two sides of the bamboo walls of the village house.

It was Christmas and we had decided to travel to Basilaki Island so her old mother could see her grandson. Our son was fast asleep in the hammock as the south-easterly breeze rocked him back and forth.

Never for a moment did Dikolia abandon our son, even though the temperature inside the house was becoming unbearable due to the scorching heat of the sun.

OBED IKUPU

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

WHEN I was a little boy, my mother told me about life after death. She explained to me that when we die, we either go to heaven or we go to hell.

She said to me that only good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.

People who are good are rewarded with a pass into the pearly gates of heaven, where they experience the company of heavenly hosts and the overwhelming awe of God the Almighty.

FLORENCE CASTRO-SALLE

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

My mother taught me and my siblings these things which I hope to pass on to my two children. I believe, one way or another, these things contribute to peace within a family and spread out to the community.

Thank you mum for all you have been and continue to be to your children and grandchildren. I would consider motherhood a success if I become half the mother you are.

Sit up straight and do not slouch; you do not want a bendy back when you are older

Walk with you head up and not down; you do not want to crash into something now do you?

Stop cracking those fingers and toes; you’ll get crooked fingers and toes when you are old

JIMMY AWAGL

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

EL Nino has struck Simbu hard and people have been warned not to carry any form of naked flame that could ignite a fire.

On a Wednesday afternoon late in August, Mond Eri from the Gena tribe went to his coffee garden in the gorge of Akan.

The four o’clock sun was hot so he cut a piece of sugarcane and sat chewing it on a limestone boulder.

While enjoying the juice, a fire was ignited not far from where he sat. Mond Eri didn’t know the man who started it nor did he bother too much about it.

AMANDA YEOU

This poem is dedicated to those who have fought for peace and harmony in our country when at war. We can only have freedom, peace, and harmony if we has the courage to defend it

I was once told
Strange men arrived on our land in flying machines
Many wore funny clothes
Who could they be?
Were they gods?

I was once told
Blood was shed on our land
Children would wander searching for mama and papa
They had lost everything
Where was the peace and harmony?

MARLENE DEE GRAY POTOURA

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

I called my brother in Port Moresby and told him that I was making plans to go to Bougainville to talk to the man who assassinated our father.

“Why do you want to do that? For goodness sake, Marlene, just write the story; forget about the interview.” He was angry.

“I want to ask him and find out why he did it and how he feels about it now,” I said softly.

“Oh, you’re going to break our mother’s heart,” he argued.

“The man’s still alive. When he goes, we’ll never know the truth.”

“Who wants the truth? Our father is dead!’ he yelled and hung up.

My father was generous and kind with a forgiving heart. He planted the seed in me, showing me that forgiveness did not come from others but from yourself.

JIMMY AWAGL

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

Passed on through generations
Is the forefathers’ oral tradition

The legend started long ago
Then it walked miles until now

It was truly philosophical
It was moral and ethical

It contained the true wisdom
To be written on the human heart

KEITH JACKSON

THE Rivers Award for writing about peace and harmony enters its third year with the founder, Val Rivers, again offering K5,000 in cash prizes for original writing on this year’s theme, “What I Was Told”.

Articles, essays or poetry must address the theme by writers telling they have learned from others about how to live a peaceful and harmonious life in Papua New Guinea.

This may include traditional stories offering guidance about peace and harmony, present day advice about these issues are managed, true stories about conflict that has been resolved, policies that could be implemented to lead to a more harmonious society.

KEITH JACKSON

EIGHT Papua New Guinean writers share the K5,500 prize money in this year’s Rivers Prize for writing on subjects related to peace and harmony.

This year, founder Val Rivers greatly increased the prize money on offer and has decided to award three Level 1 prizes of K1,000 each, four Level 2 prizes of K500 each and a special prize of K500 for diligence and consistency in writing.

The winners of the first level awards (K1,000 each) are John Kaupa Kamasua, Roslyn Tony and Arnold Mundua.

