Scriam aici despre lansarea actiunii Uniti sub tricolor sustinuta de Noii Golani. Luni seara in B52, pe undeva prin zona Cismigiu este lansat si cd-ul si se sarbatoreste cu un concert la care participa Bitza, Dagga sau Grupul de rezistenta. Daca nu v-ati rezervat deja cd-ul, face 10 lei la intrare. Spuneam si acum o vreme ca banii stransi sunt destinati unui liceu din Basarabia, mai exact Lucian Blaga.

Dupa concert oamenii se duc in Chisinau pt. a sarbatorii Ziua Nationala a Romaniei. Eu nu am pasaport si nu stau superb financiar sa imi fac la urgent, asa ca nu va bazati si pe mine, dar cred ca o sa fie super.

Ne vedem la concert ?

Keri feat. Butch-Valea tatilor

Piesa dedicata minerilor,care lucreaza cu adevarat din greu si stiu ce inseamna o viata grea si un salar de nimic,lucru pe care il simt mai ales familiile lor.

Eräät Mpumalangan provinssin asukkaista haluaisivat nähdä hallituksen laillistavan daggan (kannabiksen) vuoden 2010 jalkapallon MM-kisoja katsomaan tulevien turistien iloksi.

Bushbuckridgeläinen musiikintuottaja Jerry Hlatshwayo sanoo, että on häiritsevää, kun ihmiset puhuvat vain prostituutiosta, joka oli dekriminalisoitu Saksan vuoden 2006 MM-kisoissa kisaturistien suureksi tyydytykseksi.

“Amsterdamin asukkailla on paikkoja, joissa voi vapaasti poltella, ilman pelkoa pidätyksestä. Täällä Etelä-Afrikassa me laitamme ihmisiä vankilaan vain koska he haluavat olla kosketuksissa luontoon daggan (kannabiksen) kautta”, sanoi suorapuheinen rastafari Mdu Mndawe.

Hlatshwayo sanoi, että vaikkakaan hän ei ole koskaan käyttänyt daggaa, hän on nähnyt kasvin myönteiset vaikutukset muusikoissa, jotka käyttävät sitä osana säveltämistä ja musiikin luomistyötään.

Hän kertoi daggan auttaneen monia muusikoita tulemaan “maestroiksi” omalla alallaan, sen stimuloidessa heidän luovuuttaan, ja nostaen heidät ennen kokemattomiin korkeuksiin.

Luovuutta polttelusta

“Olen luonnollisesti lahjakas, joten en tarvitse ruohoa ollakseni luova. Mutta olen seurannut muiden tulevan luovemmiksi ja luovemmiksi polttelun tuloksena. Olen sitä mieltä että meidän pitäisi laillistaa se turistien takia, jos ei omaksi hyödyksemme”, sanoi Hlatshwayo.

Hän sanoi, että alankomaalaisten olisi vaikeaa vierailla maassa, jossa heidän kotimaassaan suvaittu asia on luokiteltu rikolliseksi toiminnaksi. Hän nimitti kannabiksen kriminalisaatiota “institutionalisoiduksi tekopyhyydeksi.”

“Ihmisten sallitaan polttavan savukkeita, vaikka on päivänselvää, että ne ovat tappavia. Miksi laki sallii savukkeet, jotka voivat tappaa esimerkiksi lapsia, jotka eivät itse edes polta, ja kieltää jyrkästi aineen, joka kehittää luovuutta?” Hlatshwayo kysyi.

Hänen mukaansa “on typerää kriminalisoida” prostituution ja kannabiksen kaltaisia asioita.

“Kenenkään muun ei pitäisi päättää juotko tai poltatko sinä. Se on sinun päätöksesi. Tottakai jotkut tulevat käyttämään ruohoa väärin, aivan kuten jotkut autoilijat väärinkäyttävät ajoneuvojaan. Mutta eihän sen takia autolla ajamista säädetä rikolliseksi, vai mitä?” hän kysyi.

Rastafari Mndawe kertoi olevansa ylpeä daggan polttaja, mutta sanoi, että hänen olonsa yritetään saada tuntumaan rikolliselta Etelä-Afrikassa.

“Rastafarit toivottavat tervetulleeksi kaikki toimet ganjan laillistamiseksi ‘Mzansissa’. Yrtti on elämäntapa rastafereille, mutta me tunnemme olevamme kuin orjia, koska meidän täytyy piilotella kun poltamme”, sanoi Mndawe.

Vähennystä huumekauppaan

Mndawe sanoi, että kannabiksen dekriminalisaatio saisi aikaan vähennyksen huumekaupassa, koska ihmiset voisivat kasvattaa omat yrttinsä.

Etelä-Afrikan lakien uudistamiskomissio SALRC on kutsunut kaikki, jotka haluavat daggan lailliseksi, lähestymään heitä.

