Sir, - In the past few days we have short received short news bulletins about the devastation wreaked by a tidal wave on the north-west coast of Papua New Guinea. The death toll has risen dramatically from 1,000 to 3,000, now believed to be mostly children. However, statistics fail to capture the depth of this tragedy and words such as "harrowing" and "carnage" seem limited. Papua New Guinea was my home for three-and-a-half years between 1987 and 1990, two-anda-half of those spent in the village of Sissano, which has been so dramatically washed away. Regularly, I marvelled at the beauty of my surroundings, the magnificence of the blue sea and the serenity of women, men and children fishing on the lagoon - a lagoon that is now filled with their bodies. The villagers' openness and warmth made me feel welcome in Sissano the moment I arrived. Now, with great sadness I recall the children lined up behind the small plane on the airstrip so that they could enjoy the gust of air from the engines as it took off. Sissano was my home and also a place where the people taught me to look afresh at my values and beliefs, to cope in isolated circumstances, and to utilise and respect what nature gives. They respected nature, using what it provided and never wasting its gifts. As a midwife, I delivered many of their children in small huts and intimately shared in the lives of the villagers as well as relying on their hospitality when visiting isolated villages. The characteristics which stood out for me in the many people I befriended was their warmth, generosity, resilience, sense of humour and fun. Spending much time in isolated villages, working alongside the nurses and health workers of Sissano, Warapu and Arop, I witnessed the hard daily struggle of families to eke out their existence. They struggled continually against malaria, TB and leprosy. The terrain, though beautiful, was harsh and long distances had to be travelled to cultivate their gardens and harvest their staple crop of sago. Yet, in spite of their limited resources, whenever I visited the villages with other nurses we were welcomed, fed and given space on their floors for as long as needed. I remember their efforts to teach me their local languages, so that I could be an honorary "wantok" (clan united by language) and their peals of laughter when I got things so very wrong in early days. The implications of this tragedy are only beginning to dawn. The people of Sissano, Warapu, Arop and Malol have been tragically struck by nature. Gone are a people who were gifted craftsmen and artists. Their canoe and paddle carvings were anthropological treasures and their linguistic richness is renowned. Time and again I have witnessed the resilience of people who have encountered enormous suffering as in Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan. In Papua, it is not a war or manmade famine but a devastating natural disaster and once more a people already struggling to survive are the victims. In Melanesian I say: "Lewa bilong me i hevi tumas long lusim poroman tru bilong me." ("My heart is deeply saddened for having lost many dear friends.") I ask that we reach out in whatever way we can to support these fine people in their time of desperate need over the coming months, when the survivors must cope with their trauma and once again draw upon their resilience and strength to begin life again. - Yours, etc., Margaret O'Mahony,
Faranlee Road,
Cork.
