07/09/2026
FATHERS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Builders of Yesterday, Guardians of Tomorrow
A National Father's Day Celebration
Elders Poem
Sunday September 06th 2026
Grateful 👏 🇵🇬
From the highlands where the morning mist rises,
From valleys green beneath the mountain rain,
From islands scattered across the ocean,
From villages beside the rivers and plains,
There stand our fathers
The quiet builders of our nation,
The unseen architects of generations,
Men whose stories are written
Not always in books,
But in the lives of their children.
In the years after colonial rule,
Papua New Guinea was finding its feet.
A young nation was learning to govern itself,
To educate its children,
To build its roads,
To strengthen its communities,
And to dream its own dreams.
And our fathers stood among those builders.
They woke before sunrise.
They walked the garden paths.
They carried tools across mountains.
They crossed rivers.
They fished the sea.
They planted food.
They built houses.
They raised children.
They attended village meetings.
They settled disputes.
They protected their families.
And they gave what little they had
So their children could have something more.
Their hands were rough,
But their dreams were gentle.
Their clothes were simple,
But their responsibilities were great.
Their houses might have been built
From bush materials, timber and kunai,
Yet inside those homes
Were hopes bigger than the mountains.
They believed education
Could open a new door.
They believed discipline
Could shape a good person.
They believed community
Was stronger than selfishness.
They believed tomorrow
Could be better than yesterday.
Then Papua New Guinea changed.
The village became connected to the town.
The town grew into the city.
Roads reached places once separated
By mountains, rivers and distance.
Telephones entered our homes.
Computers entered our workplaces.
The internet entered our lives.
And a new generation emerged
Into a world our fathers never knew.
Today, a father may sit
Behind a computer instead of a garden fence.
He may drive to work
Instead of walking a bush track.
He may transfer money electronically
Instead of carrying produce to market.
He may communicate with his children
Through a mobile phone
Even when thousands of kilometres separate them.
But beneath the modern technology
The ancient responsibility remains.
A father must still provide.
A father must still protect.
A father must still teach.
A father must still guide.
A father must still love.
For technology can change the world around us,
But it cannot replace a father's presence.
Money can purchase a house,
But it cannot automatically build a home.
Education can provide knowledge,
But character must still be taught.
Modern society can provide opportunities,
But wisdom must still be passed
From one generation to another.
Therefore, fathers of Papua New Guinea:
Do not abandon the wisdom of your fathers
Simply because the world has changed.
Take the strength of yesterday
And combine it with the wisdom of tomorrow.
Teach our sons that strength
Is not violence.
Teach our daughters that dignity
Cannot be measured by possessions.
Teach our children that success
Is not merely wealth or position.
Teach them that integrity matters.
Teach them that service matters.
Teach them that family matters.
Teach them that community matters.
Teach them that Papua New Guinea matters.
And above all,
Teach them that a person's greatest legacy
Is not what he leaves in the bank,
But what he leaves in the hearts
And character of those who follow him.
To the fathers of our villages:
We salute you.
To the fathers of our rural districts:
We honour your sacrifice.
To the fathers of our towns and cities:
We recognise your struggles.
To the fathers working in offices,
On farms,
At sea,
On construction sites,
In classrooms,
In hospitals,
In police uniforms,
In defence service,
In businesses,
And across our communities:
Your contribution matters.
To fathers who migrated from village to city
Searching for opportunity:
Remember the soil from which you came.
Remember the people who raised you.
Remember the values that carried you here.
And remember those waiting for you
To build a better tomorrow.
To the fathers who have passed from this life:
Your voices may be silent,
But your lessons remain.
Your photographs may grow old,
But your memories remain young.
Your hands may rest,
But the work you began
Continues through your children.
And to the fathers yet unborn —
The fathers of tomorrow's Papua New Guinea:
You will inherit a different country.
You will inherit new technology,
New challenges,
New opportunities
And new responsibilities.
But you will inherit the same sacred duty:
To raise the next generation with wisdom,
To protect what is precious,
To serve your people,
And to leave your nation stronger
Than you found it.
From village fires
To city lights,
From kunai roofs
To concrete towers,
From handwritten letters
To instant messages,
From subsistence gardens
To modern economies,
From the generation that inherited independence
To the generation shaping the future —
The journey continues.
And standing at the centre of that journey
Is the father.
Not perfect.
Not without weakness.
But called to responsibility.
Called to love.
Called to lead.
Called to serve.
Called to leave a legacy.
So today, Papua New Guinea,
Let us pause.
Let the villages remember.
Let the districts remember.
Let the towns remember.
Let the cities remember.
Let our children remember.
We did not arrive here alone.
Behind every generation
Stand fathers and mothers
Who sacrificed something
So that we could become something.
Therefore, on this Father's Day,
We lift our voices beneath the Southern Cross:
To the fathers of yesterday — thank you.
To the fathers of today — stand strong.
To the fathers of tomorrow — lead wisely.
May our fathers be builders of peace.
May they be guardians of family.
May they be mentors to the young.
May they be servants of their communities.
May they be examples of integrity.
And may their lives help build
A stronger, safer, wiser
And more united Papua New Guinea.
From our villages to our districts,
From our towns to our cities,
From our past to our future
LET THE LEGACY OF FATHERHOOD LIVE ON.
Happy Father's Day
to the fathers of Papua New Guinea.
Your sacrifices built yesterday.
Your courage carries today.
Your wisdom must shape tomorrow.
