cleaninglady

I must be looking a soft touch because yesterday my house meri (cleaning lady) asked me for 100 kina to fix her roof which was leaking. I was more than taken aback - I was angry. She is on the best wage of all the house meri's that I am aware of - I inherited the rate - 40 kina a week for two mornings work - does the washing, ironing, cleaning dishes and sweeping. The security guard is on 80 kina a week for 7days a week 12 hours a day and he asks for nothing and even brings pawpaw and beans to me and doesn't ask for money. I would give to him because h e is so humble. He has the most delightful little girls and they all go to school - a lot of children do not go to school because they cannot afford the fees of 200kina per annum. But back to the house meri. Apparently I am supposed to help out but I told her I was a volunteer and I did not have spare 100 kinas. I think a lot of people associate any wait man (white man) with having money and do not distinguish between the do-gooders who live on the smell of an oily rag and the volunteers like myself who are on local wages and the contractors who are on ex-patriot rates. I always buy the bus fare for the people like the ones the other day who helped me at Eriku and I brought back books and pencils for the little ones of the security guard. But the house meri is already on a good thing. She does a very good job and she is paid for it. But there should be no reason why people need to ask for extra. PNG as a friend told me is a lump of gold floating on a barrel of oil in the middle of the fertile crescent -so to speak. You plant here and it grows. Tomatoes don't grow well in the humidity but everything else - potatoes, pineapple, pawpaws coconuts, peanuts, etc. Except for the grain crops - wheat, barley etc. Mismanagement by the responsible authorities of PNG should not be a reason for me to dip into my savings. They ought to take up their problems with the politicians. More of them need to take a moral stand. I see corruption myself but not being a national I cannot do anything about it. Call me a moral coward but I am making up for it in doing the good I am doing in my capacity as a volunteer. I'm not normally a utilitarian - greater good by being here than not being here and that sort of thing but in the short term I think that is the case until I work out another plan.