UPDATE – August 1, 2022

It started as a website…

When Children of the Sun was formed by Ron Meshanko, it was designed to be a depository for all things Huli: articles, photos, papers, videos, recordings, etc. He saw the effects of cultural change when he lived among the Huli for eight months. He knew then (1983) that Huli culture was slowly fading away. His dream was to take a snapshot of Huli myths, rituals and culture to preserve the knowledge for future generations of the Hela people. So far, we have published over 70 pages and 65 posts. A full report on the website will be given after six months (September) which is the standard time when new websites finally begin to receive many more “hits” from search engine referrals.

A Group Effort

Ron asked photographers and writers to donate their works to the website. The response was excellent, ten photographers and businesses joined the project and donated their art. Ron also recruited writers and anthropologists to join the growing number of supporters. Ron expanded the mission of Children of the Sun to becoming a group effort for supporting the development of educational Huli cultural resources based on the information gathered.

A Huli Project

Betty Gabriel Wakia joined the group effort and became the project’s co-Director. She put the word out in the Hela Province. The large response made the website readership base Papua New Guinean. Betty recruited eight persons involved in some aspect of Huli education. Together with the four anthropologists Ron invited, we now have a very strong starting base for the education component which has been named Piganengi or “In the Beginning.”

Six advisors were asked to help Ron and Betty expand the readership base, recruit supporters, and advise co-directors as the program unfolds.

Once at least four more Huli persons are recruited as advisors, they will help the co-directors prepare the organizational meeting to be held by 1 September 2022.

We are honored that Governor Phillip Undialu is supporting the project and is connecting us with the Hela Education Minister. We will make you proud to be Hela Huli, honorable Sir.

The Jimmy Nelson Foundation gave us permission to use his art and is considering ways to work with us in our projects. Their mission is the same as ours, except we are doing for one tribe what he does for the world. We can learn from him.

What You can do now…

We hope you tell your friends to view the website and become a supporter. Retweet and repost articles on Facebook and social media.

Submit articles, photos, videos, etc. for publication on the website and/or educational resources.

Send in suggestions to Ron and Betty for the website and/or educational project. Your input is invaluable.

Betty and I thank you for joining this initiative to preserve and celebrate Huli culture.

Together, we can and will do this.

Ron Meshanko and Betty Gabriel Wakia