Family trip to the Buangs

Waterfall in the Buangs. Looks like same area as Ina holding Debra with Tom and Jandeng. Erickson photo taken in 1966. Photo on the left is from a facebook site Papua New Guinea Land of the Unexpected Image credits Ishmael Nombe

1963  May 25  

 Letter written by Ina Erickson from the Buangs to Alvin and Louise Erickson, Box 1327, Glendive Montana, USA

Dear mom and dad, Helen, Charlie, Greg and Vicki,

 We’re settling now up in the mountains in luscious cool, cool air, enjoying the hospitality of the mountain people. They have built a very nice two bedroom house with a dining area with a gate on it to help the dogs out so we can keep our food there, rather than packing it away again after each meal. There is a little storage room for things we don’t need all of the time and a cupboard in our bedroom. There is a separate house they can house some girls to help with cooking, heating water and washing dishes.

 We had hoped to be able to come in by air, but the airstrip wasn’t finished enough for an airplane to land yet. So we went by boat to Lae where I stubbed my toe and ripped off my large toenail. I was afraid we would have to call off the trip. But, we had promised to them we would come and I don’t feel I could take such a long walk for many months to come. So we decided it was worth a try anyway. We were able to ride in a car to Mumeng. Then with seven more miles into the mountains, we had to walk about eight or nine hours. Al usually does it in 5 or 5 1/2 hours but with the kids along we had to take frequent rests. People carried them, and it took 20 carriers, heavily laden to carry the kids and our cargo in. By wearing a thong on one foot and a tennis shoe on the other I made it with no difficulty.

Jack Reentz in black shorts dropping off the Ericksons at the end of the road in the Buangs. Family hiking the rest of the way. Trail to the Buangs along the Snake river. Photo of some of the carriers as described in the letter.

 We took the trip in two days and stopping over in a house that government men usually stay. ( A Kiap) We got there at dark as we could not start walking until three in the afternoon. It was ascension day and they had services first. Then had to wait until the heat of the day passed only to find the door locked. Someone ran to a nearby village where someone was supposed to have the key to let us in the house, which was a bush building. But it had walls floors and a roof. A councilman came back with the key. But he broke the lock, and let us in. There was firewood, so our carriers made a fire for themselves and for us and we warmed up some beans. We made a hot chocolate drink and spread our tablecloth on the floor and ate. There was a shelter nearby for the girls that were caring for us. And they slept there. But the boys slept on the ground with only blankets. In the middle of the night we could hear them making fires as it got quite cold. We spread our mattresses and blankets and sleeping bags out and set our mosquito nets and settle down for the night. Both Paula and Tommy were real good. They’d walk a while and ride a while. I had cookies and water and oranges. The people, we met along the way, gave us some oranges which were really refreshing. They were on their way to the market. We did not have to go over any mountains. Just follow along the bank of a river. It was up and down some, but it really wasn’t too bad of a walk. The kids seem to enjoy the hike a lot. It was very cold, and they don’t like to wear clothes or shoes. At night I put several pairs of flannel pajamas on them and they sleep in the sleeping bags with us.

Paula loves her slacks and blouse. They fit her well. We love and miss you. Thank you so much for your prayers, Ina

Buang Area of Malalo Circuit written by Alvin Erickson 2024: Refer to his hand drawn map above. I had AI color it in to figure it out better. lots of misspellings but it still helps generally find the Buangs in relation to Lae

May /June 1963 Ina Erickson carrying Tom with Paula beside her in the Buangs.

 The rain is now starting to fall meaning, rough seas ahead. It becomes more and more evident to us as we look at this country that the economy is going to take a long time to develop. Transportation is still a great handicap and the rugged mountains make the use of machinery almost an impossibility. As yet no raw material has been discovered.

 The summer is upon you I guess. I noticed the wheat farmers turned down Freeman‘s proposal. How do you feel about it, dad?

It looks like I might be going back into the New Guinea Highlands in July. It should be quite a trip into the real heathen areas. He would have us seeing his goodness and be glad. The Holy Spirit would show us his peace and see it as Forever. Let us take our strength from the news of this inheritance. Thank you for all those thankless years of raising me and equipping me to get along later in life.

 All our love, Al, Ina, Paula and T.