Second level awards (K500 each) go to Charlene Nii, Agnes Maineke, Raymond Komis Girana and Mathias Kin.

And a special award of K500 goes to Jimmy Awagl for diligence and consistency in writing.

KEITH JACKSON

FOUNDER and sponsor of the Rivers Prize for peace and harmony writing, Val Rivers, has announced she is trebling the total prize money to K5,500 this year.

Val, who is also chief judge of the award, said she believed the original amount of K1,700 was insufficient to reward all the writers who deserved to be recognised for the quality of their contributions.

As a result, there will now be three K1,000 awards (up from one) and five K500 awards (up from two).

The theme of this year’s Rivers Prize was ‘Peace & Harmony in PNG – Past & Present’ and it attracted more than 70 stories, essays and poems.

DOREEN BAULONI

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

A good living relationship in communities can be achieved by having respect for fellow members, their property and territory.

This has been our way of life in the past and is useful now as it will be for the future. The reasons why community members respected one another in the past were based on maintaining friendship, the need to be treated equally and the spiritual status of another person.

In the past people lived in an era where fighting, sorcery and witchcraft were the norm. There was fear that, if disrespected, a person may be provoked to retaliate aggressively.

TANYA ZERIGA-ALONE

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

“SO ladies and gentlemen, peace and harmony are not necessarily hallmarks of a good life, rather, peace and harmony is your state of mind.

“One can find peace in time of conflict likewise harmony in chaos. You can choose your state of mind just as easily as you can choose your clothes.”

“In the face of challenge, it is so easy to romanticize the past, to reminisce about life and how easy and uncomplicated life was.

“Each human, each generation, each era has its own challenges.   Our call in life is to survive and even enjoy the challenges life throws at us by choosing our state of mind.”

As if on cue, the applause erupted, drowning out the ending of my talk. But it did not matter, all I had left was to thank the audience for its attention.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

I collect the empty cans for cash,
Hope it’s enough for a scone or two.

The sun makes me sweat so bad,
Wish my thirst would quench on an empty can.

I find peace at lunch with flour fish,
Broken and shared with pals of mine

Days like this I wish I could,
Go and read a book or two.

WARDLEY DESMOND BARRY-IGIVISA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

SOMETIME around 2012, the PNG Post Courier newspaper published on its website an article under the headline PNG leaders lack philosophical edge.

I devoured the article: and read it again and again. I must have read it a dozen times.

The next day, I went to town to grab a copy of the paper. I turned to the Viewpoint section and scanned the letters without finding what I was looking for. I did the same thing on following days. I was disappointed.

What irked me was that I expected people to respond to the article, but it was not to be. It was a pointed, provocative and penetrating article. The writer’s main argument was that PNG leaders lacked the philosophical insight to turn the country into a world-class competitive nation.

Because if they can’t think, we shrink.

RAYMOND KOMIS GIRANA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

HAKU and Halia are two distinct constituencies which share the same border in the north-eastern coast of Buka in Bougainville.

The word Tsuhana in the Haku and Halian dialects means ‘sacred house’ or ‘chiefs’ house’.

The aim of the Tsuhana is to strive for a harmonious society. We may understand it as ‘Sacred House of Hope’.

Hope is embedded in harmony; sacredness comes from how the people of Buka value Tsuhana.

PAUL WAUGLA WII

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE highlands region of Papua New Guinea is known for its tribal warfare. Like all armed conflicts, these fights can have a devastating impact on the lives of people on both sides of the conflicting parties.

I was born and raised within the Kuman society of Simbu. As a result, I have spent my entire 37 years of existence in this world witnessing and becoming a victim of sporadic tribal and clan wars fought within the bounds of my homeland.

The Dagletribe is one of the biggest tribal groups in the Kerowagi district of Simbu.

The Dagle people live towards the north-west of the district, along the border of the newly-created Jiwaka Province.

