“Ihave an interesting proposal for you” said the tour guide a lithe dark-skinned Papuan. His group was composed mainly of middle-aged couples from Australia and New Zealand.
“Along this river deep inland there’s a little village called Yango Bay ” he said. “It’s not on our itinerary and there’s nothing very interesting there. But two young people from there a brother and sister are studying in university in Jerusalem.” He saw that they were intrigued. “These two young people left their cell phone numbers with our office in Wewak and they asked for a special favor. They said that if anyone with a satellite phone should ever be in the area of Yango Bay they would be so appreciative if that person would let their mother talk with them. Their mother has never talked on a telephone in her life. I doubt that she’s ever even seen a telephone. Those students left their number with us quite a while ago and since then this is the first tour group we’ve had anywhere near there.”
Papua New Guinea has few paved roads. Getting from one place to another is difficult if not impossible and tourists usually limit their itineraries to the coastal regions. Aside from the most stalwart and determined of missionaries or the occasional frum Jewish magazine correspondents white men rarely appear in the inland villages.
“Who wants to have a little adventure go off the beaten path find the mother of the two students and let her talk with them?” Thirty hands went up.
