After food, it was speeches time, and of course that meant tears time again as our P&C Chairman and other parents and girls made some lovely speeches for me. Then they presented me with a gift from all the parents, which was a beautiful framed copper-worked bilum, which of course made me cry again - not just because it was such a lovely gesture from the parents of my girls, but because of what it represented. Sam's tambu explained that they chose a bilum specifically because it's not only a well-known symbol of PNG culture, but also because it represents womanhood. It is a symbol and a tool of the work a woman does here in PNG: everywhere she goes she carries her bilum - it is her life and livelihood. When a child is first born, the first thing she knows is the warmth and protection of the bilum. It is her mother's cradle, and a sign of nurturing. As the child grows, the bilum becomes the way she carries all that she gathers - everything that's precious or useful or treasured is tucked away and carried with her.


He said that this is how I will remember my girls - the bilum represents these young women of Papua New Guinea, and all the things I have taught and said and the love I've shown for them will be stored in their bilums to help them on their own journey to womanhood.

It was a lovely present and an even more moving meaning behind it, and I had trouble replying with my thanks and own messages of appreciation for these parents and my girls.