“Meiltä ei ole tiedusteltu, ei virallisesti eikä kansalaisten taholta, kannabiksen dekriminalisaation mahdollisuutta”, sanoi SALRC:in johtaja Thuli Madonsela.

Naispuolisen johtajan Madonselan mukaan mikäli yksityinen kansalainen pyytäisi heitä tutkimaan asiaa, komissio punnitsisi ensin kyseisen tutkimuksen arvoa, ja pyytäisi oikeusministeriön ja perustuslakielinten hyväksyntää.

“Ministeri sisällyttäisi sitten tämän asian tutkimisen ministeriön ohjelmaan. Jos se sallittaisiin, tarkastelisi se lukuisia tekijöitä, kuten dekriminalisaation ihmisoikeusvaikutuksia, ja neuvoisi hallitusta tulosten perusteella”, sanoi Madonsela.

Lähde:

http://www.news24.com/Content/Entertainment/SouthAfrica/1043/0de3f9a1a6e54e168ab51d07dde6796e/08-06-2009%2004-06/Legalise_it_-_says_producer

Duminica 7 iunie ‘09 sa lansat in club Suburbia mult asteptatul album de debut al lui Keri – The Beat Bandit, mezinul Hadesului.

Invitati :
Raku (Zale), Butch, Nimeni Altu’, Veritasaga, Dj Undoo, Rashid (C.I.A.), Dagga, Rimaru, KST, Cumicu, Axes, Funktastics, Walhalla, Boogie, Dedey, cu warmup-ul asigurat de Dj Limun.

2002 – M-am apucat de beatmaking , evident eșecuri peste eșecuri… mult prea multe eșecuri.
2003 – Puțin progres, nu mare lucru însă am perseverat în pofida resurselor limitate.
2004 – Întalnirea cu eTas și descoperirea samplingului au îmbunătățit considerabil trackurile perioadei.
2005 – Am făcut schimbarea de la beatmaking la producție. Activitate destul de subterană, oarecum locală. Am simțit nevoia să-mi restrang expunerea pană în punctul în care am ajuns la nivelul dorit.
2006 – An activ. Întalnirea cu Fab (Blacas, Jde) a adus la formarea Mamaya Records împreună cu Dedey, eTas, Fab. Mult material nelansat însă practica a dus la progres general. Tot în 2006 am caștigat primul concurs (cred) de producție organizat de Hades Records urmat de al 2-lea rezultând la colaborarea cu diverși artiști de la diverse labeluri.
2007 – Anul în care s-a format o legatură strânsă cu Butch (Hades). Mi s-a propus să devin membru oficial al labelului, oportunitate de neratat. În urma feedbackului general, necesitatea apariției unui material oficial de producție a devenit evidentă – astfel luând naștere conceptul de “The Beat Bandit”.
2008 – Activitate intensă din punct de vedere al colaborărilor. De asemenea s-a format un tracklist inițial al “banditului” ce a suferit multiple amânări datorate modificărilor de componență însa materialul a început a lua formă.
2009 – Muncă intensă la material alături de Dj Undoo (mix master și sprijin), Butch, Koma & Kombat. Țin să le mulțumesc pe această cale. A urmat un clip de promovare la piesa “Keri FM” alături de Funktastics și Boogie.
Materialul este în curs de finalizare acesta urmând să fie lansat în luna Mai, având urmatorii invitați: Supastition, Cesar Comanche, Dj Waxwork, Raku, Nimeni Altu.., Butch, Dagga, Veritasaga,Rimaru, Cumicu , Rashid, Axes, Dj Undoo, Dj Faibo X, Funktastics, KST, Destruct, Walhalla, Dedey, Boogie și Kioru. Avem instaurate de asemenea surprize pe viitor.

Yesterday morning was filled with excitement as we were scheduled to minister to a group of young people that are faced with many of the same issues all of today’s youth are faced with. In addition to the pressures of just living in today’s world, drugs are being shoved at this young people as a solution to all their problems. Drugs, as they soon find out, are not a solution to anything but are instead a greater problem with which to deal.

As I was preparing myself to work with these young people I was feeling so blessed and privileged that the team and I had been given the opportunity to speak to and steer yet another group of youngsters to the right path.

Bradley, Clinton and Dylan (the guys I work with) and I were the team selected to take on this particular task. Our plan was to run a program consisting of a number of activities designed to both serve as ice breakers and to demonstrate the importance of teamwork. We would then base or talks around these particular activities. This is what the program looked like:

Introduction – Bradley Naidoo

Talk on Honoring – Brent Williams

Talk on Mentors – Dylan Liversage

Talk on Obedience – Clinton Liederman

Talk on Choices – Bradley Naidoo

Everything went well during the open gathering and we got a good response from the crowd. We then decided to break up into smaller groups according to age and hear from the youth regarding what they are facing on a daily basis.

