Two Eunice Messersmiths

Eunice, Eunice Messersmith and her mother Maureen

In Papua New Guinea it is culturally correct to have a woman help with taking care of your house.  I have had the same person since 1984 working for me.  Her name is Juli and she has four children.  All of her children have grown up in our house.  When Juli started working for us, her oldest daughter, Dorothy, was about three years old.

Jan and I have always felt one of the best ways for us to help our PNG friends is to help with school fees.  There is no free education in PNG.  School fees are the largest expense a family has.

We have paid for all of Juli’s children to attend school.  Maureen attended all the way through grade twelve.  This is not the case with most PNG children.  Maureen is now married and has a daughter of her own.

Her daughter was born in 2009, while I was in the USA.  Jan wrote me an email and said there are now two Eunice Messersmiths living in Madang.  Maureen has had a baby girl and her name is Eunice Messersmith.  I thought Messersmith was her middle name and so I asked what is her last name and was told that her name was only Eunice Messersmith.

Eunice lives in the village and her father works for a mining company here in Madang.  She is very smart for her age.