by Julie Kumbon
In 2016, three Papua New Guinean writers visited Noosa as part of a pioneering literary visit to Australia which saw them feature at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Julie Kumbon (pictured), the wife of one of the writers, Daniel Kumbon, was on her first visit to Australia and, upon returning home, related her impressions to Daniel in her traditional Enga language. These have been translated for publication.
Before leaving my highlands home at Wabag in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province, I was wondering what kind of place I was going to. Having seen some action movies about Australia, I thought I would see violence and rough people on the streets, especially in cities like Brisbane and Sydney.
But there was none of it. I think action movies are illusions that give a bad image of peace-loving Australians.
I was made to feel welcome on the Qantas flight and one of the cabin crew brought me three bottles of water and spoke to me in Pidgin English, saying he had grown up in Rabaul.
As soon as I landed at Brisbane International Airport, I saw that Australia was beautiful. I also saw that the people were humble and kind. The coach driver was very helpful. He handled our bags with care and spoke to us with kind words as we travelled to Noosa.
A lady in Noosa offered to take my photo in front of the Noosa Blue Resort where we stayed. She told me her dad had fought in New Guinea during the war and that she was happy to meet me.
In Noosa, I saw clean streets, beautiful parks and even a lady walking her dog in a public place in Noosa and picking up its excrement using a plastic bag and dumping it in a rubbish bin provided by the Noosa Council.
Australians know how to enjoy life. They have created heaven on earth and I think many of them will go to heaven. They are so kind, happy and willing to help each other.
I think they live less stressful lives and that’s why they live longer. I could not believe that Professor Ken McKinnon, our Sydney host, was 85. I am sure he and his lovely wife, Sue, will live to be 100 and I told him so in his apartment where we had dinner with two other guests.
He took us to his secret place, a small beach where he swims every morning and has been doing this for many years. I wish buai [betel nut] chewing, cigarette smoking, boozing Papua New Guineans would follow his example and learn to live quality lives. I think lifestyle diseases are destroying many of our people in PNG.
I went into many Australian homes in Noosa and elsewhere, ate with families and shared jokes with those who could speak Pidgin. I sensed that I was accepted as I was – an illiterate woman from a remote province up in the highlands of PNG who was on her first trip overseas.
If I struggled with my fork and knife and ate with my hands, they didn’t seem to mind or notice. These gestures comforted me. I mixed with them as if I had known them before.
Something I noticed in the shops, train stations, hotels and public transport systems is that everywhere there were people ready to help.
I went shopping on my own in Brisbane and Sydney and, when people realised I was new to the place and gave only one word answers, they simplified everything for me. I was able to understand much better and felt at ease.
The streets are designed with everybody in mind – the mother with a baby in a pram, the old men, a person in a wheelchair. That’s why we were able to take our wheelchair writer Francis Nii to many interesting locations.
I wish our towns and cities in PNG could be designed in such a manner so people can enjoy themselves. Francis Nii was even booked into hotel rooms, like at Noosa Blue, especially designed for wheelchair guests.
I will take many memories with me back to PNG but the one that stands out is me standing beside my husband to give presents at the Jackson’s home in Noosaville to many Australian friends.
I am a mother of five children and what I will do now is to encourage my children to read and write more.
I know the problems my children’s schools face – no libraries, no books, no properly trained English teachers and so on but, despite the odds, it is my duty as a parent to encourage them to read and write more.
And maybe one day they can follow in the footsteps of their illiterate mother to Australia.