One young boy in my group shared that he is offered drugs on a daily basis at school. Rather than go for the hard drugs he opted to smoke “soft drugs” like dagga (weed) so that he wouldn’t feel left out of what others were doing.

On the subject of relationships one of the guys said that his girlfriend gives him a lot of stress. He shared that it hard to handle and shared with us that he goes often to drink beer after a stressful encounter with her. He told us it relieves his stress.

One of the guys said he was once forced to smoke methamphetamine (speed) with the older guys he was hanging out with. They locked the door and threatened him and his friend with harm if they didn’t smoke the speed.

I could see clearly that these young people need to learn coping skills and that when faced with these life stresses they need to be encouraged to go to one of their teachers to get help in dealing with it and talk it through. We, here at the Center can be helpful to them if they are willing to come to us and accept our help.

These are but a few cases and a few examples of what our young people face out there today. It’s tough for young people today and we need to be there for them with love, not judgment. The idea is to give them the tools to keep them from messing up, but if they do mess up we must be there to offer a helping hand. The young people of today are the future of this world so we need to protect and teach them the proper way. I love working with youth and I thank God that He has placed me within an organization that does this type of work.

Sending a big thank you to the Impact Team and especially our group leader, Bradley Naidoo…you guys are an inspiration to me

Motto: -

Style: hip-hop

Band:

• Butch
• Ghismo
• DJ Undoo
• Ozo

About:

• Dagga este o trupa de succes din underground-ul romanesc.  Iau parte la mai toate evenimentele mari de hip-hop si underground. Ne plac, mergem sa ii vedem. Ii ascultam. Si mai nou ii si promovam. Bafta multa in continuare le dorim si la cat mai multe evnimente. Au avut concerte alaturi de alte nume mari din Romania, precum Veritasaga, Secta, Nasta, Spike, Tranda, Nimeni altu’, Interzis, Cedri2k, PCC, Coma, Da Hood, Crize, Do Diez si multi multi altii.

MySpace: Dagga

URL official: -

Recent , am inceput sa reascult albumul celor de la Dagga , Inima Tare lansat in 2007 ….. Una dintre cele mai bune piese este ”Pentru”……

Click cover to listen/download via datpiff.com

Yet another volume to the Secret Love mixtape series brought to you by Rock The Nation Sound who, as you know, are on the grind to bring you good reggae vybz 24/7, no days off!

This mixtape is for the cool people out there who love there dancehall and reggae… especially if you’re into the recently banned daggaring songs. The previous volume (14) went against that law and brought plenty of dagga songs, this volume has toned it down a little with more concious songs but volume 16 will be back to its usual dagga tunes for you’re ears ;]

This mixtape will be available off Rock The Nation Sounds myspace page as digital download and possibly a CD copy to add to you’re collection. Visit the page for more info and more mixtapes…

You may have seen the first concept of this cover in a previous post however as i thought, it wasn’t reggae enough so we had to switch things up a little and loose all the fishys lol. Now the main colors are yellow, red, green and blue, more reggae eh :] I left the text and logos to look like they were under water because it would look a little wierd and lose its concept if they were above the water..

Din pacate va trebui sa va multumiti doar cu o serie de cateva poze , filmarea din pacate este decat pe Vimeo , iar WordPress nu suporta link de Vimeo decat prin intermediul VodPod (unde nu este) .

Considerat de New York Times drept cel mai bun DJ din istorie, colaborând cu numeroase nume sonore ale hip-hop-ului internaţional , Dj Premier (NY) a ajuns la Bucuresti unde cu aceasta ocazie , cei care au fost prezenti au putut auzi piese de pe cel mai nou material semnat Dj Premier – Beats That Collected Dust , pe scena au mai fost Blaq Poet ( Screwball/NY) , Zale si DAGGA .

Via: UZR .

dupa cum se poate vedea si pe afisul de mai sus, in 28 martie cei de la dagga isi lanseaza albumul inima tare in club jazz din timisoara. o sa incerc sa ajung si eu. ne vedem acolo

Vandag het ek en my man vir die eerste keer die jaar vir seun gaan kuier in die tronk.

Ek het die laaste twee maande nie vir hom gaan kuier nie omdat ek in die laaste ruk nie reg gevoel het om te gaan nie. Miskien was dit die wete dat hy nog steeds dagga rook. Miskien wou ek hom net nie sien nie. Miskien….. ek weet nie. Maar al wat ek weet is dat ek baie bly is dat ons vandag gegaan het.

Gister toe hy my bel en vra of ons kom kon ek hom nie ‘n antwoord gee nie. Hy het gevra as ons dalk kom of ons asseblief vir Zeethan kan saambring maar ek sê toe nee, hy het bietjie vakansie gaan hou by die see saam met sy sus en haar verloofde.

