Category — Wabag

On a visit to the Enga Cultural Centre, the Take Ande, I was introduced to a legendary Engan leader who through necessity, brilliance, perseverance and very strong internal values, overcame some major hurdles to achieve significant social status and strong tribal influence.

One of the wall mounts about Takime

The remarkable aspects of this legendary person was that first, she was a female and second, she had married into the tribe.

Her name was Takime. She was born in around 1911 and married Lapinyo, a man from the Waripa clan of Enga. They had two sons, Keko&Temo, and their marriage was a normal one as it was back in those days. He did all the men’s works and roles in the tribe and as per custom, she looked after the kids, tended the gardens, fed the pigs and attended to all the female roles.

But one day, her husband was killed in a tribal fight.  Her sons were still very young and the distraught widow had to make a decision on what to do.  She decided that the boys still needed a father.

So she made an extreme option.

Instead of marrying another man, she decided that should be both mother and father to the boys. [Read more →]

In the heart of Wabag Town, the capital of the mountainous province of Enga, lies a masterpiece of cultural learning and preservation.

The Enga Take Anda (pronounced Takkeh Andaa) Tradition & Transition Centre is a beautifully designed building that houses a great collection of Engan traditional and modern history, organised fantastically as exhibitions.

The Enga Take Anda Tradition & Transitional Centre ( more images below)

These exhibitions include wall montages, reprints of old and historic photographs, documents, stone artefacts, carvings, wigs, miniature buildings and examples of Engan architecture, explanations of folk lore and folk songs and more.

[Read more →]

One of the most scenic towns in Papua New Guinea is Wabag the capital of Enga.

Sugarcane seller at Wabag Town

Surrounded by mist covered mountains with a river running through a gorge in the centre of town and another river, the famous Lai, running around it, the town is green all year round with flowering plants and green pines flourishing beautifully in the cold alpine climate. [Read more →]

Sleepy eyed, I arrived to a packed Port Moresby airport at 5 am in the morning to check in for the flight to Wapenamanda, Enga Province.

Enga Boy with his pup...waiting with me for the bus to Wabag

There were long queues at the check-in counter. I stood at the line where the sign for Wapenamanda was up. But we were not being served, the desk instead being used to check a horde of anxious passengers for Lae and the New Guinea Island region. [Read more →]