By: Fr. Dave Buenaventura

I’m Fr. Dave Buenaventura, a Salesian of Don Bosco. This is my 5th year in Papua New Guinea.

Warriors
If your were to ask any Filipino working in PNG to describe the highlanders of this country, I bet they would use adjectives like fierce-looking, short-tempered, revengeful, and war loving. Of course these descriptions are exaggerated but even still these highlanders are known as the “warriors of Papua New Guinea.”

Kerowagi
Well, I have just received the assignment to work at Kerowagi, a district in Simbu Province, the heart of the highland provinces and precisely where the warriors dwell.

Simbu People
According to many whom I have spoken with, they say that the Simbu people are much milder in character compared with the other highland peoples, but they can be very destructive if their demands are not met.

Face to Face
I am now face to face with the people whom many fear. When I arrived in Kerowagi Parish last May 26, and celebrated my first solemn Holy Mass for the people, two things struck me. First, their physical appearance. They really look fierce. Many of the men sported long beards and carried in their hand either a bush knife or an axe. I felt threatened by the sight, but I manage to gain my courage when I saw their face light up with friendly smiles when they were told that I was the “BIKPELA MAN” (Big boss) of the technical Training Center that the Salesians of Don Bosco will set up in their District. Second, their ability to pray spontaneously from the heart during the Holy Mass, when it was time for the Prayer of the faithful arrived, women and men came up to the altar and with all simplicity and serenity  poured out their needs to the Lord. Of course, I did not understand what they were saying but you could see from their looks and feel from what you hear that they were dead serious with that they were telling Jesus.

Great Hope
My conclusions with this experience is that if this people, fierce though they might be are able, to pray from the heart because they believe in God, then there is great hope working with and for them.

Youth Problems
Simbu province has a problem with their youth. This is the common belief. I contend, however, that for this particular case, it takes two to cause the problem. The grade 10 graduates (equivalent to the 4th year in the Philippines) are leaving their villages. They migrate to other provinces to look for jobs. Unlikely to get jobs because they lack technical skills, these youth end up in bad company. Consequently, they become a threat to the peace and order of the province where they have settled.

Can’t Go On to the College
But what has caused these young men to leave their province? The first reason is rejection by their parents and relatives who have financed their high school education. In a sense, they have fallen from grace because by failing to go to college, they will not be able to pay back what has been spent to their education. The second reason is the educational system of the country itself. The PNG government is very selective of the students who go to college or higher education of learning. In the year –end assessment of the grade 10 graduates they want to see the two extremes in the students: the failures and the successful   ones. Only one third of all the graduates nation wide are selected to pursue their college studies.

Can Don Bosco Help?
Will our Technical Training Centre bring these young men back to their province? More important, will be able to  instill in then their list self-esteem because they have been labeled as “Failures” in their province? Will they be able to regain their confidence with the conviction that, if given a chance, they too can become useful and productive agents of change in their own province? Your guess is as good as mine. But perhaps I will be able to share some answers in my future communication with MISYON.