Wewak Catholic Mission

We only stay a week in Wewak. There is not much there, only the hospital which has two systems, one in the operating theatres and another in the maternity ward. The other air conditioning system just outside  Wewak is in the army base, about a half hour drive out of town.

But while we are in Wewak, Ted says he wants to show me the Catholic Mission in the hills. We drive up there one afternoon and come to a series of timber buildings with corrugated roofs. We stop and walk into the Reception area. 'Can we see the artefacts father', Ted asks. 'Sure', the priest says and takes us across the yard to a much larger building. He unlocks the door and when we enter I am totally surprised. The building is packed full with all sorts of Native masks, carved statues, bones and other typically New Guinea Native artefacts. They are all on tables and have price tags on them.

At the Wewak Catholic Mission 

We stay about an hour in this room and I buy a few small masks for a few bucks to send home to Switzerland. We pay the priest and return to Wewak. But the image of all those artefacts stays with me for some time. I want to come back at a later stage and spend much more time in that shed.

We fly back to Port Moresby and I am back working at the Papuan Medical College. Carriers have picked up a lot of projects in New Guinea. Not surprising, as we are the only large air conditioning company in the Territory. There are a couple of small operators in Port Moresby but they can’t handle large projects. We now have so much work that Dave Scott advises Brisbane, we need someone permanently commissioning and testing finished projects.