Ons het lekker gekuier maar so tussen deur sien ek dat sy tande nog steeds sleg lyk. Hy sê toe dat hulle hom nog nie gestuur het nie, en hy kla toe ook dat sy oog baie seer is en hulle niks daaroor wil doen nie.  Hy het die 27ste Des in die stort gegly nadat hy ‘n blackout gehad het, en het ‘n groot gat bokant sy oogbank gehad.  Dit het intussen gesond geword, maar ek is behoorlik boos dat hulle hom nie vir steke gevat het nie.  Nee kyk, al is hy in die tronk, het hy darem seker ook die reg op mediese behandeling.

Net daar klim ek toe op my perdjie en gaan vra dat ek asb die hoof van die tronk kan sien.  Hoekom?  Omdat ek so vra en dit my reg is!  Jis, ek het amper gesê want ek betaal tax…

Sowat 15 minute later kom die hoof van die tronk hospitaal ons toe sien.  Ek verduidelik toe vir hom dat ek sowat 3 maande terug al gevra het dat hulle ‘n vol medies op hom moet laat doen, van niere, lewer, longe, tande, oë, maar dat daar nog steeds niks aan gedoen is nie.  Seun het beslis skade aan sy binnegoed opgedoen (my opinie) en ek wil asseblief die regte behandeling hê vir hom nadat hy ‘n volle evaluasie gehad het.  Eerste op die lys moet sy oog wees, en dan sy tande.  Ek maak toe seun se mond oop en wys vir hom… En kyk sy oog, lyk dit vir hom ok?

Hy het toe vir seun gesê dat hy hom môre moet kom sien en hy sal toesien dat die dokter hom verwys om ‘n volle mediese verslag te kry en die nodige behandeling te gee as dit nodig is.

Toe spreek ek die dagga probleem aan.  Seun rook nog steeds dagga.  Hy sê hy weet hy moet ophou maar dit is orals om hom.  (Dit sê ook vir my dat sy wil nog nie heeltemal sterk genoeg is nie – soos met my rokery!!)

Ek vra toe vir die kaptein…. Hoekom is daar so baie dagga in die tronk?  Hoe word die goed ingebring? Hoe gaan hulle die probleem oplos as daar dan tot van die bewaarders is wat die goed inbring?  Hy kon ons nie eintlik antwoord nie.

Terug by seun…  hy was baie emosioneel vandag… veral oor Zeethan saam met sy suster hulle weg is vir die naweek.  Ek verduidelik toe vir hom dat hy moet onthou dat hulle amper soos ‘n ma en pa is vir hom op die oomblik, en hy kan nie verwag dat hulle hom nie mag oral saamvat nie.  Hy sê toe hy verstaan, maar hy is hartseer oordat dit nie hy is nie, en dit is sy eie skuld.  Ek het toe ook aanstaande skoonseun sê vrese vir hom gesê en dit is dat seun Zeethan van hom gaan af weghou die dag as hy uitkom, en hy moet nou al mooi verstaan dat ek dit nooit ooit sal toelaat nie.  Daar is plek vir almal van ons in sy lewetjie!  Hy moet ook nou al besef dat Zeethan vir altyd by ons gaan bly omdat daar nie ‘n manier is wat ons sy lewetjie oor ‘n jaar of vyf gaan ontwrig nie.

Vandag het hy ons goed vertel wat my hare regop laat rys het.  Hy wou ons eintlik baie meer vertel het maar kon nie alles onthou wat hy wou vertel nie.  Ek het toe weer voorgestel dat soos iets in sy kop kom hy dit moet neerskryf… (Ek sien hy het in die kort briefie wat hy vir ons geskryf het, melding daarvan gemaak.. So lyk my hy begin darem weer goed onthou!) Wie weet, eendag kan ons dalk iemand kry om vir ons ‘n boek te skryf oor sy lewe.  Hy wil graag as hy eendag uitkom by skole en kerke sy verhaal gaan vertel en mense bewus maak wat sal gebeur as jy die euwel goed gebruik.  Miskien kan mens so 20 bladsy boek doen wat ‘n mens by die skole kan uitgee…

Hy het ook die paroolraad gesien Donderdag.  Hy sê dat hy dalk ‘n ekstra ses maande sal moet doen vir sy vorige oortreding wat beteken dat hy dalk eers November sal uitkom.  Hy sê egter dat daar dalk ‘n rede is dat hy langer moet inbly.  In totaal sal dit dan drie jaar wees, waarvan hy die helfte moet doen.  Een van sy parool voorwaardes sal wees dat hulle hom vir drie maande na ‘n rehab toe sal stuur vir die dagga….  (Ek hoop hulle hou by hulle woord)  Een ding waaroor ek vandag baie bly was is dat hy erken het dat hy dit nog steeds rook, en nie vir ons gejok het en gesê het dat hy wel opgehou het net om my te kalmeer nie, omdat hy weet hoe ek oor die sakie voel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mom, Dad and sis….

