A blast in the past - a journey back in time

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

Batch '65

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

THIS inaugural launching edition is a blast in the past. And a massive one, indeed.

Two weeks ago, when I finally set out to begin organizing the inaugural edition our cyber bulletin board "Mambulaoans WorldWide Buzz", I had nothing on hand to start with.

My Facebook appeals previously for story contributions to those whom I thought would take interest in went unheeded.

In short, nobody bothered to share their stories so this humble newsletter could take off, as planned.

I had to start from real scratch, but there was nothing to scratch on, unlike in lotto where, at least, there would be numbers to come out and give you some hopes that may be close to the "ambos".

So what to do?

Realizing, however, that this newsletter is aimed at reviving the interest of one Mambulaoan to another, the need to go back in time - during the gold old days in our childhood when the living was easy and gold, iron ore and fish were aplenty - is vital for the simple reason that HAD  the golden days in our youth been able sustain itself to these days of seemingly endless economic difficulties, there wouldn't be - just my speculation anyway -- any Mambulaoans in the Middle East, in Europe, in South America, in China, in Asia, who are toiling like a dog, under extreme and stressful working conditions - except for those who wanted to eke out a dollar overseas for the heck of earning a buck and not because he needed to in order to bring food on the table.

There's a need therefore, to relive the good old days and to remind our fellow Mambulaoans that we were that good, only something went wrong along the way that many of us now - against our will - are savagely removed from home - away from our families, away from our loved ones - before we could set out into the new millennium of our lives and talk about the present.

As a young boy who became aware of our family's journey from what we where before to what we are now, I hoarded heaps and heaps of memories - both happy and sad - that suddenly sprang, and spurred me into writing them back to life.

Larap had been a part of my young life, having known it in like the back of my hand and the stories about this mining community that welled up inside my head where just too much for me to ignore and therefore not write about them.

This is one reason this edition has looked, or shall we say, has almost become like a web spread offering a tribute to the memories of Larap that had become so endeared to me.

But of course, Larap is just a part of the story - although it occupies a big tale in this edition.

So, fellow Mambulaoans across the world, this is for you.

Enjoy.