Theo's flash-back of 2009 Karkar Awareness

Karkar Island awaits peacefully...

On the clear bright morning of Friday 8th May 2009 twelve of us, all 3rd year degree tourism and hospitality management students of Divine Word University, were on the ‘Elly 2' to Karkar Island.

Lynda, Ruby and Lissendra Wongoto with Elizabeth Goodyear at for  back. Girls on Elly 2 really  taking a pose with cool sunnies getting pumped up to visit Karkar Island.

The ‘Elly 2' is a 23 feet and 225 horse powered speed boat owned by the Goodyear family. 3rd year student Graham Paulus from the highlands and I stood at the boat's bow, thrilled with excitement as our boat soared over the waves aimed towards the island.

On Elly 2...

The sea was calm as we sped past our other group of classmates who had travelled earlier for almost two hours on MV Pundock. We felt good as we overtook them with speed and waved at them.

Upon arrival at Goodyear's at Biabi

After about 45 minutes of speed boat travel we docked on the north black sandy shores of Biabi. The receding sunset's glow sparkled on the white crest of waves as they crashed onto the beach. It was a welcoming moment for us as we stood before the island for the first time.

We stepped off the boat and unloaded our cargos to our lecturer, Elizabeth Goodyear's house which was only a couple of meters in from the shoreline. The Goodyear's Biabi compound had a nice backyard lawn surrounded by tropical palms and ferns. It had a pond in the middle where one could see live prawns and fish under the cover of white water lilies. If one looked intently, one could spot the watchful eyes of sleepless toads and green frogs camouflaged under the lily leaves and pond rocks.

Statue at Biabi

A pathway led from the pond to a small European style cottage owned by the Goodyear family on Karkar Island. The cottage front was decorated by a sculpture of a semi-nude woman in toga trying to fetch water from a gourd-like bottle. Seeing the sculpture reminded me of the famous sculptor Michelangelo, whose artworks represent the renaissance sculptures of the human body.

At the cottage our lecturer's mum Singaok warmly welcomed us and carried our cargo into the house. While waiting for the driver who didn't turn up to drive us to Kavailo Primary School, we visited the copra dryer where the Goodyear family bought cocoa from the local farmers earning them pocket money. Karkar Island is renowned for producing 65 percent of Madang's total copra production.

It was past 2pm when the driver drove in on a Land Cruiser. Our lecturer swapped with the driver and drove us up a muddy and rough road to Kavailo Primary School. I admired my lecturer as it was my first time to experience skilful driving by a female driver. The Kavailo Primary School is situated somewhere close to the base of the volcanic mountain that towers over the island. We alighted from the vehicle and set up camp in the classrooms where we spent our three nights on the island. We were told that the former PNGDF army general Jerry Singirok attended this school.

View from Kavailo School, overlooking Biabi towards the Bismark Sea

The evening was cast with lights from the reflection of stars on the ocean. It was mesmerising as it took our breaths away. It was the weekend of Mothers' Day and all this brought fresh recollections of our wonderful mothers as each of us sat gazing into the night. We did our own cooking with the rations we brought.

On Saturday 9th May we had two separate sessions in different locations. The first session started when we introduced the ecotourism concept to the students and highlighted to them the benefits and the negative impacts on the host communities. We further emphasised to them the importance of conserving the environment and maintaining our cultures through sustainable approaches and one of the ways this could be achieved was through ‘ecotourism'.

We presented the first session using short video footages, drama presentations and a question-and-answer session at the end. We concluded the first session by awarding prizes to the students and served light refreshment for lunch. This lasted for three hours.

Kavailo's main village

We began the second session at 3pm on Kavailo's main village next to the seaside. The presentation theme was based on protecting the coral reefs and was presented by our group on behalf of the Coral Reef Alliance. For us it was important that the Karkar Islanders understood the importance of protecting and sustaining their rich marine life, not just for tourism but for their future generations.

Most of the people on the island attended and a few from the nearby villages and as far away as Wadau came. The people listened attentively to the awareness and participated in the question-and-answer session. Those who correctly answered the question received small gifts. After the second session the village councillor commented positively on the awareness and stated that it was very informative and interesting for everyone as it engaged the whole community.

The final part of the program ended at 8.30pm in the night with a documentary film titled "Importance of marine life."

Meeting with Pholas Yongole, owner of the Tugutugu Guest  House

Sunday 10th May was set aside for us to tour the island. Our lecturer Elizabeth kindly drove us around the island. It took us just over four hours including sightseeing stops in between to complete a revolution. The places we visited were Kulili Plantation, Tugutugu Guest House and final stop was at Kulkul Plantation. 

Joybetina, Lissa and Veronica Killa at the very front of the stairs

At our final stop, we had an enjoyable afternoon swim in the sea. The location proved as ideal for a get-away. The lawn was neatly maintained and surrounded by palms, hibiscus and other tropical plants. Situated on the hillside, it provided an excellent view overlooking the sea to the west. Steep braced steps about 30 meters long wound at an angle onto the black sandy beach cove. The students couldn't resist the temptation to make the most of their time with a swim in the fresh waters of the cove.

Photo: Front: Graham carrying Donald Kotopala, Samuel Apisai carrying Wesley, David carrying author, local boys from Biabi and George Burua swimming far end (Left to right).
Back: Ruby Assan, Carrol Lessie, Francisca Daugil, Lynnett Patan and Stacy Alu (left to tight)

Students at Kavailo Prim. School assembled to say a final g'bye 

Monday 11th May was time to say goodbye and leave Karkar Island. Early in the morning we greeted ‘Tidomlom' to the school students and bade them farewell. After we have had quick breakfast and cleaned and packed up our things, we stood at the school assembly ground. The headmaster together with students and staff expressed their gratitude for our contributions. They wished for such programs to be continued. The school headmaster commended us and wanted the awareness program to happen again which was educational to the people, who lack such information on how they can sustain their environment with the challenges of population growth and climate change. 

We acknowledge and thank the Headmaster of Kavailo Primary School, the staff and students; the Kavailo village councillor and community for generously allowing us to conduct the awareness program which was a successful one! Special thanks to lecturer Elizabeth Goodyear for arranging our travel. Lastly, to our Dean of Faculty, Dr. Romulo Lindio and HoD, Mr John Imbal and the university for allowing us. This was a good and worthwhile experience for us as future tourism professionals in the development of tourism industry in PNG.

One of the pristine, secluded islands on our way into beautiful Madang

Photo: Front standing: Theo (Author), Wesley Bonte (left -right)
Back: David Monai, Graham Paulus (left -right)
Doing a circle around the island

All photography, by Year3 Tourism Students of 2009

* This story was also published on:
Post Courier's Weekender (24-25th July, 2010) titled "Karkar Awareness"
This can also be archived at http://theo.travelerspoint.com