I grew up in a world where values were not just words — they were lived, traded, and honoured. My time in In Papua New Guinea as a teenager from England, I watched the rhythm of life that was marked by deep exchange and meaning. In the old days, trade a pig for a chicken — not as a transaction, but as a symbol of relationship, respect, and survival.
I still remember seeing women nursing tiny piglets, holding them close to their bodies. The pig was more than an animal — it was life itself, the heartbeat of a family. It represented nourishment, strength, and even the bridge between people. The pig could one day become a bride price, a gift that honoured union, family, and community.
Before the Kina became the shiny coin we know today, it was a string of shells — delicate, beautiful, and full of meaning. The Kina was not just money; it was history, story, and promise. Then it became a coin with a hole in the centre — a symbol of movement and change.
But as the world turned and modern ways came in, I learned a hard truth: not everyone trades with honesty. I have been caught in moments where I gave — time, trust, energy — and got nothing back. Fraud wears many faces, and one of them is the face of false exchange.
In PNG, in their culture, there is always a balance — a price for everything given. No one gives and receives nothing. There is always a reckoning, a restoring of balance. I hold onto that value even now.
As I heal and prepare to return to England, I remind myself that my whisper is my dancing. My movement through life carries my story — one of giving, learning, and reclaiming. My black boxes — my experiences, my history, my creative expressions — hold the lessons I’ve gathered along the way.
The universe knows balance. It sees when you’ve given in good faith. I trust that what was taken will be restored, and that Australia will acknowledge its ways— Because no one should give everything and receive nothing.
That is not how the universe, or true value, works.