To start off with my problem the (THC) one.  This place is really full of it, and I really want to stop with all my soul.  I am clean of all the other drugs for almost 1 year!!

ZEETHAN, only now I have  realized the importance I play in his life!  My love, faith has grown to a large amount.  Please read Psalms 23 for him, the role I should play as well.

I have gone through this for a reason and not for nothing  (*** I did not forget about my life story…)

For the first time I feel like myself.  Thank you for the support all the way, dom om dit nie te verstaan het van die begin af nie.  But I got it with love from all of you!

Because faith allows it, we are so blessed,  specific all of you!

Once again sorry, I was lost, but now I am found!  My spirit is almost one again, because I want to!

Love is great!

Thanks…

Yours M…

A Family that prays stay together – forever!!

By the time we got back to Arigip I was limping heavily and in some pain from the sprained ankle that I sustained on the way down the mountain. So I rested a few days. Then we went on to another village around the base of the mountain. My main host in Arigip asked me to take a bag of rice and a few other supplies to share at that village. I was only too happy to comply.  Arigip had a small store that kept a few food items like canned fish and rice. Mostly it was too expensive for anyone to buy regularly, so it wasn’t strange to think that this would be a good gift from a stranger.

This time we trekked off through the tall Kunai grass. In this photo you see a women with a bilum around her head. You could never tell what was being carried. I think, in this case, it turned out she had a piglet in the bilum. Sometimes it would be a baby. Sometimes food collected from the garden. Even wood for the cooking fire.

Eventually this trail came to the rainforest and we entered in single file. The trail wound through trees in a barely discernible manner. Then it came to a steep dry creek bed and my companions turned down the creek bed. Well, there was no real track here, so if I had to find my way – well, no way.  After some time walking over rough creek rocks, my companions found the exit trail and we went on through the rainforest. We came across the village all of a sudden among the trees. The ground was completely bare. I can’t remember being met but we were ushered into a largish hut in which a number of older men were already sitting, chewing beetle nut. I was show a place to sit against the wall near a doorway to another room. Some younger men came in and also a young woman who sat a little apart but near my end of the group. A young man, maybe 17 years old, sat near to me. He spoke a few words of english and made clear he would translate, as we didn’t have another English speaker with me.

However my translator was quite weak in English (not surprising, I was more surprised he spok any English at all). He asked me, “Do you have some food.” I said “yes” and immediately took the rice, canned fish, and tea out of my backpack. The young woman set to and put the whole rice on the boil.  Still it was a very slow meeting as we waited for the rice to boil but as soon as it was ready, everyone stopped and shared out some rice and fish. There was not much lunchtime conversation. Then everyone had tea.

At one stage, there was a brief conversation between one of the old men and the young woman which ended with the young woman standing up and facing me. The lad said, “She wants to go into that room behind you” I nodded, not taking much notice. She stood there. He repeated his comment. Then it dawned that she wouldn’t walk in front of me to go there, so I got up and moved away so she could go in. Later she came out with something (I can’t remember what) and we did the same little ritual.

Then, all of a sudden, a shout went up from outside, and all the men got up and grabbed spears and bows and arrows and ran out. I was left sitting in the hut with the young woman. Out of surprise I said out loud to myself, “Where did everyone go?” To which the young woman said, in very clear English, “There is a pig that has been coming down the montain and destroying our gardens. They saw the pig and everyone has gone out to catch it.” I was a bit gob smacked. Her english was much better than the young lad. I asked her a hundred questions. She explained that she had done a few years of highschool on the coast and learnt English. The young lad was her brother. The pig was from a village up the mountain and had got away. It had destroyed all their gardens and that was about 6 months food supply. They had been very hungry. I was quite aghast at this. It brought home to me how precarious was such a life, not at all idyllic. And it occurred to me that what I had though was a laid back quietness in the village, was probably lethargy from lack of nutrition. The only way they would eat is if a close relative was married to a person in another village, and then they would send some food across every now and then. But this was limited when everyone was living hand to mouth.

Slowly the men came back to the hut. They had not caught the pig. However they seemed more animated and spoke with more purpose. I asked the young woman to help her brother with translation and discussion went well then. After the general conversation about the Baha’i Faith and some other things, the surprise question came. I say surprise, because in Australia, these questions were more theoretical, but here they were fully about how they would govern their social lives in a practical way. The surprise question started with the statement, “We are very angry. One of the men has run away to the coast with one of the women who was another man’s wife. What should we do about them?” An unmarried young Australian is hardly the best person to be asking advice of such sorts, but I think I managed to have a discussion about Baha’i law on marriage, divorce, but I don’t think they were adequately satisfied that there was no firm punishment for the perpetrators. Perhaps I recommended they write to the National Assembly for advice.

