Talad

(Evie and Talad)

     As I have said in the past, Papua New Guineans are masters of relationship. Relationships bond communities together and provide stability. Though we have special relationships with all of the people that work at POC, our relationship with Talad and his family is particularly strong.

      Before we ever knew Talad we knew his father, Amat. Amat was our language teacher when we were students at POC. He is a wonderful grandfather type figure with an infectious smile and an amazing desire to help others. I (Matt) struggled in my initial language learning. Instead of giving up on me and focusing on the more promising students Amat took us under his wing and patiently pulled us along. In PNG the children take the father’s first name as their last name, although this is a relatively new development for the sake of the “white man”. Talad’s full name is Talad Amat, a wonderful testament to a great man.

    (Tisa Amat)

I think our friendship with Talad also grew quickly because we had so much in common. He has several children that are the same ages as our children and they became friends almost as soon as we arrived at POC. Talad is also a carpenter and he seemed to pickup exactly what I wanted him to do even when my Tok Pisin was not the best. Even when I was not able to communicate well he showed the same care and patience that his father showed us as students. But the thing I like most about Talad is he always has a good story to tell. I can’t begin to count the number of times the two of us have sat and shared stories for hours.

     Talad and Amat have told us many times that we are like family to them. We feel like they are family too. Shortly after we got back home Talad’s older brother died in a car accident. This was very difficult for me after just loosing my mother. We were able to call and talk to the family and to help with some of the things that they needed. This is one way we are able to maintain our family-like relationship even from half a world away.