Papua New Guinea and shool kids

 Where in the world is Papua New Guinea - aka PNG?

From Wikipedia:

Papua New Guinea is an island country that lies in the south-western Pacific. It includes the eastern half of New Guinea and many small offshore islands. Its neighbours include Indonesia to the west, Australia to the south and Solomon Islands to the south-east.

The territory of Papua New Guinea was split in the 1880s between German New Guinea in the north and the British Territory of Papua in the south, the latter of which was ceded to Australia in 1902. All of present-day Papua New Guinea came under Australian control following World War I, although it remained two distinct territories. The nation was the site of fierce fighting during the New Guinea campaign of World War II, following which the two territories were united in 1949. Papua New Guinea became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1975. Representing the King is a Governor-General. Politics takes place within a Westminster system, with the government led by a Prime Minister. Members of the national parliament also serve as provincial leaders.

Papua New Guinea is a developing economy where nearly 40% of the population are subsistence farmers living relatively independently of the cash economy.

We took a bus tour from our dockage in Alotau, along a very bumpy road to East Cape Wharf. 

The tour startted just up the hill from the ship - with a tourist photo opp.

We happened to be visiting during their 50 year anniversary of Independence.

We saw no evidence of infrastructure in the countryside where people lived. No electricity, no water, or sewer. Yet people all seemed genuinely happy. The highlight of our day was a visit to a school. They prepared for our visit with a spread of local foods. For music, they played american tunes, including the country/western hit "Achy Breaky Heart." I just had to start dancing the Electric Slide and, to my delight, several of our Odysseans joined in as well as many of the kids!