Like almost every other tribal group in the highlands, the Dagle community is not exempt from the ravages of tribal and inter-clan war known as kunda in the Kuman language spoken in the northern part of Simbu.

AGNES MAINEKE

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

A means of traditional reconciliation in the Telei language group of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville

MARRIAGE is a sacred institution even in today’s more liberal society. But it was much more sacred in traditional Melanesian culture.

When a young man was of marriageable age, his father would search for a suitable partner, usually from his nieces, daughters of the father’s sisters or cousins’ sisters.

This would be done without the son’s knowledge or acquiescence. Even the girl was not consulted as to choice of marriage partner.

PAUL WAUGLA WII

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

I was up late one recent night thinking about all these terrible events happening around the globe.

My three-year-old son was fast asleep in the other room with his mum. We would wake up tomorrow and it would be another beautiful day in our country home.

We adults would go to work as usual, my little son would roam around the house in pursuit of his own carefree endeavours.

Life for my children would go on in an unbroken rhythm for the foreseeable future, and in that knowledge there is reassurance.

KEITH JACKSON

THIS year’s Rivers Prize for writing about peace and harmony ends tomorrow having received a record number of entries.

With still more than 24 hours to go before the contest closes at midnight, 20 writers – including some of Papua New Guinea’s best known names – have submitted 68 poems, stories and essays to the contest.

The Prize was initiated last year by Val Rivers, a school teacher in PNG in the 1960s, to fulfil her wish to focus attention on issues and subjects related to promoting peace and harmony in communities.

Of the 66 entries received so far, there are 40 poems, 18 essays and 10 short stories.

MICHAEL GEKETA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

When he is talking
Be harmonious by being a good listener
He will obey you
Even in little things

When he is in penury
Be harmonious by addressing his needs
He will die with admiration for you
An epitome of sharing

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

WARE Mukale (pictured), until last year Deputy Principal (Administration) of Gumine Secondary School, frequently drove between Gumine and the Simbu provincial capital, Kundiawa, on routine duties.

When driving into the Dom area of the Digine Local Level Government, he was often confronted by road blocks set up by young men.

They were mostly fuelled by drugs and home brew (‘steam’) and took advantage of the commuters from Salt Nomane Karamui, Gumine, Drima, Omkolai and Boromil.

One Tuesday afternoon, Mr Mukale was driving back from Kundiawa when he encountered a road block at Munuma. The fully armed youths demanded K100 otherwise they would take his car keys.

“Boys, I am back from school business,” Mr Mukale said, “and I do not have enough for you. I will give you K50. I only have that amount.”

MICHAEL GEKETA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Oh triumphant Bougainville, you stand the test of time
Say no to gifts, for they leads to hand-out mentality

Oh sovereign Bougainville, your challenges aren’t over
Say no to dependency, for it leads to exploitation

Oh progressive Bougainville, nothing must impede your way
Say no to double-thought, for it leads to regression

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Empathy holds fort the understanding for love and respect,
To understand is to know, to feel and to share,
We stay stubborn and find no space to empathise,
We hold grudges and plot a cursed revenge,

What are the positive changes you’ve made, after revenge?
Life moves on for us, but souls of the dammed strive for peace which even vespers, cannot offer,
Woe is me, if I be a remorseful person, why must my act of good will go unpraised, but your act in time of the afflicted was shameful,
Quit your pride and see how society is cruel, it makes you watch but yet feel guilty as a victim is beaten, a mother is robbed,

WARDLEY DESMOND BARRY-IGIVISA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Good old days and my good old tumbuna, they ever soar the skies together,
Like steady streams kissing the banks as it flows down spirit-filled ridges.
The latter wears away as the bond between them grows deeper;
The former desires to hurt not, but love, at heart, hurts nevertheless.

