Papua New Guinea is the most cultural society as any one society can get. From the distinct 800 plus languages to the diversity different traditions of each PNG society and community.

One of those practices among many is the informal education. Any Papua New Guinean girl growing up in a typical village setting can recite their ‘lessons’ just like one in a formal setting recites hers.

Even if one moves to formal education later on in life, the learning that takes place informally cannot be ignored or overlooked.

The early influences of home and culture have a lasting effect on the lives of women because in most childhoods of young Papua New Guinean women, their parent’s expectations contributed to their work, behaviour and culture.

When it comes to specific tasks, it varies across regions, provinces and communities.The sense of women’s works was entailed to the cultural context.

The specific tasks may include tasks such asworking in the house, preparing meals, craft making, gardening, shell-fishing for those in the islands or pig raising for the highlands girls, minding the younger siblings and showing hospitality to visitors.

All these activities were the main specific tasks that were included in the informal education of the young women and basically fell into the two groups of domestic tasks and livelihood tasks as it can already be seen by reading.

Another similarity was that the specific tasks related directly or indirectly to the care of family members because all the domestic tasks that were comprised in informal learning held an element of care and nurturance.

In this part of the world, informal learning at home was not only restricted to the specific tasks which involved caring for others but the informal education also proved itself to be an element of preparations for adult lifefor the women.

You might hear young Papua New Guinean women echoing anecdotes such as “I was taught the roles of a woman and the expectations of a female in a traditional society or I was responsible for my mother’s job because I was brought up with the sense of being a mother.”

These are phrases where we are all too familiar with coming from the lips of a proud Papua New Guinean woman.

 Other times, it seemed that the tasks were part of “disciplined work” given to the young girl. This was done so to punish the child but in order to meet parental expectations, there was a required certain degree of consistent hard work and discipline.

Of course siblings who grew up with brothers were conscious of a difference in their upbringing and allowed somewhat more “freedom” for males than the females as it would seem to some.

Despite difference in some regions than others, one thing however can be agreed upon. That through the informal education and specific tasks learnt in childhood, it demonstrates a significant preparation for adult life.

Moreover, the nurturing responsibilities conti8nued to be carried out during the youth and adulthood lifetime.

 And finally, the effect these responsibilities for others had on a woman’s own development as a woman is a story that only one woman can tell of her own.

Amanda Kundil