IN MY COUNTRY

By Daniel Kumbon

In my country there are many different cultural groups speaking over 800 different languages

Four of us from three regions of PNG waited for another person interested also in books and how important it is for school children

Caroline, her husband and two children from Oro, Betty from Hela and me from Enga waited but decided to leave after an hour for he is a busy man too

Cr Paul Kurai called me 15 minutes later to say he was nearly there, where we had been at VC

I am just as happy I was able to introduce Caroline’s small reading book ‘In My Country’ on my own.

The book is one of many children’s books Caroline has published, a book I instantly felt was suitable for Grade 1, 2 & 3 pupils in Elementary Schools

I would have liked Caroline, her husband and Betty to meet Cr Paul Kurai

For he is also interested in books and the education of all children in PNG

He has published his own autobiography and established Kurai Memorial Primary School In memory of his father who had been a Councilor and paramount chief on ‘The Ridge’ at Kaiap in Wabag

We might meet Cr Paul Kurai in the next couple of days as we wait for a chance to present a petition to Prime Minister James Marape to get the government to recognize literature as a tool to develop PNG

‘In my country, you will find lots of fresh food’ is a sentence taken from Caroline’s reading book - In My Country

So, Cr Kurai, his wife, a family friend and myself hit the Magi Highway where we indeed found lots of fresh food for sale and ‘kulau’s to quench our thirsts.