Ibuzin Babul - This is my story 

This is my story, I am not very strong now, but I need to tell you my story before resting.

 Thankfully, Neko and the three boys have arrived from Port Moresby to join us in the village. Peter was always wanting to be close to me, but keep him away, else he will catch my sickness.

Anyway, to start, I was born fifth in the family of Goanius( aka Nimolen ), and Amin ( aka Payap ).

My older brother Wangkeng, and sister Judy were married in the traditional exchange marriage as practiced by the Wampar people. Judy was married off to Ezekiel, and Ezekiel's sister Karom was given in exchange to Wangkeng. Emine the sister before me got married to Gabmana, and Gabmana's sister Elizabeth was married off to Obles in exchange.

My other older sister was Nasalaen,  was still unmarried when I left the family to get married to Babul, your father in law.

My mother Amin was very cross because I left without her knowledge, and without an arranged partner for my brother Nelson Wazob who was born after me.

What happened was, I thought that nobody would be interested in me, because I had sores all over my feet, and I kept to myself, and didn't socialise much with other young people.

One morning, my cousin sister Amin who was my mother's namesake came to visit me. She quietly whispered to me to pack some of my clothes and beddings in a bilum. Amin told her namesake Amin my mother that she missed me and wanted me to spend the weekend with her.

And that's how we left Murawi to marry our husbands. Amin married Michael from Gabensis village, and I got married to Babul.

I was surprised that Babul took a liking to me, because both him and Michael were famous for leading traditional Wampar tumbuna singsing, and their expertise in the Siassii singsing called Sia, and both were well known throughout the tribe.

Anyhow, we joined our husbands at Cecil Hotel, which was located at Voco Point in Lae. Both men had started working in early 1950s as waiters, and Babul was soon promoted to be the hotel driver.

We Neko was born and weaned, he used to accompany his father Babul to do pickup and drop off using the hotel bus, a Volkswagen. Through Babul, he taught the other young men from Munum village to drive.

Babul left Hotel Cecil in early 1960s and joined Gabmana to work for Atlas company, who were building the Lae main wharf. In 1964, when Neko left Lae to live with his grandmother Amin in the village and start school, Babul got a new job with SIL in Ukarumpa in Eastern Highlands.

Soon after Babul started working, he started loosing his sight, so the family flew back to Lae. In 1965, he lost his sight, and was living in a hut constructed by Antris near his house in Munum.

Babul died and was buried in late 1965, the same year your brother in law Peter was born. Although your father in law had advised me to marry one of his friends, who was a widower, I chose to remain single and raised Neko and his brothers and Yalisuo, your sister in law.

Thank you for looking after me, and I love you and Neko for doing your best to look after me. I apologize for the difficulties I had given you over the years. Especially, that incident with Michael when he became sick with my sickness in 1984 at Korobosea.

Jehovah God will continue to bless you and Neko, whatever happens to me. 

I am happy to rest now, knowing that I will be resurrected in Paradise.

## Ibuzin died in her sleep peacefully, knowing that Neko and the three boys dad arrived in the village from Port Moresby.

She died on Good Friday, April 1992 and was buried on Saturday. She was shunned by her fellow villagers and relatives because she was a Jehovah's witness. ##