Tomasi Kaitogega was probably my best friend in the village of Nubogeta. We worked together for 30 years on the translation. Tomasi gave his life to this work. He gave up doing a lot of other things to work with me each time I came to Papua New Guinea. He was a very good friend.
I received word from another friend, Benedi, on Dec. 26, 2015 that Tomasi had passed away on Christmas day. In his skype message, Benedi reminded me that Tomasi had told us the week before I left that when I returned to the US, he would die. I thought he was just joking. But he was serious. He had been having mild chest pains. I thought maybe pneumonia, but when I listened to his chest, he was quite clear. He complained of a tooth ache that seemed to be an abscessed tooth. Then the night before I left he had a fever of 105. I thought it might be malaria so treated him for that. The next day he seemed to be a lot better. How he knew he was leaving us, I have no idea. But he is in good hands.
He will be missed both as a friend and a co-translator. I don't think the village people realize who they lost. He had learned so much. When you realize he had never been to school, it's amazing how far he had come.
We know where he is and I will see him again. So we move on to finish what we started back in 1985.
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