This perennial love between water and land brushes on to the men
And women who eat from the land and drink from its steady streams,
While pain flies before them as they chase their youthful, picayune yen;
For pain and pleasure are one, so are labor and love, defeats and dreams.

AGNES RITA MAINEKE

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE Grade 8 exams had come to an end by half past eleven on the Thursday and some of the girls had already planned their celebration of the milestone.

Whether they had done well or not wasn’t a criterion; just that they had completed their exams.

The first celebration venue was in the bushes along the old Airport Road.

One of the girls had bought a bottle of homebrew with money they had collected.

As soon as they finished lunch, which their mothers had brought, they made a bee-line for the rendezvous.

PHILIP G KAUPA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

I feel that it is worth appreciating some special individuals and groups of people who, behind the scenes, spend their time and energy praying for our country, Papua New Guinea.

If you are one of them, entreating and praying, you have a patriotic heart and God will bless you abundantly.

Let me take a moment to show you some of the results of your prayers:

THOMAS OKUN

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

THIS poem recites methods used in traditional times in the highlands provinces to achieve and maintain peace it.

The bird of paradise plumes were an important form of wealth. Even very important activities such as payment of brides price was done with plumes.

Moka is an elaborate and prolonged public ceremony that involves giving away large numbers of pigs and amounts of food to make peace.

In times past,
Life was like a scent grandpa could smell.
It was a must,
for him to discriminate it well.

PHILIP G KAUPA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

If life's meant to be fair
why hardly share
it's noble to give
to help one live
but high you walk

and to me, you rarely talk
you call me beggar
I do it better
In the streets we meet
I look not high but, at your feet

MATHIAS KIN

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

FATHER John Nilles (1905-93), who was to be accorded the Simbu name Kawagl,  was born in a small town in Germany, the eldest of five children.

As a young boy, he was captivated by stories about missionaries in faraway places. So at an early age he decided he was going to become a missionary and serve in these lands.

He fulfilled his childhood dream and became a priest, entering the Society of Divine Word (SVD) of Father Arnold Janssen. His superiors selected him to come to New Guinea.

In 1936, Fr Nilles left Germany for New Guinea. In mid-July 1937, on a sunny day, he flew over the Bismarck Range into the Simbu Gorge in a small mission plane and landed at Mingende.

MICHAEL GEKETA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

When he is talking
Be harmonious by being a good listener
He will obey you
Even in little things

When he is in penury
Be harmonious by addressing his needs
He will die with admiration for you
An epitome of sharing

ARNOLD MUNDUA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

WHEN I was a kid in the 1970s the yagl-ingu culture was still popular in Simbu. Yagl-ingu literally means ‘men’s house’ in the Kuman dialect.

It was a big house often constructed with two main doors and erected in the centre of communal ground.

PHILIP KAUPA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

A war achieves mischief
yet taken as a measure for peace
its taste is terror and not ease
war hungers for calamity in heaps
like a thirsty wolf that preys the sheep

Music is the sound of war cry and guns
that a warrior dances fiercely like fun
abiding rules of retreat and engage thay run
although the price is depression they never learn
enough to understand that death they earn

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

We think it and imagine how it would look like.
A place of euphoria with blossoming character,
Where it is the land of milk and honey,
Where thoughts and beliefs are accepted by everyone,

But swirling around the thought sphere is the fact that there are two sides to everything,
Two sides to a coin two sides to an opinion and two sides to reality,
The imagined facts, counter the reality, which speaks for itself,
A void gaping with violence, greed and the succumbed result of it poverty,

Violent, trigger happy, knife wielding would be assassins, roam indulged in a binge for violence,
They, a result of ignorance and a failed system leading to a social dead-end of pressure,  
Forced to carry their weight of failure, they stumble into peer groups of same lowliness,

CHARLENE NII

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

CONSIDER the birds of the air; eagles for example. They travel many miles looking for insects, preys and carcass to feed. But at the fall of evening, they return to a favourite spot they call home - be it tree, cave or someplace else.

