Do Not Trample Our Roses

Today there are over 5 billion people on planet Earth. Over half of these people live in countries that are labelled ‘Third World’. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is one of those countries that have been labelled with this term. According to the French economist Alfred Sauvy, ‘Third World’ countries are characterised by a number of common traits: distorted and highly dependent economies, devoted to producing primary products for the industrialised countries and to provide markets for their finished goods; traditional, rural social structures; high population growth; and widespread poverty.

Fortunately, PNG did not suffer from the slave trade, but a lot of people from other countries were used as slaves and indentured servants to work in the industrialised countries. The industrialised countries that took these people to work for them destroyed their identity, dignity, self-worth and self-respect. In some cases people were moved from their home countries to other parts of the world, like the Caribbean countries and Fiji to work in the sugarcane plantations. My great grandfather was taken to work in Australia and we have never seen him again.

Today, there is great measure of freedom and independence but many people are still grappling with their identity and self-worth. Many people in the industrialised countries have the notion that we ‘Third World’ people do not possess the potential to develop our skills, intelligence and sophistication in order to equal the industrialised countries. I say this because I have travelled around a bit and have come to understand what they think of us – the ‘Third World’.

Let’s not be victims of these prejudices but develop ourselves into what God wants us to be. The opinions of others should never determine our self-worth. PNG has great limitless potential, the people of PNG posses the ability to achieve, accomplish, produce, create and perform anything our mind can conceive. God has blessed us with rich natural resources, commodities that are sought after around the world today. I know that PNG cocoa and coffee are among the best in the world.
The wealth within PNG should be realised, harnessed and maximised by its people. We must be willing to work and commit ourselves to tapping the potential within the land. Our Government must believe that they have the ability to improve our systems. The church must begin to take responsibility for its own people. A good example on this would be Mr Tiri Kuimbakul who writes books and goes around the country teaching people on how to manage their finances, etc. The teachers of PNG are doing a great job, so are the doctors. We can’t afford to lose our people to work in other countries while foreigners come into our country and run our people down. Every person was born to do something but ignorance makes us limit ourselves. A handful of people should not trample on the roses as tomorrow may bring a different story to their family fortunes.
We have the responsibility to deposit the wealth of our potential into the next generation so they can build up their future.