Brief History of the Warakamb Valley

(Above, Emda Madak, where the first white men settled, and a photo of part the valley, as it is today.


There is no written history. But from what has been been passed on through the years, one can make out world events and make out some history.
The first explorers of the Highlands were in the 1930s. The first white man probably walked through the Warakamb Valley 5 or 10 years later. On noticing the beauty of the Warakamb Valley, some decided to settle. Nobody remembers any names, but the locals all remember a 'Kon' or white men. Nobody was killed.
The first Christians were not Adventists. They were catholics and Anglicans. They settled at Winja, Makep and Emda Manda. They set up cow paddocks, a school and others. They built very good houses, overlooking the Warakamb swamps. However, this was not to last for ever.
The locals started doing nasty things to the white settlers. They left one by one and all were gone. The trace of them were only the trees they had planted. There was a big vacuum left.
The first Adventists arrived probably in the early 1960s. They settled at what is now the Walemtenges or Warakamb SDA church. They convinced and won the hearts of the locals and stayed with them.
However, tribal fights started erupting. Many young people went to war,not to return to the church. But the faithful few remained and kept the light burning, although, eventually it started to get cold. There came a time when things were just going down hill; spiritually, health and moral values and socio economic development all started going down. The place was becoming a bit like Sodom and Gomora.
Around the 1990s, some of the pastors and missionaries who had gone from the valley to spread the word of God far and wide within the Western Highlands union mission, started to return with their grown up children back to the valley. Coupled with some locally brought up elites, they formed what is now known as Warakamb Adventist Elite and Clergymen's Association (WAECA). They sat through long hours, day and night, in times of rain and sunshine, talking, d and ebating arguing to establish the foundations of WAECA.
Many people respect WAECA. The Lord has blessed us. Satan is on the loose and trying to put us down, but Jesus defeated him by dying on the cross, then getting up again to go to heaven. With God on our side, we will strife to be better. the Lord will help us to make Warakamb a better place again, to claim our place on earth, until the second comming. Although WAECA is mainly an Adventist organisation, we would like to reach out within and also beyond the valley. For more information, contact info@waeca.com