Look at the animals of the field; pigs for example. They travel everywhere anywhere looking for grass, roots, worms and water. But when evening falls, they return to a tree, a cave, a shed or someplace called home.

Consider the insects; ants for example. Although tiny, they cover long distances looking for food or material to build nests. But when darkness falls, they track back to a favourite spot may it be in tree, cave, a wall or someplace called home.

Likewise people move around making gardens, collecting food, working in an office or playing games. But when evening falls, they return to a house, an apartment, a kunai thatched roof hut, a smelly cardboard shed or a cave someplace called home.

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

NOWADAYS in Port Moresby and most parts of the country, a typical Friday and Saturday evening for most communities entails loud music, yelling and fighting caused by people under the influence of liquor.

This phenomenon is not only confined to settlements as in the past but has spilled over into areas considered medium to high class residential areas.

The noise levels are unbearable. According to Wikipedia “noise pollution is the disturbing or excessive noise that may harm the activity or balance of human or animal life.” That’s it.

In PNG the main cause of noise pollution does seem to be loud music generated by drunkards. It makes one wonder if there are laws to rein in these out of control noise freaks. It certainly doesn’t look like it.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

I clap and sing in the house of the lord,
Shaking hands, as a sign of peace,
Not wanting a violent end to these signs of love,
Christian as I may be, I am but only human,
With limitations, trials and tribulations

But seeking favour to resolve shows no problem is bigger than each one of ours,
Violently I react, but as emotion persists we long for peace,
Through prayer and family mediation we reconcile,
I forge my rite of passage to the kingdom of heaven,
For my soul is free from unjust and continued hate

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Where there is conflict and war,
There is no peace,
Where there is discrimination and inequality
There is no harmony
A majority hates injustice and racism
A minority loves them
But peace icons walk the talk

PHILIP KAUPA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

My fellow citizens, beware.  Our little enemy, the HIV virus, is still around. We cannot defeat it if we are ignorant. It is human ignorance that makes HIV invincible. I have lost one relative and I know many of you have also.  It's painful. Take this piece as awareness - PK

Of its kind, so minute and almost non-living                                                                                                             
                                                  primary distinction science is giving                                                                         
                                                    Despair, desolate and peril are trace of its path                                                   
                                                         unto its acquaintance is dark death 

BUSA JEREMIAH WENOGO

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

My original mind where are you?
I can only hear you in whispers.

In your inaudibility I have sought peace and harmony
in this defiled sanctuary that I am clothed with.

My original mind where are you?
In your invisibility I have looked away from God, my beloved father

And instead followed the shadows of ignorance
and emptiness cast upon my life by the joker.

PHILIP G KAUPA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Share the burden of a mother
Take her as a sister, a daughter
Love one as wife
And let polygamy reign no more
Humiliate lust, cage the rapist
Let no women face fear
Put on her happy face
And send violent hearts to exile
Let at ease a women’s heart
Hence cometh calm dwell

Let man bear the weights of harvest
When it’s expected of women
Build your wantoks house
And burn them no more
Let no hands blister
Quench a tongue that thirsts
Unite all and carry each shoulder
Pour harvest to each other
Let a cup of water say welcome
And the smiling local dishes gather all

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

I need to afford what I love
Since needs and wants are still out of love
That I will still pursue till I secure
Then I only immense within the pool of peace till
I find satisfaction with my love for peace

I love a crocodile with ugly features
But it is out of love that the ugly creature
Is subject to the desire of love
As the ugly crocodile walks towards me than
The love is subject to reality and I am at peace

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

THE world is a place of diversity but one thing is for certain, we all have our own views and these can lead to struggles for their recognition, sometimes they’re violent.

Many fights for recognition go to the extreme and a lot of the people within Papua New Guinea suffer because of this.

Look at the conflicts on the television news each night: the bloodthirsty tactics of ISIS fighting for recognition and influence over other Islamic groups and seeking its own caliphate.

