Our Time But Not Our Place: Voices of expatriate women in Papua New Guinea

By: Myra Jean Bourke and Susanne Holz and Kathy Kituai and Linda Roach

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Synopsis: Over the years thousands of women, mostly Australians, have lived as expatriates in Papua New Guinea. We went there at different points in our lives and for a variety of reasons. Some of us were keen to go; we were looking for adventure in exotic surroundings, seeking our fortunes, changing jobs, running away from unhappy situations, furthering our professional or academic interests. Many of us were motivated to go to a developing country to 'do good'. Others went because their partners or their parents had an ambition, an obsession or a contract. All have stories to tell.So begins Our Time But Not Our Place in which 31 women tell us of their experiences of Papua New Guinea. Their voices are as diverse as the encounters they describe; their stories span the time between 1930 and 1990; together their responses challenge commonly held views of the expatriate condition.