1963 June 28. (a good summary of trip to Buangs)

 Dear Gertrude,

 Thank you so much for getting our last letter out. I still haven’t been able to get Al to get a letter out but, I do have hopes that he will soon. I have had this letter sitting on his desk so long that I thought we lost it with all of the addresses on it, so I thought I just send it onto you. We all have been quite well. Our dry hot spell seems to be over and we are enjoying the luxury of using a blanket at night and being comfortable during the day even at noon. It had been raining almost every night for the last week. So now the garden should grow again. The rain has been so nice and has been soft, gentle rains. Not the torrential downpours that we usually get this time of year.

 Several weeks ago we all took a trip into the bush with Al for two weeks. It was quite an experience. The people had built a special house for the missionary. So it was clean and had two separate rooms so Phyllis was able to go to. We had so much stuff that it took 20 people just to carry it all in. Usually Al is able to make the trip in about five hours but due to my condition and the children, we took it in 2 day stretches. Walking four hours each day. The people had built a house for the government officer that patrols that area every once in a while about halfway to our destination, so we were able to stay the first night out there. There wasn’t a stick of furniture anywhere, and we found the floor quite hard but the kids didn’t seem to mind. They are used to sleeping under mosquito nuts and made little fuss over that, but they were so tired that it did not take them long to drop off to sleep.

 Paula enjoyed walking so much, she didn’t want to be carried. Some of the road, I should say most of the road was such that it was too dangerous to let her walk too much, so in protecting them both, they had to be carried a lot. Each day I’d walk from the place we were staying to a different village. They have the house centrally located so we didn’t have to move from place to place, but could set up a headquarters. We would have a meeting with the church elders and the main people of the congregation, helping with their problems, explaining new things to them, and just generally showing concern for them.

 Phyllis our short term teacher held a refresher course in simple English for about 16 teachers in the area. That was quite a challenge as they get away from English-speaking people and lose their English pretty fast. But with interpreters, the teachers seem to think that they had gained a lot from her efforts. The second week, she visited some of the teachers and their schools to see if they were keeping up with the work that they were supposed to do. I had clinic on the veranda. One day I went with Al to one of the villages which was quite high in the mountain, but spent two days in bed with contractions, so decided to limit my activities after that. All in all we did enjoy ourselves, but we’re mighty happy to get back to a stove and running water but most of all, to an indoor bathroom. Paula kept commenting on the ‘lobely batrooms’ that we had. God was surely with us and kept us all well. I had been skeptical of taking the kids with, but they loved it and came home with Rosie cheeks and a few pounds heavier.

 Love in Christ, Al, Ina, Paula, and Tom.

 (There are about 14 addresses listed for Gertrude to add to the mailing list and a few address changes.)

May/June 1963 Phyllis Engebretson a short term teacher in the Buangs with the Ericksons.

1963 June 12 (a copy)

Dear Carol, (Ina’s Fairview classmate)

It was surely good to hear from you again. I’m sorry to hear things aren’t going so well with you and Dave. I do remember him very well and liked him very much. Al thought he was awfully nice. I’m sure you will have gained, a lot from your association with him, whatever the outcome may be. All things work together for the good for those who love the Lord, and in prayer and supplication. Let your requests be made known to God with Thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding with keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6 to 7.
We will pray that God‘s will might be worked out in your lives, and that Dave can find his way. Sometimes such families can be quite dangerous in a pioustic sort of way. I hope he can remember that God loves him as he is, whether he is a student, missionary, or a beggar. It really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of us, not even our family, what is important is our relationship to God. From this distance, it sounds like he needs some patient understanding with no demands, being available when he calls, until he kind of find himself. Praying that God will direct your paths. Not too tall of an order.

We have been quite well. I don’t know if you have heard or not that we are planning on adding to our family an early September if all goes well. Right now I feel good and we are looking forward to a new baby in the house. It is a little hard for us to figure out just what the family relationships are here among the New Guineans. These people seem to have half a dozen of what they call mamas and papas and umpteen brothers and sisters, calling brothers sisters, if they are of the same sex and sisters brothers if they are of the opposite sex. If I’ve lost you, it is because I’m lost too. Some don’t really seem to know who is their actual mother or father, but they are a part of the clan, and it is most confusing.

Many of our English-speaking students have been listening to the news and pass on the information to their people in the villages. The race riots that are now going on in the States is really making our work embarrassing.