We didn’t stay in that village even for one night because hospitality on their part would have been too great a strain. Late in the afternoon we walked our way back along the creek. I had no hope of finding the trail again. Yet we were soon back in Arigip.

Following the confrontation with the Marxist group, the next morning we walked on further down the mountain into the plains area again. When we arrived at the next village, we were invited directly to lunch. The difference with this lunch was that it was held at a table, although we still sat on the floor.  And the lunch consisted of muddy river fish (very small) boiled in a wrap of ‘cabbage’ leave ( a leave of a particular tree), rather than just yam. So it turned out they had prepared this special dish for our group, and it wasn’t a regular type of meal. The fish must have been very difficult to catch.

After lunch we met with the villagers and talked about the Baha’i Faith. While we were sitting out on mats talking, of a sudden a call went up and a group of men dressed in full warrior regalia, spears and head-dress, marched into the village, in formation. My immediate thought was that this might not be good. However, my hosts seemed unperturbed and went to talk to those warriors in quite a formal manner. After a while, they came back to where we were sitting and said that this was the chiefs of a nearby village and they had heard that we were in this village, so they had come to make an official meeting.  Because they were in another village, they planted a peace spear, and then came over and sat on the mats across from us.

I was asked to tell about the Baha’i Faith and delivered a now, well worn description of Baha’u'llah, His Station, the 12 principles of the Faith, and an outline of the administrative order. When I finished, the chiefs asked what the Baha’i Faith would give to the village if they became Baha’is.  This was a surprising concept. I hadn’t thought that religious membership might be negotiated. However I quickly realised that, it might, indeed, be the process local people had found useful in working with Christian churches. Maybe it just went with the sense of negotiating beneficial allegiances. Gearing myself for a forceful rejection, I advised the chiefs that the Baha’i Faith wasn’t going to give them anything. The Baha’i Faith was a religion that was run by its members. There are no priests. Members elect a council (Spiritual Assembly) to look after the religious life which means they could also decide what the important needs for their community eg should they build a school, how would they do this. This conversation then became quite detailed about the interaction between the Local and National governance in order to improve the community. The way they might make decisions from the social principles of the Baha’i Faith. Finally the chiefs confered briefly and then said to me that it is all good and they like to write all the names of their village as Baha’is. This they went on to do, and eventually, when I went back to Port Moresby, I took this list to someone I knew would get it to the National Administration.

Then the chiefs and warriors got up and with another round of formalities, took up their peace spear and left. As memory serves, our group also left that afternoon as it was only a few hour walk back to the village we started.

I got no money still and no job. They want to repo my car and no one wants to help me. My parents are prepared to watch them take my car away. When my brother had the same situation they helped him out, but cos he was a drug addict and all thats left of his car now is a shell i have to suffer. I know this is a temporary thing in my life and things will get better.

My husband is high on dagga most of the time he is around me. This makes my life very lonely cos i know im talking to a drug addict and not my husband.

Life is very stressful and not much fun. I am now 32 weeks pregnant and can’t wait to have my baby so that i can get my life back on track with a job and get myself out of this hole.

This evening my husband came home from work as high as ever and took my healthy food out the fridge and promptly ate it and said thanks for thinking of me. He then climbed onto the bed and passed out.

On saturday is my baby shower and i really can’t wait for it. Im hoping to get the stuff that the baby really needs cos we all know my husband isn’t going to be helping with that.

Four of us walked down the other side of the mountain. I am still disappointed that I lost my film of this part of the trek. In fact I lost two of three rolls I took in PNG during this visit. The other roll was of the Highlands. The first part of our walk that day was across a narrow ridge. The clouds drifted past at our level. The rainforest trees were thick with mosses. When the path took a downward direction, it was very uneven and rooted. I sprained my ankle about three quarter way down. It slowed me down but didn’t seem to bad, although I carried the soreness for another week.

Finally we the path started to flatten out and showed signs of more regular wear so I knew we were close to another village. Soon we came across a couple of fresh graves on the side of the road. The other men spoke briefly and then the translator told me, those graves are two youth who committed suicide after being told they couldn’t court. I felt sad for them. We said a prayer by the graves. Although outwardly quite peaceful in these villages, there were signs of the relationship problems that pursue people everywhere in the world. Signs that speak to our commonness as human being, a commonness of struggle to find a path through life.

Then we came upon the village of our destination. The translator told me that half of this village had accepted Baha’u'llah as the Manifestation of God, and half had not, keeping to the Anglican church. Within walking distance of this village was a town with a church and minister. We were met by a man who directed us to his hut. I put my pack down and waited while the others went through the village talking to people. Eventually a group started to gather with mats to lay on the ground. We sat around and began talking about Baha’i teachings.

