This is a Kopra house where coconut is cooked. Coconut oil is one of the cash crops in the lowlands of PNG. Whole coconuts are cut in half and placed in the top floor of the house. On the bottom is a fire. The fire burned all night, and in the mid-morning some of us girls, including Tia, went to get it ready to bring to town, where it is processed into coconut oil. Tia and Fransisca loaded the dried coconut into bags, which we dumped on the ground and began cutting into small pieces. They let me work until I got a blister on my finger from the bush knife. They were so worried I was going to cut my finger. 