Unknown family in this photo but perhaps one of the pastors families in the Malalo circuit. Abele the ‘workboy’ and his family were guests for dinner

We have two native families in for dinner today. Our native pastor and his five children and our work boy and his two children and both of their wives, of course. One of the topics of conversation was the race riots. It’s mighty hard to explain, and a little worrisome as to what can happen in the towns here as more young people move out of the structure of their villages into the towns where often they live in compounds.
It seems that the government is a little uneasy about our new neighbors. About the time, Indonesia took over, we had some mapmakers appear in the area with a helicopter, making bases on the highest point of many of our small islands on the coast, and manned with two European observers. There is to be an aircraft carrier worship, patrolling the area, and the airstrip in Lae is to be enlarged to enable jet planes to land. The USA has been installing some radar station at various strategic points so this half of the island won’t be caught entirely off guard if the 15,000 Indonesia troops mentioned over there to develop the country gets a little ambitious. Life is certainly interesting.

The actual photo is very poor quality so AI tried to fix it. Table looks great but faces not so much but it gives the idea.

We just returned from our two week bush trip without anyone getting sick. The children, our short term teacher Phyllis and I went along.
Some missing sentences here, but continues:
The ordained missionaries in our area went along. We had to take the staple foods like bread, butter, flour, sugar, salt, cookies, cereal, milk, salt, and pepper plus mattresses. It was about a five hour walk when Al does it alone. But with the kids and me it took us about 8 to 9 hours. We stopped over at a bush house built for the government officer if he hast to stay in the area. ( A kiap ) Just before we got in the car and to drive as far as a road to where it becomes possible, I stubbed my toe and ripped off my large toenail. Spent the day in the hospital outpatient department to have it cut off and bandaged and we decided to try the trip anyway. If I couldn’t make it, we could always come back. We had promised the people we are coming. They have never seen white children. 20 young people had come to meet us to carry our cargo, so I was glad we had come. I’d have felt badly if they had walked all day to meet us and then we didn’t come. Do you know that I was able to walk very well in a flip-flop and didn’t have any pain at all. The streams were low and the path dry so we didn’t slip around at all and stepped on stones across the streams.

We cooked over an open fire, wash clothes in a stream and had to have mosquito nets and mind you they made beds for us. They made a wooden frame and webbing by weaving strips of bamboo for the spring. They aren’t as comfortable as our beds, of course but surely did beat the floor that we slept on the first night. We really had to bundle up as the mornings were really cold. Our appetites increased. I had quite a time making enough to fill everyone up. The people were very generous and gave us a chicken or two every day and many vegetables, including potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, onions, leeks, cabbage and lettuce, and then some of their native food and occasionally and egg. I tried making cookies twice with oatmeal and brown sugar more or less steaming them. It didn’t really work very well but then we had something to munch on when our cookies were gone. We also ran out of bread after only one week. It was nice change, but we were glad to get back. Al would have meetings in different villages, and I would have clinic, and Phyllis was having a refresher course for the teachers. Paula and Tommy kept very busy entertaining everyone. Every where they went, people would gather to watch them and they enjoyed it. It surely wouldn’t be wise to let it happen very often.

Our prayers go with you, Carol, Ina

The local people had built a guest house with 2 rooms in Biankon. This village was quite centrally located in the Buangs.  They had built a bamboo pipe from a stream on the mountain side with clean water for the village. Water came out of it all the time. Phyllis slept in one room and the Erickson’s in the other room

On the right side is Paula and Tom in front of a house at the Buangs with Phyllis on the veranda. On the left t very likely another house in the Buangs.

1963 June 18 to Korrine the short term teacher  (a copy)

Dear Korrine,
We surely do hate to think that soon you will be leaving, but I am real happy for you and do wish you a most enjoyable trip. Listening to Mike, your trip sounds like a dream. We hope that you don’t run into too many snags. I won’t say no snags because that would take the enjoyment out of the trip. We were wondering if you would be taking your autoharp with you or if you might just like to sell it? We would be interested if you haven’t already disposed of it.

We had a lovely trip to the Buangs’s a couple of weeks ago. The weather was so cool in fact, downright cool but refreshing. The walk wasn’t too bad as we had cool days coming and going. We took two days to go in as there was a house kiap about halfway. Jack Reentz drove us about 7 miles in on a road that the Buangs have been working on for 16 years. It is really something to see how they have chipped mile after mile out of rock. Were there isn’t rock they have landslides to cover up their work. It has been so dry that the road was quite good. There are many places where it narrows to a trail. Coming out, I was admiring the soaring mountains on the other side and the stream rushing below and turn my ankle nearly went plunging down. If I hadn’t had a walking stick, I would’ve gone off. There was a slight incline, so I would’ve rolled instead of dropping straight down, but there wasn’t any trees, so I wouldn’t have had no way of stopping until I landed in the river. A pleasant thought.