Not long after we started, we were interrupted by a noisy group of people entering the village from the other end. Then we saw a group of men with bush knives walking determinedly towards us. Everyone stayed seated and the group came up to us. A couple of the men at the head of the group began shouted questions. It was obvious we couldn’t carry on with our discussion. There was some responses from the group sitting around. One of the new group, a very large man, walked around and sat on the mats and conversed quietly with some of the others. One of our group stood up to talk direct with the man who was obviously the leader. I decided to stand up with him. That leader asked me in english who I was and what I was doing here. As I started to respond, he shouted at me that he didn’t care about that, and some other remarks. As I was listening to his tirade which included telling me to get out of PNG, white people weren’t wanted here, etc etc., another group of people with ministers of the church at the head came into the village, and took up a position on the groun, under a tree not far from us. They didn’t seem interested in becoming involved but I certainly felt the heat of their scrutiny, perhaps more than the heat of the veiled threats from what I was now informed by its leader, the marxist group. After a while the local people, perhaps dismayed at the groups attack on me and their attack on the Faith, began to argue more vigorously with them. At this point I returned to sit on the mat to minimise any escalation of argument that might become centred about myself.

As I couldn’t understand what was being said during the argument, I began looking around at the group. I noticed that the large man who had entered with the Marxists was now involved in the argument in support of the Baha’i group. As I began taking some interest in the church group which had in it a white man in minister’s clothing, this minister beckoned my over to their group. I went over and he offered me water which I took. We had some small talk about our respective backgrounds. He was an Australian as well. Then he said, “The villages shouldn’t be divided by religion. They should all be one thing or the other. Perhaps they should all be Baha’i or all be (Christian). Perhaps we should make a decision about that.” I must admit I was a bit confounded by this. I had known that the Christian churches had divided Papua New Guinea into jurisdictions, but I didn’t realise the idea was so matter of fact, that it might be raised with a young man (myself) without reference to my credentials. Of course I had no authority to make any decisions on behalf of the Baha’i Faith, so I replied to this fact but also that Baha’u'llah taught that faith was an individual choice, “For the faith of no man can be conditioned by any one except himself.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 143).

After a while I left the church group and went back to sit with the arguing groups. By now it seemed that the arguments had developed a pragmatic less vigorous tone. However there was no indication that it was coming to any conclusion and in anticipation of a long afternoon, with some thought that maybe the removal of my presence might relax things further, I went into my host’s hut which was directly next to the groups. Here I stayed until the argument concluded and the groups dispersed.

Later I heard that news had reached the nearby town that I was in the vicinity. The marxist leader was a schoolteacher in that town who had political aspirations. The large man was a Baha’i who lived in the town. When he heard that the marxist group was planning to go to the village when I arrived there, he decided to tag along with them, for support and protection. I think the church group also heard I was in the district and they had followed the marxist group at a discrete distance. Perhaps they also intended their presence as protection. Of the argument, nothing had been resolved except that nothing had become particularly rancorous. On the way out of the village, and going to the next village further away from town again, I noticed a tractor. I asked if it was good to have a tractor here. I was told it was very helpful when it first arrived to haul some goods from the sea port (50 kilometres away) but it now didn’t work. If anything breaks down it can’t be fixed, not even the battery replaced. In first world towns we often take for granted the access to the very many inter-related products and services that have to be brought together to make a modern technical world functional.

Post script to this story. Several years later i had become friends with an american Baha’i who went to live in Alotau, Milne Bay. He got to know a lot of people in Alotau, and the Baha’is of Dagga. One year he rang me from Alotau. He said, “do you remember P (my tranlator)”. I said, “of course”. “Well, he asked me whether you remembered the day the Marxists confronted you in Dagga.” Again I said, “of course.” “Well P was telling me that the Marxist schoolteacher who was leading the mob, is the current member of parliament and lives in Alotau. In fact, we know him and he is very amicable towards the Baha’is. P says he is also very friendly to the Baha’is when he is in Dagga.” So life goes on, people accept new things, especially with an eye on peace and progress. I wonder where he is now.

The highest village in the Dagga language group made for a cold november. The sunny days were quite mild. The man who met me at the previous village, to accompany me as a translator was not a local from Dagga, but rather the husband of a schoolteacher who had come there.  You will notice in the flickr photos, he has a bright blue tracksuit top.

This village had a large central grassed ’square’. When we arrived, we walked straight on through, hearing a few shouted voices from within huts.  It was common to hear shouted voices either from within huts or from outside. They were not voices of anger, but voices of messaging. As it came to be often translated, this was the efficient method people would relay information about needs, decisions. So, at what seemed to me like any time of day, a loud voice would be heard. When I asked the translator, “What is he shouting about?” I would be told something like, “Oh he says that a hut is being erected for a person, and men are needed to cut down trees for posts, tomorrow.” and then replies and questions would issue forth from huts.In this case, as people saw us enter, they simply shouted that we were here, that to go and put things down and then come back and meet the chiefs.

