Joe and Jobson were here: So Amazing!
On this lawn a punupur (Kuanua for mumu or ground oven meal) was served to provide hospitality to two Bougainvilleans during their time studying in Brisbane. Ian & Marg met the two young men at a community gathering, and issued an impromptu invitation to their home and a traditional Melanesian meal/feast of chicken and vegetables in coconut wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in a ground oven. It was a thrill for all concerned both guests and the host family. During and after the meal some photos were taken of the Bougainvilleans and their host family including their 2 children. There was a bit of excitement when the Bougainvilleans were shown a possum nesting in a nearby tree. It too was photographed. This was in 1979. The host, Ian, was at that time a secondary school teacher.
Years passed and both the family and the Bougainvilleans forgot the names of the other.
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The Bougainvillean Civil War broke out into armed conflict in 1988. This was a multi-layered armed conflict fought between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the Papua New Guinea Government (PNG Defence Force) with Australian support on the one hand, and against other armed groups (eg Bougainville Resistance) on the other.
Hostilities concluded under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1997-1998 as a result of Bougainville peace talks convened at Burnham, New Zealand. These talks were pivotal in ending the civil war, with two key meetings in 1997. The first, the Burnham Declaration, was signed in July 1997 and called for a ceasefire and a peacekeeping force, even though it lacked direct participation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government at that stage. The second meeting, Burnham II, occurred in October 1997 and resulted in a ceasefire agreement signed by all parties, including the PNG Government.
The national (PNG) government agreed to the founding of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to certain rights and authorities that the autonomous government would have over what became known as Bougainville Province.
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By this time, Ian, the host of the punupur in 1979, had become the Principal of a non-formal college in Sydney that was training international leaders in mediation, reconciliation practice and peacebuilding. This training was also very significant input (behind the scenes) into the peace process. Once peace agreement was signed, the Principal Ian spontaneously went to Bougainville to assess the next stage of training and curriculum that would be needed to enable the peace process to work. Having done the necessary intelligence work, he had a list of things to do and key contacts to make. One was to meet a Bougainvillean called Joe Taruna, who was newly charged with the responsibility of "Spiritual Rehabilitation" by the embryonic Bougainville Autonomous Government.
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On his first morning in Buka, Bougainville, Ian found the 'Office of Spiritual Rehabilitation' in a house by the market. Ian gingerly knocked and a man came out and invited him in as they introduced themselves to each other. Once Ian explained his visit, the officer, Joe Taruna, said you must meet my Minister, and ushered Ian across the hall into the next room, and was introduced to Jobson Misang, Minister for Community Services.
At this stage, neither the officer or the Minister, had any staff or supplies, merely an old desk and 2 chairs each.
As Ian was introduced to Minister Misang, his response was "We have been to Australia."
"When, what year was that?" They could not remember.
"Was it before the war?" "Yes."
Ian was thinking, "Why would 2 Bougainvilleans have gone to Australia back then? Brisbane is the normal first destination for flights from PNG. Perhaps they went to a conference or training."
So Ian asked, "Did you go to Brisbane?"
"Yes", they chorused.
"Do you remember Kangaroo Point?" "Yes!"
And that nailed it, for until the 1980s, the Methodist Church in Australia had a training college at Kangaroo Point, MTC which was affectionately referred to as 'Kangaroo Point' - though that is the name of both the suburb abd the geographic feature.
"So you trained for ministry at Kangaroo Point?" "Yes." And a spark of possibility arose in Ian's mind. And so he continued, "And while you were at Kangaroo Point did you ever go out on weekends for deputation to various churches?" Enthusiastically they chorused, "Yes."
"And do you remember going to Holland Park church, it is a big A-framed building?" "Yes."
"And when you went to Holland Park did anyone happen to invite you to their home and provide a punupur in their back garden?"
At that point, Minister Misang opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out 5 photographic prints of the occasion. There they were in 4 photographs, sitting around the punupur with a woman and 2 children. The 5th picture was of a possum in a grevillea tree!
Then Ian said, "Would you like to turn those photos over?" And on the back was written the names of the people. "That is my handwriting," said Ian, "and that is my wife and they are our children."
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We all knew that this encounter was a divine appointment.
Before Ian left their office, they had agreed that Ian would organise for the creation and training of "international spiritual rehabilitation teams", each guided and overseen by a Bougainvillean leader, and that they would begin by sending them into the "most fractioned areas/communities" in Bougainville, beginning in Buka, then Siwai, and then other centres.
And this all took place over the next few years, and one of the direct results of many was that the Commander of the BRA decided courageously on disarmament, over a 2 year period, and the withdrawal of PNG DF from Bougainville was then possible and plausible.
So like Burnham, this pictured patch of turf is sacred ground, for this is where the credibility and trust between Ian and Jobson Misang and Joe Taruna was birthed!
Joe and Jobson were here: So Amazing!
