The dreams of ordinary Papua New Guineans
By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA MP My grandmother had a dream to own a turkey. She had seen one of these feathered creatures in a book of animals my mother had bought me. When my uncle who was an agriculturalist, came around to visit, she asked him whether such creatures were sold in Papua New Guinea. He said they would be sold in due time when the Department of Agriculture was promoting poultry farming. She was so pleased with him and said she would place an order now and would start saving up. Every so often when I was flipping through the pages of my book as she baked, she would insist that I show her the page with the turkey. “I want to own a few turkeys.” she would say with a wistful smile. “Can you imagine them in our farm?” And off we would go telling outrageous stories of a farm full of turkeys and goats and horses and cattle in Kokoda strolling among the cocoa and coffee trees as she baked her scones to sell at the Kokoda Station market the next day. That was her simple dream. Sadly, s