Wandering along the path feeling a little like Captain Cooks advance party must have years ago, we spied a tidy local settlement in the trees. Miriam came out to greet us with a huge smile. She is the chiefs daughter and a teacher at the local primary school and spoke English well. She welcomed us to the village and proceeded to take us on a little tour of this charming village. In a way it reminded me of a country village in England, there was a village green with little houses around it, kids playing football and the younger ones in the trees, well tended gardens and small social groups hanging out together (it was a Sunday). Obviously it was a world apart from the Cotswold villages of my youth but something struck a chord, it was the sense of community and pride in it. The dirt tracks were swept over, plants and hedges were trimmed, houses were constructed by the men and the women wove the walls and roof. Miriam took us through the village to the white sand beach, pointing out the vegetable gardens en route. She had been up early that day and caught 4 fish for her family but had to use her sisters line as hers had broken. We resolved to give her some of ours in the morning. We explained that we wanted to visit the volcano on Mt Yasur so she took us to meet her brother who would arrange it for us. On the way we passed the school where she works, unpaid, as the teacher for the youngest ones. Miriam was full of excitement and pride as she pointed out the new computer room. Fund raising in Australia had raised enough for the construction on this building and they had a couple of computers (no internet yet). Miriam had never used a computer in her life and was a little nervous but clearly keen to learn. The following morning we bought the fishing line and some clothes for the kids to her and she traded bananas, papaya and a interesting vegetable which I have yet to cook and is as yet currently un named!