Paula and Tom enjoyed themselves. Paula enjoyed walking a lot. Tom keeps asking to go for a walk now that we are home. No one got sick fortunately. Phyllis had a weeks refresher course for the Buang teachers, and then inspected some of their schools. Al would walk to a different village each day to have a meeting and then return to the house at Bainkon at night. I would usually have clinic on the veranda of the house in the morning. I visited the Dr boy before I set up clinic so there would be no offense. I only wanted to see the people that he didn’t know what to do with. Paula and Tommy were very busy entertaining all the people that like to stand around and watch them.

They were so generous and bringing food. We really had an appetite, so it was good. They brought so much. Chickens, young tender corn, tomatoes, beans lettuce, cabbage, onions, and leeks. Then we had some ammies which are very much like taro only much less of the musky taste, so consequently we like them better. We boiled them and fried them and also had them baked in the fire. It really is a problem trying to cook over an open fire all of the time. The smoke would make tears flow most of the time we are cooking. I can sure see why the people don’t fuss over meals. I tried to bake cookies by steaming them over a pot of ammies, but it didn’t work so well. We ran out of bread and cookies after about the first week. Paula and Tommy sure got a charge out of the “Lobely batrooms” as Paula referred to the outhouse.

Sure, wish we could see you again before you leave, maybe sometime, you could vacation with my folks at the Alexandria Minnesota and get a little swimming in. Mr. and Mrs. Durwood Titus, box 224, route 1, Alexandria, MN.

 Best Wishes, Ina

1963 June 19 (a copy)

Dear Stand and Katie, (Ina’s Fairview classmate)

So good to hear from you again. We were happy to hear that Stan passes board exams and that you will be back in Minnesota. Carol Sheldahl was so happy to have you back there again. Do hope moving wasn’t too difficult. We are starting to get a little rain now so we think that we can see an end to our drought, the people are really hard for food. This has never happened before so no one is or was prepared for it. Whatever else they didn’t have in New Guinea food was never a problem.

Our new church is finally nearing completion, and we are planning for the dedication on 24 November, providing there is enough food for their feast and when the Scherle’s get back and that they are able to finish it. They are working on the painting now and have to make benches. It really will be a nice church, and we only hope that it isn’t going to be a burden to them to keep up as they really do have a vast program that they are trying to support. This is the Malalo congregation with no help from the mission. They have about 40 evangelists in heathen areas that they are supporting and paying the salaries of their teachers and pastors. The people build houses for them and plant and care for gardens for them. They also have to produce food for all the students that have gone onto higher education so all in all, they really do have to contribute a large share of their almost non-existent income to the work of the church. We are also building a dispensary with a cement floor, fiber, light walls, and copper – corrugated iron – roof. But now the people I’ve lost interest, so it will stand unfinished until more prosperous times. We don’t want to do it for them, as it must be their dispensary. We would be going backwards instead of Fords to do it for them. We continue to push and prod.

Phyllis our short term teacher, Paula and Tommy and I all went on a bush trip with Al for two weeks. It really was quite an experience. We needed 20 carriers to carry all of our cargo in for us. Al usually makes the trip in one day, but due to my condition, we took two days which is about nine hours total. The road wasn’t too bad as we didn’t have to go over any mountains, only follow the riverbank over its ups and downs, which could be pretty far up at times and down pretty far at times. Paula liked to walk, but a lot of the path was so treacherous and rocky. The mountain people have been trying to build a road through there for 16 years with picks and shovels working their way through the rock. Many I’ve lost their lives working away on it. They have 7 miles that are possible by Land Rover. Any other vehicles couldn’t make the sharp curves and steep grades. The turn is just horrible and I’d never try it. It’s about 200 feet drop and you have about 10 foot ledge to turn around on. Then the path narrows to a mere trail. Further on they have more of a road carved out, but no way of connecting it up. These people are also building an airstrip that should be done pretty soon. They have had quite a job chopping it out of the mountain by hand. It’s 2000 feet long. But they have stuck with it and soon will be able to get a few of their things to market.

They were so good to us. They gave us potatoes, sweetcorn, onions, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, jams, and chickens plus occasional precious egg. They had a two room bush house for the missionary. It was really quite nice. They had walls made out of plank, each hand, which is a mighty lot of work I could do not. Then we had a separate house to cook in……