Guinea Living

How To Get On

With The Boy

A Guide To

Guinea Living

HOW to get on with your New Guinea native servant—for his benefit and yours’’, is the theme of a booklet to be published this month in Port Moresby.

Called, A Guide To Neyjcomers To Papua-New Guinea, the booklet has been written by “A Port Moresby Housewife”, and profit from the sale of the first issue will go to the Country Women’s Association, Port Moresby branch.

And there should be no doubt that the valuable little book will sell. It is just the thing needed in the Territory, and especially in Port Moresby, where every ship and aircraft these days brings in new comers, anrious to set up house for a year or two, 'before returning south to live in luxury—it is gener ally assumed —on the tax-free profits.

It is a little surprising such a book hasn’t been produced before, but “Port Moresby Housewife” —in reality Mrs. W. Wyatt—is certainly competent to do the job.

The Guide explains about the problems of Territory shopping, food and health requirements, climate, insect pests and reptiles (“there are taipans in Port Moresby”), recreation, transport— and the houseboy.

Many of the local references are to Port Moresby, but the general theme is applicable to the whole of the Territory.

Some of the points in the Guide

cn how to get along with the boy Include: GIVING ORDERS. They should be given in simple English, able to be understood by an eight or nine-year-old. Mother alone should give household instructions, to pre vent confusion.

DRESS. Housewives shouldn’t walk about half-dressed, and shouldn’t wear shorts and revealing sun tops in the house or garden. Shorts for tennis are different because the native passes the custom off as “fashion of the white man’’. Natives are modest themselves, and have learned to recognise a standard of European behaviour. Any departure by individual housewives can be misunderstood.

RESPONSIBILITY. Mothers of young families shouldn’t pass on the responsibility of their children to nurse girls. The Papuans haven’t the same social background or training as Europeans.

BE FAIR. Servants should be treated fairly, with promises kept.

The relationship should be a partnership, with the native, too, learning that he is paid to do cer tain work and must give fair value.

The author of the Guide points

out, in one of many intelligent r ferences to native-European r lationships, that there seems to growing up among the native peoj the habit of classifying Europeai While some are referred to Taubada or Masta, and Sinabai others are referred to simply “white man”—and the same clasi fication applies to women.

“It is really up to us to earn t title of Sinabada or Taubada, a see that we keep it”, says the Gui i The author, Mrs. Wyatt, lives the Port Moresby suburb of Boro] and has been in the Territory sir 1911 when, as a small child, s arrived with her parents. As M Jessie Hart, she married Mr. I Wyatt in Port Moresby in 1931.

There are four generations Harts in Port Moresby—Mrs. Wyal father, Mr. W. J. Hart, is still resident at the age of 85. M Wyatt herself has three children She takes a close interest in co] munity affairs.