*The story you are about to read comes with a warning – it will probably make you shed silent tears – not only for what it is, but because the woman brave enough to write and share it, may have put her own life on the line.
It is about present day sorcery killings in Papua New Guinea.
Upon reading it I was stopped dead in my tracks. When I was in university studying Socio-cultural Anthropology my professor had lived in Papua New Guinea for nine years before returning to Canada. All of my classes with her were about PNG so this post really struck a nerve.
We’d become very close over those few years. She suffered from severe Reverse Culture Shock, I would go so far as to say she suffered Culture Cringe to our western ways and was put on probation by the academy so she could “clean up her act!”
But of course she couldn’t, life in PNG changed her soul – she lost friends and women who were like sisters to this sorcery. She would tell me these stories and I would listen so intently – she mesmerized me with details and mortified me with stories of heartbreak and death – and then she went back.
She couldn’t survive here, and when she hugged me goodbye, her last words for me were, “Don’t Cry For Me When I’m Gone”.
As the years went by, like so often happens, I lost her. The thought of her and PNG have crept into my mind often and I have wondered how she was, how the women were and if things were changing? If she could still hear their screams when she closed her eyes at night, how many she was able to help? Or, was she one of the many who has perished?
…. and then I stumbled across this post written by a woman from Papua New Guinea.
Her name is Nett and she has written such a powerful piece I’m asking you to SHARE it and support her efforts.
Nett writes about this topic with such passion it can’t be ignored – Through her writing I now hear the screams and feel the collective pain … Do you? Do you hear them enough to share?
Don’t Cry For Me When I Am Gone
By Nett @mynewguinea
This post is something which i feel strongly about, its something which I just can’t ignore. It might be a bit full on for some but for me and my fellow Papua New Guineans its something which we see or hear about everyday…WE WANT CHANGE!
We are all shocked & sadden by the Sorcery killings and crimes against our Women. These poor women that have fallen victim, I wonder how we became like this, how we finally let our beliefs and the fear that comes with it take control and over power our common sense and respect for all human beings. I wondered how the victims felt before their untimely death. It only brought tears to my eyes and pain to my soul. Let’s bring back the respect for our Mothers, Sisters, Aunties and Bubus…. it could be your family or friend that could fall victim next.
This Post is Dedicated to all the Women in P.N.G.
Don’t cry for me when I am gone…
Don’t cry for me when I’m gone, for when I was here you didn’t try to help me disprove the rumors…
Don’t cry for me when I’m gone, you didn’t comfort me and tell me it would all be ok…
Don’t cry for me when I’m gone, you just like everyone else looked at me with those scared & hatred eyes.
Don’t cry for me when I’m gone you didn’t try to protect me when they chased me down…
Don’t cry for me when I’m gone you heard my screams and saw my tears but didn’t try to stop them….
I see you there in the back among the angry crowd, I didn’t realize how many there were until now…I see your tears through your frightened eyes, I know now, that you too were afraid but not of me…but it’s too late… Don’t cry for me when I am gone…..
STOP SORCERY KILLINGS, STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN P.N.G!!!!
GOD SAVE PNG
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