sounds like it will be a mad trip, good for the kids up there for sure. good luck with getting some gear for the lads and lasses up that way.

Mate, I think your idea might not be such a good one. By all means go to png and kite yourself stupid all day and sip SP's all night but be very careful giving locals, kids in particular kite gear. The saying "it's all good fun till someone loses an eye" has big ramifications in png. They still operate at a local level by the "pay back system". If someone is hurt compansation will become a big issue. If someone (unlikely I know) were killed, then you would be killed. It happened at the airport where I worked when a mob killed 2 guys with star pickets (pulled out of the ground there and then) because they ran over a child driving to the airport. As the story goes the child didn't die so pay back then had to go back the other way. I used to surf in the back blocks up there and never left a board for the kids for this reason. I think you might have to ajust the way you calculate personal risk bofore you get there. This is not a trip to indo. There is serious poverty and serious crime going on in the major towns. Mainly morsby, Lae and the high lands. There is a reason anyone with any cash lives behind a big fence with razor wire and armed gaurds. You will be fine in the coastal villages but you will need to develope a nose for trouble and think twice about what your doing at night, and always remember, life sadly, can be pretty cheap up there. And no, I'm not going to tell you where the best waves are. Have fun, stay safe and don't try to save the world on your first day.

First of all,good on ya for promoting the sport and helping people less fortunate than us lucky enough to live in awsome aussie land.BUT, what happends when you show them the fun of kite boarding,give them some second hand gear to use,then in 6 months time the gear is trashed,un-usable,they are addicted to it,but earning $50 a week,cant afford to get more gear?That would be really depressing.

Sorry,not trying to be negative,just know how frustrated I would be being in love with the sport and if I was not able to get gear to use,aaarrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhh.

Good onya though.Your doing alot more than me sitting here haveing a beer and critersizing you.
good luck with it all.

PS. If you want someone to come over there with you,all expenses paid of courseto help you surf and kite uncrowded,perfection.Dont hesertate to contact me.lol

got some gear for you if you want ,ie 2 wipika kitres, a bic 6.6 board,harness,still searching for some bars let me know when and where you would like it sent.

got some gear for ya ,ie 2 wipika kites ,pump,1 6.6 bic directional,1 harness,still looking for bars for kites ,let me know where and when you want it

Sounds like fun, there is no doubt you will have a blast.

From my experience up there (I learnt to kite in PNG, taught informally by the master JayP himself), whilst a lofty goal, teaching the local kids to kite and giving them old gear does have some issues, mainly safety. Village kids go nuts when they see kites and tend to swarm, both in and out of the water and I have had some issues trying to land on a few occasions with so many about.

I shudder to think about local kids learning by themselves in crowded situations in the regular 25kts they get up there this time of year....Local kids do things in big groups and even if you teach a few how to be safe, there will 15 grabbing the gear off them as soon as you are gone. There is also the issue of what happens when they get the first blow out, tear, boken line, etc etc. They really can't afford to fix anything, and repair/maintenance is not a big thing in the culture.

JayP and his family have donated a whole heap of windsurfing gear to the local kids and they are truly amazing how they have taught themselves, and they learn to repair sails and stuff as they have a natural seafaring/sailing culture, but most importantly they can't really hurt themselves with the poley stuff.

If you are hooked up with the surfing association then you will already be in contact with JayP, and he will be able to steer the best approach, and I like the showcase aspect - just somone doing trips like this is a good thing and your presence will mean a lot to the locals, but I think there are better things you can do instead of teaching kids and handing out old kite gear. Make your way down to Hula, that is the best spot and has probably only been kited a handfull of times.....ever.

PNG is actuallly pretty safe once you get out of Moresby, don't expect much in the way of 5 star comfort though...

From little things big things grow. Good luck. Naysayers evrywhere?

myusernam said...

I dunno - I'm thinking kids from PNG don't need to learn to kite. It's to gear intensive and expensive. You'll have one kite per thousands of kids and if one bit craps out it's useless. Prolly end up used as tarps or sails. Also if one does get keen what then? they wont be able to afford it.
If you care by all means go and help out with something that is desperatley needed like immunisation or education. Find some kid that is dying for the sake of $50 and help em out but why teach them to kite just because you like it? how much of it is about you being an adventure man and having stories to tell compared to the children of PNG? I'd feel like a bit of a wanker going over there and telling the parents I'm doing a good thing teaching their kids to kite when they're struggling to eat or walking around on a broken leg. If any of them hurt themselves they won't be able to afford to travel to a doctor, get an x-ray. Old Kite would be far better off used as a sail on the on the village canoe. That would improve their quality of life.

u cant be serious with this post!?

I lived in Port Moresby and ran a business there for many years and employed over 70 of the locals. Some of the postings above may be a little critical however are probably pretty well spot on !! If you are thinking about taking gear over to teach the locals forget it, you will achieve no good out of it and possibly do as others have explained a lot of damage. It would be better to sell the gear and invest in a stack of NRL footballs, this is wheere their passion lies and one of the best opportunities they have of getting out of their disgraceful 3rd world existance. The average Papua New Guinean is a great person, we grew very fond of them but the facts are it is a 3rd world country with horrendous crimes, yes you can travel up and down the coast and within POM for a short time or over a life time and never see the dark side but NOTE when it happens there is nothing more hidieous then what a bunch of PNG's can do to a living person. This does not make then any less likeable, it is just the way they are and within their culture mixed with poverty.
Be very careful whom you travel with, a simple trip to Hola which I have done many times can end up in a major disaster, I was always entertained by the newer expats believe that they knew what they were doing and it would never happen to them or that they were in control, only to hear many times over of a serious attack. If I was attending which I would consider doing, I would be reasonably confident of sourcing the correct people to travel with (coupled with fire power). I did notice that Jason Pini is involved, I would consider Jasons involvment as experienced but I would also be concerned that a number of long term expats do become very complacent at times.
PS If the Jason gets to read this - please say hello to your Dad Kevin from Mark Laruffa