32 year old Washington Gini from Garuahi village in the Milne Bay Province will tomorrow morning begin a three day journey inland to the mountains in a search for fertile land to grow food.
This is what it has come to for villagers like Gini as El Niño continues to spread destruction in the province.
Loop PNG caught up with Gini as he headed to the canteen to buy a small lamp and a packet of rice for his journey.
“Tomorrow I will leave at 7am with my wife and my small brother to the Oyapopo mountains. It will take us about one whole day of walking to get there.
“We will stay the weekend clearing land at the foot of the mountains where it is much cooler and plant corn, pumpkin, watermelon and hope it grows,” said Gini.
The father of two kids said he had been making this journey for the past two weeks but for other villagers, they had been heading to the mountains to garden for months.
“It’s not like before where we could go to our gardens close by and get food in a few minutes. Now it’s getting harder and harder every week to grow food and survive.
“Even hunting animals to eat has become harder because they too have moved to the mountains looking for food and water,” said Gini.