goodbye kipuli

Well, since Kipuli passed away things have been pretty sombre. His body has been taken home and true to his wishes, hardly any time has been wasted moving the body and getting him put to rest this morning on the lush green mesa mountain top of his birth, Irelya.

A friend of mine from New Zealand had the great fortune to meet Kipuli when he came home with me to Enga in 2002. He writes:

Really sad to hear that nuis. Kipuli was the beginning and the end of (our work in Enga) and as far as any of us could tell, meant the same for Enga. He seemed to represent the best aspects of tribalism, rose above all the ilekson melodrama, spoke his mind, and spoke it clearly. The end of an era, though not the end of the family.

On Monday our people chartered a plane to fly the body up home from Port Moresby and the Prime Minister Sir Miachael Somare also lent us one of his planes, The Kumul, to fly up other members of our family - there was a seat on that flight with my name on it ... but as you know, I am sitting here still, wondering what it all means and why bother with these completely terrifying exams in LESS THAN ONE WEEK!!