Vanunome is a primitive island southwest of Papua. Although technically under the government of Papua New Guinea, the island remains too primitive for the Papua government to do anything beyond patrolling the surrounding ocean. Like many of the primitive populations around the world, they live without census, medical care, education, or roads.
Vanunome does have a primitive port through which they trade for goods from the outside world. They even have three television sets shared by the hundreds of islanders. They are not starving. They do practice primitive agriculture which provides them with beans, fruits, tubers and rice, all of which are native variants only found on Vanunome. It is their agriculture that they use to trade for modern conveniences.
Ben and Jason go to Vanunome for three lucrative reasons. One is to see if the market for the rice or fruit can be improved to increase the wealth of the islanders. Two is to make a documentary about the culture. Three is that they've been promised land of their own on the island and jobs as government representatives if they are successful at setting up the fruit or rice markets.
At the port, everything is friendly. They meet a Vanunome native named Ralu who speaks English and agrees to be their guide. However, before they can venture into the island past the port, they must submit to Vanunome customs.
Ralu explains, "We are a male dominated culture. Status and rank are determined by the size of our genitals. We have ways of increasing the size of those who are small. In our culture, covering the genitals is shameful, only done by women and those with child-sized genitals. If you want to be respected in our culture, you must allow us to measure your genitals and paint them according to size: blue for the largest followed by green, white, red, and yellow for the smallest unless they are too small to paint."
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