Williamson Update - Fun with Pets...

It’s not all hard work and sacrifice living here among the Tobo people of PNG. We’ve had a lot of opportunities for fun in the last 6 months as well! We’d like to take this update to highlight the kids and the fun they’ve had with pets recently. Besides Judah’s occasional spiders, praying mantises, worms & grasshoppers…we started out our pet adventures with a bird that a boy shot in the wing and brought to us from the jungle. He was a bright, rainbow colored, beautiful bird. We quickly built a cage out of wood & screen and found some berries nearby that he eats. The kids had fun holding him and watching him hop around (he couldn’t fly since his wing was broken). We especially got a good laugh when it hopped up on Jason’s head and went to the bathroom! The kids named him Jammer. Two days later someone brought us another bird just like Jammer, so we put this one in the same cage and he was a little bit feisty so the kids named him Snapper. The birds got along really well, until a few days passed and we woke up to realize that little Snapper had died. This was the kid’s first lesson in “life & death” so it was a rough day for Kadynn who kept saying in a sulky voice “I’ll never love another bird”. Well, without his companion, Jammer died 2 days later. I think we had the birds for a total of like 8 days! We would have thought that we weren’t very good pet people if we hadn’t found out that our partners had not had the best of luck either with those kind of birds. They must not do very well in captivity (or especially in the house of a 6,4 & 2 year old). Rest in peace Jammer & Snapper…

Our next pet adventure started when we took a family walk up to the village and saw some cute puppies that had been born 5 weeks earlier. After some begging from me & the kids, Jason quickly caved in and we walked home with our very own dog! We gave him the name “Kina” which is the name for the monetary unit here in PNG. A few weeks had passed until we realized that when we were out walking him on the airstrip and calling his name, the Tobo people seemed to shy away from us and even looked frightened at times. We soon found out that the word “Kina” in the Tobo language means “bite him” and it’s actually a command you would give a dog if he is out hunting for food! I guess we should’ve asked a few questions first before naming him J. However, it didn’t take the people long to realize that we had given him the name Kina and that we weren’t actually commanding him to bite them!! He has grown very quickly and is now Judah’s buddy. It’s a lot of fun to have a dog, except when he chews up my only pair of slippers, and it does make it feel more like a home.

When we started with one pet we just couldn’t stop! I guess after 7 years of not owning our home, we feel like now we can do whatever we want! Several months ago we saw a for sale ad for a 6 month old rabbit who needed a home (here in PNG we have an “ebay” among fellow NTMer’s as a way to buy & sell stuff we no longer want). I (Nisae) was actually the one who talked Jason into getting this pet, but Kadynn quickly claimed it as hers! It was quite fun bringing a foreign pet in here to live among the Tobo people. They’ve never seen rabbits!! They thought it’s long ears were funny and kept licking their lips and commenting about what good meat it would provide for them if they had one of their own! They begged us to get a female and begin to populate the area with rabbits. So… a few weeks later we ran across a pregnant female! We flew her in and quickly built a nice rabbit cage for our new rabbits. Kadynn has had fun looking after them & feeding them and taking them for walks on our porch! We’ve been anxiously checking the cage of the female as she is due any day!

Straight from the mouths of our 3 little ones

Kadynn- age 6- DOB November 27, 2001
What kind of pet do you have? “I have 2 rabbits”
What are their names? “Toea & Lola” (Toea “toy-a” is the name of the coin here in PNG)
What color are they? “Toea is black and Lola is white.”
Where did you get them from? “On the airplane”
What do you like most about them? “I like Lola because she is going to have babies. And all I like about Toea is that he jumps around and he likes his cage.”
What do you feed them? “Cabbage, kaukau (sweet potato), and sako (lettuce)”
What’s your favorite thing about living in Tobo? “I don’t know, they’re all my favorite things! I like that there’s a lot of dogs and Kina keeps running off and playing with them and it’s really funny. I like that. It’s just like a movie. I like playing with my friends Sophia, Micah & Malachi. (Our partner’s kids) We always get packages, sometimes. Playing soccer with the tribal kids. That’s it. Oh wait…I like going on a walk on the airstrip. I like going on hikes to the village. And I like going on new trails to get to the airstrip and back. And I like all the flowers in Tobo, there are red ones, blue ones, and green ones. And, one more thing…and we like playing outside with the tribal kids. That’s it!” (hmm, I think she likes it here!)

Judah- age 4- DOB April 17, 2004
What kind of pet do you have? “A dog!”
What is his name? “Kina”
What color is he? “Black”
Where did you get him from? “From Jaben” (his friend up in the village)
What do you like most about him? “I like dancing with Kina, and I like playing with spiders with Kina, and Kina came inside when he was little. He plays with me and chews on sticks. I play fetch with him. Kina likes to go up on the mountain and slide down the rock slide. He likes to hang around and swim (well, not really).”
What else do you like to play with? “Geckos. I like to roll down the hills. 13 (I don’t know why he keeps saying that over and over!) Play letters & outside.”
What’s your favorite thing about living in Tobo? “Playing with big dogs and Kina. Playing with the bunnies. Playing with my toys & my new birthday toys. Ok, I want down so I can go catch more spiders.” (I think he likes the all the bugs here!)

Eden- age 2- DOB September 18, 2005
Question- Do you have a pet? “Yah, I have a pet”
Do you like your pets? “I like my pets”
What kind of pets do you have? “I have 2 dogs and a rabbit” (I think she means 2 rabbits and a dog)
What’s your favorite thing about living in Tobo? “Um, I have 2 dogs! And, um, I like in airplanes and fly.”

Well, there you have it. I don’t think our kids are lacking in anything, except maybe hugs from grandparents J. They have certainly enjoyed all of our adventures with pets, it makes everyday exciting! We are so thankful the Lord has His way of fulfilling our desires as we serve Him among the Tobo people. Thanks for all you do to keep us here. Until our next adventure…

Your hands, feet & animal lovers,
Jason, Nisae, Kadynn, Judah & Eden