In 1971 I was living on the 17th floor of a tower block in the middle of Rochdale looking out to the beauties of Blackstone Edge. I was teaching in Heywood nearby. Papua New Guinea had been in my thinking since the late 1950s when my 80-year-old grandfather spent six months visiting the Kwato mission there. Barbara was a cellist and had been teaching music before deciding to work full-time with MRA (now Initiatives of Change), contributing her musical and culinary skills. We had met each other at conferences but we were not close.
A friend I trusted said to me, ‘If you are thinking of going to Papua New Guinea, this is the time to go with independence due in 1975.’ I applied to the Australian High Commissioner in London and was eventually accepted and was due to leave in January 1972. I sold my beloved Hillman Minx for £300 and invested the money in a copy of the film Freedom which had just been dubbed into Pidgin English. The film was written by several African leaders and pointed to the perils on the road out of colonialism to independence, with a moving story that highlighted the role of faith and personal reconciliation. Before I left, I was surprised to hear from a friend that Barbara had decided to go and work for MRA in Australia.
After an initial posting to a school on the island of Bougainville I was unexpectedly transferred to Kerevat Senior High School near Rabaul. It was only the second pre-university school in the country, with students drawn from every district of the country. I was the Head of the Social Science Department, with practically no textbooks and scarcely a syllabus. However, with six able teachers, the department did develop.
A further challenge was that the Australian District Commissioner in the area had been murdered by extremists just weeks before I arrived. There was much unrest so the film Freedom was highly relevant.
Barbara came to Papua New Guinea for a conference. I proposed in August 1973 and we were married in the United Church theological college near the school. The school chaplain performed the ceremony and, though a Methodist, thoughtfully used Anglican vows. A wonderful feast followed at school with three pigs and 64 chickens, and the students performed traditional dancing. Soon Barbara, who had trained as a teacher, was teaching music and helping the Social Science Department. She was also appointed Senior Mistress for the girls in our mixed boarding school
Freedom was shown to our students and in several of the educational institutions around Rabaul. It was taken up by the churches, both Catholic and the United Church (Protestant). By the time we left in 1976 it had been shown over 50 times. I remember discussing the eventual peace celebration of independence in 1975 with our friend Monsignor Bata. He just said, ‘Your film has made a difference.’
It was humbling to learn some years later that one of our students had been appointed Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea. We also heard from our first Head Girl how she was hounded and persecuted for insisting on integrity. On one particular issue she had her government car taken away in the night and her life was in danger. Later, however, she was given a trusted role by the Prime Minister. Barbara and I are glad we both took the risk of following where we believed God was leading us.
Patrick and Barbara Rohde
