Hitchhiking ain’t a crime

 

     They say that confession is good for the soul so here goes. The first time Tiffany and I hitchhiked was while we were hiking the Appalachian Trail. Often the towns where you have to restock your supplies are miles off of the trail. So, you really have two choices if you want to eat: walk or stick out your thumb. Fortunately, the people who live around the trail see hikers with their thumbs out every year and they know the hikers just want a lift to town. We never had any trouble getting a ride. It seemed like drivers were much more prone to stop when there was a woman in the group. Sexual discrimination, I know, but what can you do.

     What did we learn from this experience? 1) Hitchhiking is generally done out of necessity not just for fun. 2) You have to have two willing parties (driver and hiker). 3) It really helps if the driver knows why you are doing it (tourists never stopped for us).

     Flash forward, here we are in PNG, a long way from a paved road and even further from town. There are thousands of people living in the villages that dot our mountain and the surrounding bush. There are only a handful of cars among all of these people, 3 of which belong to our mission. Papua New Guineans are no strangers to walking. In fact, they walk incredibly long distances every day to preform their day to day tasks (getting water, firewood, going to the garden). And they do all this carrying huge bilums (hand woven string bags) full of what they have gathered.

     People generally leave the mountain for a couple of reasons: 1) They want to go to market to sell stuff from their gardens. There is a market at the bottom of the mountain where our road meets the ‘paved’ road. There is also a large market in town. 2) They need to buy some supplies in town. 3) They need to go to the hospital for medical treatment.

     So here it is, POC’s dirty little secret, we pick up hitchhikers. We go to town quite regularly for food and supplies and when we go we pick people up as we go down the mountain. This is our community and these are our neighbors I can’t imagine not helping the people that we share life with. My boss calls it public relations. Whatever you call it, it makes me happy to make life a little easier for the people of Nobnob.

     The hitchhiking motion here is not done with the thumb. They use the pointer finger in a very subtle motion pointing in the direction they want to go. If you blink you will miss it. Once you see it and you stop they will tell you where they want to go. The driver then has to say yes or no.

     It is not uncommon to have the entire back of the truck full of people and bilums when you reach the bottom of the mountain.

     You are probably thinking, “is it that safe in PNG?” The short answer is no. We have rules about picking up people. The most important is: don’t pickup anyone you don’t know on the paved road or in town. People get robbed all the time in town so you just have to use common sense. The other great thing about being in community with the people here is that they look out for us too.

matt