Mun Primary School - Br. Rick Gaffney

Rosary had some fine members of staff, particularly women members, and their dedication was remarkable. Together with the expatriate Brothers and Sisters, and other Volunteers like myself, we worked together to ensure that Rosary Secondary School survived and flourished. I have an enormous admiration for the administration of Br Bernie as Headmaster and Br Raffy as Deputy.

By Br. Rick Gaffney

In the 1990s, all of the National Brothers were primary school or elementary school teachers. However, none of the Brothers communities was specifically established for a primary school ministry. Therefore, National Brothers often had to travel each day to get to their Community School or Elementary School where they were working. So that the Brothers could have a community with the ministry focus on a primary school, the National Brothers themselves looked at various options within Papua New Guinea. These included places in Central and Western Highlands Province. Thanks to the work of Br. Teddy, St Joseph’s Primary School in Mun Western Highlands was chosen as the location for the new community. The parish priest Fr. Joseph and the parish council were very welcoming.

At the beginning of 1999, Brothers Rick, Erico, Boni and Henry began the Brothers’ Community there. Brothers Rick, Erico and Boni taught in the school, while Henry travelled each day to Holy Trinity Teachers College to complete his studies. The people of Mun and the local area were quickly aware of and happy at the arrival of the Brothers. Mun was a great place to live: the people were friendly and very interested in what the Brothers were doing, and the local markets were full of fresh fruit and vegetables. The Brothers cooked using a kerosene stove, the fuel bought from sellers in the local village. The school was located quite close to a river where the Brothers could wash and swim, as well as wash their clothes.

In the school, the Brothers found Lasallians already teaching there. They were part of the Lasallian teachers’ group that had grown from the Lasallian Family group, led by Br. Ignatius Kennedy at Holy Trinity Teacher’s College in Mt Hagen. We learned a lot from them about Lasallian formation.

Most of the students and their families spoke Melpa and could also communicate in Tok Pisin. Conversations with the younger students and some of their parents was in Tok Pisin. Student reports were written in both English and Tok Pisin when needed. The younger students who had come through the new elementary school system could also read in Melpa. So, at school prayer services, readings in Melpa were read by a younger rather older student. The school was Grade 3 to Grade 8. In 1999 when the Brothers arrived the school had its first Grade 8 class.

The Brothers were able to teach the Grade 7 and 8 students as they had taught these subjects in other schools. Between the three Bothers we taught almost all of their Grade 7 and 8 subjects, that were part of the Grade 8 National exams. The Brothers found the students excited and ready to learn from these newly arrived teachers. They greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn and converse in English.

The students also taught the Brothers phrases in Melpa, enjoyed sharing local stories, and walking around the local Dei District with them. The Grade 8’s who did their National exams at the end of 1999 did exceedingly well, and all achieved a place in High School for Grade 9.

St Joseph’s Primary School also had part of a coffee plantation on the school grounds. The Brothers supervised the students work with the coffee trees, which was a case of the blind (the Brothers) leading the perfectly sighted (the students), as the Brothers knew nothing about the growing of the coffee. All the students, from the youngest, were experts, as their families all had coffee trees. The school also had extensive gardens established by the students, where they needed no instruction at all on how to garden. There was no local aid post, so Br. Rick helped students as best he could, using a medical book called ‘Where There is No Doctor’ together with medication purchased from chemists in Mt Hagen.

At the end of 1999, Brothers Boni, Erico and Henry left Mun. Br Rick was joined at the start of 2000 by Br Gabriel. They were part of the Hagen Brothers community, but spent a few nights each week at Mun, so that they did not need to travel each day to school. During these years, the Lasallian formation of teachers, led by the teachers, continued to grow. By the end of 2000, when Br Rick and Br Gabriel had to leave Mun, because there were no other Brothers available to join them, the school had become an Associated Lasallian school. After the Brothers’ departure, the Lasallian teachers of St Joseph’s reached out to teachers from other schools, and shared their Lasallian formation widely.

These two years were the first time that I had lived in a village location, sharing in village life, with teachers and their families living side by side with us. It was the first time I was able to live closely with National Brothers and share in their ministry. I also experienced the Lasallian faith and zeal of teachers closely, and I grew in my understanding and experience of what it meant to be a Lasallian in PNG. From an educational perspective, after being in PNG for 5 years, I finally began to appreciate the challenges faced by teachers and students teaching and learning in English, while living lives fully immersed in their Tok Ples.