1969 was a turning point in Australian Accountant Ray Grindley's life. As a Christian volunteer working with the United Church in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, he meticulously recorded details about the life and culture of the people of Teapu in northern Bougainville. Now, 50 years later, he has combined the stories, along with his own experiences living there, into one record, including stories of flying with Roger Young and Harold Morton, MAF Pilots. Traditional oral stories, conversations with people in the community, experiences travelling the island of Bougainville, historical backgrounds, kinship systems, initiation ceremonies, archeological artefacts, spiritual beliefs, the growth of the church, missionaries and their ministry, aspects of practical life such as gardening and fishing, all supported by many photographs, make this an amazingly valuable anthropological insight into Melanesian village life at that time.
