On Tuesday 14th June I handed a large umbrella to my mums. Mums is a respectful reference to senior women.
The umbrella was handed on a rainy day. All she had for protection was an orange plastic sheet.
My buai mums is from the Goilalala District of Central Province. She receives betelnut from her home District which she wholesales at Manu. It is at Manu that I buy her betelnut and resell them at my street.
Such is the nature of the Buai trade in Port Moresby. It is important to build relationships that are mutually beneficial. This is important as product quality is not guaranteed. A vendor with whom one has developed cordial relations would not sell one a faulty product.
As a street vendor, the fact that there is no guarantee of returning a faulty product means that if I were to buy warawara buai [bad betelnut] I would incur a loss. Having a buai mums means that I can get a good product. She even informs me if the betelnut is bad and adds extra to cover for the bad product.
I introduced my mum as in my biological mum to my buai mums. It was my mum who bought the umbrella for my buai mums I delivered it to her.
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