My Friend John

John walked up to me just as I got off the plane in Mt. Hagen, while the rest of the mob of people only stared.  John worked for a US missionary group that had left the country a while back but still owned property in town, of which John was the caretaker.  They owned a basic cement block building in the center of Mt. Hagen where John took me and offered me the top bunk.  Later on, I discovered there was no hotel in town that would satisfy even my low standards, so his offer was a lifesaver. Almost immediately, John proved to be a good friend and someone to share meals and conversations with during a week of staying in town building up the nerve to bike off into the "last unknown." 

Our nightly vegetable soup was the best meal in town. But then, it was pretty much the only meal in town.  

Knowing I was anxious to experience a local "Sing-Sing", John arranged one at his village, a two-hour walk from Mt. Hagen, where many of these sing-sing photographs were taken. 

These photographs are of John and his buddies preparing for that event in 1989.