On this lawn a punupur (Kuanua for mumu or ground oven meal) was served to provide hospitality to two Bougainvilleans during their time studying in Brisbane. Ian & Marg met the two young men at a community gathering, and issued an impromptu invitation to their home and a traditional Melanesian meal/feast of chicken and vegetables in coconut wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in a ground oven. It was a thrill for all concerned both guests and the host family. During and after the meal some photos were taken of the Bougainvilleans and their host family including their 2 children. There was a bit of excitement when the Bougainvilleans were shown a possum nesting in a nearby tree. It too was photographed. This was in 1979. The host, Ian, was at that time a secondary school teacher.
Years passed and both the family and the Bougainvilleans forgot the names of the other.
----------------------
The Bougainvillean Civil War broke out into armed conflict in 1988. This was a multi-layered armed conflict fought between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the Papua New Guinea Government (PNG Defence Force) with Australian support on the one hand, and against other armed groups (eg Bougainville Resistance) on the other.
Hostilities concluded under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1997-1998 as a result of Bougainville peace talks convened at Burnham, New Zealand. These talks were pivotal in ending the civil war, with two key meetings in 1997. The first, the Burnham Declaration, was signed in July 1997 and called for a ceasefire and a peacekeeping force, even though it lacked direct participation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government at that stage. The second meeting, Burnham II, occurred in October 1997 and resulted in a ceasefire agreement signed by all parties, including the PNG Government.
The national (PNG) government agreed to the founding of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to certain rights and authorities that the autonomous government would have over what became known as Bougainville Province.
-------------------------------------------
By this time, Ian, the host of the punupur in 1979, had become the Principal of a non-formal college in Sydney that was training international leaders in mediation, reconciliation practice and peacebuilding. This training was also very significant input (behind the scenes) into the peace process. Once peace agreement was signed, the Principal Ian spontaneously went to Bougainville to assess the next stage of training and curriculum that would be needed to enable the peace process to work. Having done the necessary intelligence work, he had a list of things to do and key contacts to make. One was to meet a Bougainvillean called Joe Taruna, who was newly charged with the responsibility of "Spiritual Rehabilitation" by the embryonic Bougainville Autonomous Government.
----------------------------------------------------
On his first morning in Buka, Bougainville, Ian found the 'Office of Spiritual Rehabilitation' in a house by the market. Ian gingerly knocked and a man came out and invited him in as they introduced themselves to each other. Once Ian explained his visit, the officer, Joe Taruna, said you must meet my Minister, and ushered Ian across the hall into the next room, and was introduced to Jobson Misang, Minister for Community Services.
At this stage, neither the officer or the Minister, had any staff or supplies, merely an old desk and 2 chairs each.
As Ian was introduced to Minister Misang, his response was "We have been to Australia."
"When, what year was that?" They could not remember.
"Was it before the war?" "Yes."
Ian was thinking, "Why would 2 Bougainvilleans have gone to Australia back then? Brisbane is the normal first destination for flights from PNG. Perhaps they went to a conference or training."
So Ian asked, "Did you go to Brisbane?"
"Yes", they chorused.
"Do you remember Kangaroo Point?" "Yes!"
And that nailed it, for until the 1980s, the Methodist Church in Australia had a training college at Kangaroo Point, MTC which was affectionately referred to as 'Kangaroo Point' - though that is the name of both the suburb abd the geographic feature.
"So you trained for ministry at Kangaroo Point?" "Yes." And a spark of possibility arose in Ian's mind. And so he continued, "And while you were at Kangaroo Point did you ever go out on weekends for deputation to various churches?" Enthusiastically they chorused, "Yes."
"And do you remember going to Holland Park church, it is a big A-framed building?" "Yes."
"And when you went to Holland Park did anyone happen to invite you to their home and provide a punupur in their back garden?"
At that point, Minister Misang opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out 5 photographic prints of the occasion. There they were in 4 photographs, sitting around the punupur with a woman and 2 children. The 5th picture was of a possum in a grevillea tree!
Then Ian said, "Would you like to turn those photos over?" And on the back was written the names of the people. "That is my handwriting," said Ian, "and that is my wife and they are our children."
---------------------------------------------------
We all knew that this encounter was a divine appointment.
Before Ian left their office, they had agreed that Ian would organise for the creation and training of "international spiritual rehabilitation teams", each guided and overseen by a Bougainvillean leader, and that they would begin by sending them into the "most fractioned areas/communities" in Bougainville, beginning in Buka, then Siwai, and then other centres.
And this all took place over the next few years, and one of the direct results of many was that the Commander of the BRA decided courageously on disarmament, over a 2 year period, and the withdrawal of PNG DF from Bougainville was then possible and plausible.
So like Burnham, this pictured patch of turf is sacred ground, for this is where the credibility and trust between Ian and Jobson Misang and Joe Taruna was birthed!