Rarely do we hear much about Papua New Guinea here in the United States. Usually, what I have seen or heard have either been on nature programs - it's apparently a place rich in natural beauty and jungles bounding with life - or in the news. Usually, it's bad news. This is a place prone to earthquakes, after all.
Well, there was a major tragedy there just days ago. At about 3am local time on May 24th, there was a landslide that buried most of a village. The scale of the tragedy was not known at first. But reports of the amount of people who were buried in the landslide just kept escalating. First it was around 60 when I first heard about it over the weekend. Then it was well over 100, then over 200. Shortly thereafter, it climbed to about 2,000. That is how many people are believed to have been buried.
Very shortly, the people working on trying to recover those buried no longer considered it a rescue mission, but a recovery mission.
Often, it seems that when it rains, it pours. A few days ago, I saw news that a bridge crucial to recovery efforts had collapsed. Now, the United Nations has released a warning that there is a significant risk of diseases in the region following the landslide.
One really does not know how to respond to such tragic news. Papua New Guinea always felt so far away. Literally on the other side of the world, a small country (at least in terms of population) that you really rarely ever hear about. When you do, it is almost always because of bad news, as I mentioned earlier. In truth, I am not sure that I ever met anyone from Papua New Guinea. I have met some people from Indonesia, and some from the Philippines, as well as Australia. Those are countries which are relatively close, and which you do hear more about. But no, I actually do not believe that I have ever met anyone who was actually from Papua New Guinea, or even has been there. Yet, I feel saddened to have learned of this horrible calamity.
Admittedly, I am not particularly religious, and thus have never been one much for praying. Also, saying something like "thoughts and prayers" has been done to death here in the United States following tragedies (usually mass shootings) that those words almost feel at this point more like a standard go to line, rather than a sincere sentiment. But I did want to stop and at least write a blog entry to acknowledge this horrific story, and take a moment to reflect on the enormity of the tragedy and the suffering. I'm not sure that this really does anything, but doing anything possible to try and raise awareness and make sure that people at least know about such things, even in regions of the world that certainly seem remote and far from the everyday realities for most of us, feels like maybe it is doing something.
Tonight, I wanted to take this moment to reflect on what happened in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea says Friday’s landslide buried more than 2,000 people and formally asks for help by Rod McGuirk, Associated Press, May 27, 2024:
https://apnews.com/article/papua-new-guinea-landslide-3e1444634d8859b1f2378b334c6a0d41
Papua New Guinea Bridge Collapses on Landslide Aid Route By Reuters | May 28, 2024:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-05-28/papua-new-guinea-bridge-collapses-on-landslide-aid-route
UN warns of ‘significant’ disease risk after Papua New Guinea landslide by Al Jazeera, 30 May 2024:
The UN’s migration agency says displaced residents urgently need clean water, purification tablets and food supplies.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/30/un-warns-of-significant-disease-risk-after-papua-new-guinea
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