To celebrate our coming of age, a small group of our global kinship partners from Papua New Guinea were our guests in Lawshall for the first three weeks of July. The programme was an exchange of cultural learning and skills on both sides - with the building of a traditional rainforest Hauswin (Wind House) as the focus for the first 2 weeks. This used materials from our own community woodland, Forest for Our Children, and was opened with a Sepik singsing (a traditional blessing).

This special Cultural Exchange Visit took a huge amount of planning and organisation and was led by Kaku Yafei, Chief of the Eagle Clan, who came to plant our millennium yew in 2000.   Travelling with him this time were 4 villagers from two different language groups: Maui Wapio and Pamila Wahiyu from the Bahinemo tribe; Raymond John and Vero Wipu from the Berinemo tribe. 

The last week focused on addressing and trying to understand the complex issue of Carbon Trading which has recently swept through their great forest of the Hunstein Range. The ideal is wonderful - that indigenous peoples should be rewarded for guarding their precious ecosystems. But outsiders seem to be trying to take 'short cuts' before appropriate legislation and safeguards are in place for much work still has to be done for such a scheme to operate successfully.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to our visitors for all they have shared and taught us and we will continue with new vigour to keep the rope of friendship tight between our two very different cultures and environment.

Completed Wind House	Opening Celebration

 

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR A TASTER CLIP from the forthcoming documentary of the visit.

Here's a 10 minute video taken in December 2009 showing the Hunstein Range people preparing for the trip.

IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development) have committed a generous grant towards the visit.