An interesting and unforgettable experience: 

Melanie Ferreira shares her experience of a months volunteering in Papua New Guinea

By Melanie Ferreira

Port Moresby, PNG, 27 November 2017 -- After 5 years of study, with a two and a half hour ride each way to my college, late hours in project work and assignments, and having graduated with a Bachelors in Architecture, it was now time for a break. The invitation of ‘work cum enjoyment’ holiday intrigued me, and I consented to the invitation of my uncle priest, Fr. Ambrose Pereira sdb. My mum was supportive, dad a bit troubled, my sister wondered what had gone into me and my friends thought I was crazy. Before arriving in PNG, I researched and reflected on Papua New Guinea. I read up a decent bit, about the people, the native wildlife, the city of Port Moresby, the provinces, the country in general and tourist experiences. I was struck by the beautiful ‘Bird of Paradise’, its history, ancestors and customs, but nothing prepared me for the most amazing, enriching, interesting and unforgettable experience of my life.

The first aspect of PNG that I noticed, was that the city had decent public roads. The roads around Port Moresby were a pleasant surprise but the land circumscribed by it was deserted, with only a few buildings and homes along the coastal road edge. I come from Mumbai and I’m accustomed to a high density of people and things in a small area, so arriving in Port Moresby and seeing the sparseness of the capital of PNG was strange for me. The experiences of many tourists were unfortunately very negative and I was privileged enough to have overwhelmingly positive encounters with every aspect of Papua New Guinea. Reading about the country didn’t truly match up to what I experienced, there is a lot of violence, but I found that on the whole, a majority of people were extremely kind and jovial.

The first institute I worked at was Don Bosco Technical School, Gabutu. I worked with was the Short Term I.T course students. They were a fun, mischievous class but during my two-day workshop with them, they were very attentive and eager to learn about shapes and paper modelling. They co-operated and pulled out great results from a workshop that was clearly outside of their curriculum.

Working at Don Bosco Technological Institute, Boroko was exciting because I got to view a college and its students from a professors’ point of view, when just a few months ago I was a student too! The professors were dedicated and it was such a pleasure to observe and participate in their classes.

Residing at the Mary Our Help Hostel, DBTI campus for about a week and a half and the Salesian Sisters and hostel girls really made me feel at home! They were all so kind and gregarious, I truly felt accepted from the first day.

The experience that struck me most was the random friendliness my uncle and I found in one of the villages we stopped at, on our way to Kerema. We stopped at a tiny village to have a papaya and the people of this village, spoke to us with no formalities or apprehensions, just a natural curiosity. Araimiri is the place that made my Papuan experience unique. The journey, the jungle, the humidity and the people, all of which combined together, gave me an inner feel that our young people are eager and searching for something greater!

My time in ‘The Land of the Unexpected’ has taught me to be open to new experiences. I went without any presumptions about what PNG and the people are like, and I believe that, this served me well. I had a great time, talking and listening to the foreigners and locals, following a different routine compared to what I am familiar with, and touring a small part of the country. If you want a unique experience of culture and customs, keep an open mind and hold no assumptions! PNG is sure to prove most expectations wrong, and hopefully, the country and its people, will always shine with a positive light.

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