It’s hard to comprehend and impossible to excuse the methods they use.

DAVID KASEI WAPAR

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Tribes and hamlets were not populous
Everything was provided by Mother Nature Roasted bananas and pork tasted fabulous
Surplus was distributed amongst each other
In peace and harmony they lived

Land was plenty for hunting and gardening
The sea held all that the coast and islands needed
Fresh fish served with sago was tantalizing
The young look up to elders and that was respected
Life was peaceful and so they had lived

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

VIOLENCE runs rampant in Papua New Guinea and we seem unable to stop its spread.

One recent incident concerned so-called cult practices and school fights among the younger generation.

On Monday two weeks ago, I saw a headline in The National newspaper about six school students from Gerehu Secondary and one from Port Moresby Grammar - being drunk and disorderly at 5-Mile next to the National Broadcasting Corporation.

The report stated that five of them were female Grade 9 students.

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

This is a poem in honour of Willie Kupo, a four-year old kid diagnosed with osteomyelitis and in the isolation ward at Kundiawa Hospital. I saw how enthusiastic he is, so dedicated this poem to him

I am diagnosed with osteomyelitis
A bone inflammation on my left leg
Clasps with iron pins run into my marrow
I am four years old and come from Nend village
Hospitalised for nine months at Kundiawa General

I occupy isolation ward bed number twenty three
On my left in bed twenty two is Francis Nii
And on my right is John Kupe in twenty four
I have become their companion in here
Despite being young with bone ulcer and agony

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Where there is love there is hate, where there is good there is evil, only the euphoria of hippie’s and their bliss of imagination is a different dimension of earthly existence.
There is thought and free will but to think at will we must be thought, the rights from the wrongs, the just from the unjust,
Who says society cannot be changed, there are no problems just solutions,
There can only be a gap between the educated and uneducated as there is when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,

JIMMY AWAGL

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

IN the Kuman language of Simbu Province sugar cane is bo and the crop, which is suitable to almost any conditions, is found everywhere.

In fact it grows and spreads like weeds and is known as a traditional crop dating back very many generations.

There are about 14 types of sugar cane growing in Simbu. One specie is bo ingu nem (the original sugar cane), which is widely grown and very popular.

The Sikaku tribe of Yongomugl love growing sugar cane amongst the flowers around their homes and it plays a pivotal role within their society.

Bo ingu nem gives a man prestige and recognition. It is a tradition that a man should have a bo garden to maintain his identity and even to fulfill one of the requirements of a long-standing Sikaku tradition.

ROSLYN TONY

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Grandpapa was quick to pre-empt the future
So if you breached the rule of nature
By slaughtering a boar for your shame
He’d say, you do not play the game

Grandpapa took evil for evil and good for good
We’re careful in dealing with grandpapa’s mood
For grandpapa never leaves an option
And easily you lose your position

ROSLYN TONY

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

MY name is Yokond and I belong to the Kulkane-Endiuk- Mondakane clan in Upper Simbu. I have two wives, Waugla and Yaundo. Waugla is my arranged wife.

We have three children. Yaundo is the barren wife of my best friend whom I married after my best friend got killed in a tribal fight.

Having two wives is not an easy task. A man has to provide for the physical and emotional needs of the women and make sure he does not provoke ill feelings among his two wives.

Prior to my second marriage with Yaundo, I had a word with Waugla.

FIDELIS SUKINA

An entry in the Rivers Prize for
Writing on Peace & Harmony

Smile, it takes less muscles than a frown,
Sing a song whilst sitting around the hauswin,
Harmonies, sweet melodies

Share a buai, daka and kambang with friend or foe
Swing by the street and hang with the boys,
Convince them to not drink and cause havoc,

Stop the car, walk to market waving a smile and leading ahead the family,
Take five, chat with another and leave a lasting impression,
Educate a nation of peace starting with thy self