Welcome to Kapo Island

I am going to show you around my place. It is part of a big country called

Papua New Guinea.

Our houses are built right up to the edge of the sea. The sea is good to us. It gives us fish to eat.

WelcomeDo you know any stories about Jesus being made welcome in a town?

We bathe in the sea every morning.We are good at paddling our dugout canoes.

We sail our canoes to school

Our schoolWe are getting a new classroom because more children are coming to school.

FishingFish is important food for us. We fish using nets, lines or spears.

Fish for breakfast

Fresh waterWe need to bring fresh water from the mainland to the island. A trip by canoe takes about 15 minutes when the sea is calm.

Coconut treesCoconut trees grow all over our island.We collect the coconuts for our families. Coconuts are useful for many things. We use coconuts for food and drink.

Could you do this?

Could you balance these?

The knife is to help split open the hard coconut shells.

Food on our island

We grow ourown food.

We eat banana, taro, and sweet potato – all flavoured with coconut milk.

The pigs are very important for us.

Count to Five

• Listen to John count the shell money to five.Ere Hua Tolu Pange Lima

(Watch video on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/2LK9mG2sBH8 )

Our Catholic church

Our church has special carved posts that represent our ancestors.

We pray here together as a community every day.

TotemsThere are five clans or family groups who live on our island.

Each clan has their own special totem. These are shown as a fish, a bird, a woman, a snake and a woman with a seahorse in a basket.

Close up of a carved totem.

This is a sea bird eating a fish.

Games

We play many games. Emma is skipping.

Two videos of gamesKuruke - Rat game

(Watch video on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/-gE1ypScJN0)

Dokta - Hand slapping game

(Watch video on YouTube at:http://youtu.be/6AGd3UO41MY)

Family meal time

At night we gather and eat together.We cook our food over the fire.

Thanks for visitingour village.

Goodbye! Gutbai!

How do we welcome new people to our place?

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the people of Kapo Island for allowing us to spend a few days with them.

Thank you to Fr Edward Mali, Diocese of Kimbe & Matthias Ire, Caritas Papua New Guinea – Diocese of Kimbe.

Photos by Fr Philip Gibbs Visit September 2012.

www.caritas.org.nz2013