So we left the main square of the village and crossed a small stream to a large grassed paddock. To the left side of the paddock was a large hut with broken panels. On a slope from it was a yam garden. Across the paddock, was the translator’s hut. As we crossed the stream we heard a child’s voice calling out. As I looked toward the voice, I saw a child perhaps 3 years old, coming down the steps from the hut. As she got to the bottom of the stairs and began running toward us, the translator said proudly and happlily, “this is my daughter”. Then a strange thing happened. As she was running towards us, she suddenly stopped running and calling. Then she started calling againg in a strident voice. Then she ran two steps forward, calling to us as if for help, then she ran back a little, and continued so that she began making circles. By this time she was quite keening in her cry.  Perhaps, then, her mother called for her, as she then turned and ran back into the hut. I asked, ” what happened?” My translator said, “Oh, she hasn’t seen a white man before. She got frightened. She wanted to come to me for safety but I was with you so she got confused.” It reminded me that nine or ten years without a white person meant that anyone under 12 probably wouldn’t remember or wouldn’t have seen a white person. And without books, no way to show what one might look like or tell stories. Of course the stories they had about ‘different’ people weren’t that good for children.  Nonetheless, I think she almost got used to me during the few days I was there.

And a few days it had to be. Once we set down and had some yam for lunch, we went back to the main village to meet the village. First we met with some chiefs in a hut. Here they told us that they had organised a Feast with a few of the nearby villages. A feast meant that these villages would all come with a pig and hauling yams. Then they would spend the afternoon slaughtering the pigs and butchering the meat. The men particularly would get prepared for traditional dancing. Then they would cook the meat and share it and the yams out into portions according to families. Then, by village, there would be a ‘dance off’ in teams of dancers with drums (kundus). They would all have a large meal during the dancing, with families keeping a portion of the cooked pork for the next day (maybe longer).

During the afternoon, I went to a few huts to have conversations about the Baha’i Faith with groups of people. In one of these huts, a man about 30 years of age, spoke to me in very clear English, asking me where I was from? Did I know Melbourne? “No I had never been” “I like Melbourne”, he said, “better than Frankfurt.” I think since I have never heard comments  that caused such a dissonance for comprehension. The voice in my head was reflecting, ‘yes he is speaking very clear english, yes he did say Melbourne, and, it did seem that he was talking about Frankfurt, ?Germany. “How do you know these places?” I asked.  And so he told me of being a merchant seaman and the routes he had travelled, cities he had seen. And that know he was homesick and needed a rest so he came bnack to Dagga, where the company can’t find me. “But people here are quite ignorant, so it is hard to stay for long.” I though he was a little harsh in his comments about his ‘onetalks’ but looking back I suppose he was just telling it as he experienced a life on both sides of two vastly different worlds. He wasn’t so interested in the Faith, and was committed to alcohol, cigarettes and perhaps other enticements of a seaman’s life.  Yet he was not hostile towards the idea of the Faith, perhaps with the pragmatic view that it might help the progress of the people.

In another hut, I met with what I found out were members of the elected Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i Faith. See here, for information about the administrative order of the Baha’i Faith. I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of women sitting in this group. We spoke about a number of things to do with Baha’i principles, elections, the work of the Spiritual Assembly including socio-economic development. Then, in a sedate manner that I didn’t see coming, I was asked, “so if the Spiritual Assembly can make all the decisions with the community, what do we do with the chiefs?”  I was far too nervous and felt far to young to provide the flippant responses that comes to my mind’s bidding today. I remembered Baha’u'llah’s teachings on Kings, so I referred these to them, “”Erelong will God make manifest on earth kings who will recline on the couches of justice, and will rule amongst men even as they rule their own selves. They, indeed, are among the choicest of My creatures in the entire creation.” (Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 73), and suggested that they consult with the chiefs on the role that the chiefs would now play. I never heard how such a question has played out.

Later, once the feast had begun and the drums and dancers were in full swing, a few of the chiefs came to me with a gift of a ‘peace’ bilum. They told me whenever villages come together for a feast they would first plant this bag on a spear in the square and that would be a sign that there are no aggressions while the peace bag was standing there. It seemed they were saying that they no longer had need for the peace bilum to be set up, for now they were always at peace with each other. I still have the bilum hanging in my cupboard and it reminds me of the mission for world peace, how easy it is forged in some cases, how immensely difficult in others.

The drums played on all night. I went to the hut to sleep much earlier than most of the village (yes I know, party pooper). It was freezing. I wore my tracksuit and two pair of football socks and in my sleeping bag and was still cold. I woke to see a few people sleeping around the fire, but many young people just sleeping in skimpy clothing on the dew laden grass. Perhaps they had a good dose of ‘beetle-nut’ to get them though the night.  I understood from them that some ‘beetle-nut’ was just taste but some types would make a new taker fall down.

Slowly our hut came to life, and, after some breakfast of yams, we went off down the other side of the mountain.