This September Wantoks and friends around the world will be celebrating 40 years of Papua New Guinean independence. It's obviously a significant time for all those who have links to PNG but my British family are also linked to this in a surprising way.
Forty years ago my Dad (and for a time, my Uncle) were taking part in a caving expedition to West Sepik (or Sandaun) Province. I will write more about this at another time as it was a record-breaking trip at the extreme limits of world caving. Despite the significance of the trip, all the expedition team returned to the town of Telefomin to watch the tribes from around the area gather to celebrate independence. They had a cameraman called Sid Perou who was documenting the trip and he captured these scenes from the day. (Warning: Contains scenes of animal slaughter)
As a Papua-phile (or should that be New Guinea-phile?) I follow various Wantok and PNG groups in the UK and recently I decided to look into whether there were any celebrations planned in Britain. I expected to find some London-based events and was fully prepared to consider a trip to the capital if my budget allowed.
You might imagine my surprise when I found that the main celebration event in the UK this year is happening at Headingley stadium, which is practically on my doorstep in Leeds. This sort of coincidence shouldn't really be ignored, so I bought tickets for me and my parents too. We may not be Papua New Guinean, but we're still really looking forward to this party!
If you're interested in attending the event on 19th September 2015, please visit www.png40.info for more information.
