I had to take the truck into town yesterday

and two of the office staff came with me. It was just before midday so I called in at the pie shop across the road and asked the guys if they wanted a pie. "Pie? That's wait-man kai. Us blackfullas can't afford that," they told me. So we had hot pies on the way in. Wait man, black man. There is no racism in the labels. John even told me he was called a red man because the pigmentation in some areas of PNG is so different from the Buka and some other places. On the way back I got some coke and twisties and gave some to the security guards at the gate.
Yesterday there was a sad little boy in the clinic with red blotches his mum told me. I told him I was sicker than him because I had no colouring in my skin. I think as long as we understand we have differences and we don't make socially relevant judgements on the basis of physically or culturally irrelevant characteristics then we can get over any lingering race issues.
Fortunately race does not seem to be an issue in PNG - possibly on account this is an independent country. As far as I know I am just called wait man as an easy way of distinguishing me.