Guest post: Village life in remote Papua New Guinea

My name is Siobhain and I am a Missionary working for MAF from the UK, based in Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea where I serve as the Ground Operations Manager. In my free time I love to do arts and crafts, read and keep in touch with my wonderful friends around the world. I am currently teaching myself to cook from scratch as there isn’t a Domino’s Pizza within 100 miles of my home. Here’s my thoughts from a recent trip to Hauna, a remote Papuan village:

When I landed at Hauna Airstrip, Sampson, the local MAF Agent met me, kindly took my bags and the Eski full of vegetables, loading me onto the canoe. Once the MAF plane took off, leaving me behind, we headed upstream to the village. We drifted through peaceful Hauna Village in a canoe made of tree trunk hollowed out by hand. I’m sailing on the Sepik River through wide expanses of water, past tall reed-beds and handmade houses on stilts. During the peak of the wet season the river can rise all the way up those stilts, fortunately the crocodiles don’t tend to pop in for visits!

The journey took about 15 minutes and brought us through half of Hauna Village, ending at the Mission House where I stayed. Hauna is located on a tributary of the Sepik River, where the villagers learn to row a canoe on crocodile & piranha infested waters when they are only 5 years old; Malaria is rife and floods constantly threaten families’ crops.

The Upper Sepik villages are smaller and more spread out. Here the river narrows into hilly, denser country, and only small boats are able to navigate upstream from Ambunti. There are no roads in the Upper Sepik region, so travel is tough.
I spent a week talking to the people (in both English & Tok Pisin the local language) learning about how they live off both the river and the land. Life in the remote villages of PNG is very hard, I never fully appreciated the many blessings and conveniences of my modern, western world.

During my stay, these lovely women, Marilyn, Shirley and Cristina looked after me whilst I experience the real, remote, raw PNG. Out here we are an 80 minute flight from the nearest MAF base in hot and swampy lowlands. Shirley first came to Hauna in 1979 Shirley as a literary specialist and teacher. After the translation of the New Testament was finished in 1989 by her sister, Shirley joined Kids Alive to continue the teaching program on the Upper Sepik River and to provide other remote villages with an educational program.

To find out more about the work of Kids Alive Ministries who work in Hauna and hosted me, please check out their website.

MAF exists to serve remote communities like this one across the globe. We provide safe, fast and affordable transport to allow access to everyday necessities that you and I take for granted.

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5 ways in which MAF use their planes…

1. Medevacs. In a medical emergency our planes become ambulances speeding the patient to the most appropriate care for them. For the story behind this photo simply click through

2. Carrying cargo. We carry anything and everything needed to bring help, hope and healing in remote places. Here Pilot John Cadd is deliering 1000 Bibles in the Zandi language in West DRC.

3. Safari. A ‘safari’ is an MAF flight carrying teams of doctors, nurses or surgeons that lasts over a number of days, stopping at a number of locations. Locals are made aware of when the teams arrive and clinics are set up to see any who need attention.

4. Shuttles. A shuttle is when our planes are used like buses. They have certain stops that are on a planned route for the day and they pick up and drop off passengers as they go. This shuttle serves floating hospitals and clinics in Bangladesh.

5. Disaster relief. This photo was taken in Haiti. We have worked in Haiti since 1987 and were perfectly positioned to help when the earthquake hit. MAF where one of the only aid organisations that could still operate due to the devastation and are often key in distributing food, water and medical aid.

5 Reasons why MAF exist…

1. In the UK we have 245,400 miles of paved roads. In Liberia they have 408 miles with the remaining 6,178 miles as unpaved, unkept, mud. Travelling by car is long and ardous, with many set backs. A 2 day dirt road drive takes just 90 mins by air. That’s why after over 60 years our newest programme is overcoming the same obstacles that our first one did (and still does).

2. Mongolia has the smallest population density in the world with just 5 people per square mile. Couple that with extreme weather conditions and simply seeing your local doctor huge mission. ‘Our screenings have led us far and wide. In one instance we travelled by train for 15 hours. Another time we went by car in truly blizzard conditions for 12 hours, at times having to walk in front of the car to guide it’ explains a learning disablity nurse. A flight with MAF means that time can be saved, clinics hours added and more patients seen.  

3. Many of the countries we work in have civil war in their recent history. This means easier access to weapons and the potential for them to fall into the wrong hands. Banditry and cattle rustling makes travel on foot unpredictable and deadly. MAF exist to provide a safer travel and a way out for those caught in conflict.

4. In Papua New Guinea steep mountains, thick jungle and vast rivers make emergency situations painfully slow. After being in labour for 24 hours Peggy was desperate for medical attention. Travel by road would take hours, involve a considerable amount of walking and then a painfully slow bus ride of several hours over rough, pot-holed roads. With MAF it took just 20 mins.

5. As an organisation we trust God, we listen to God and we love God. Back in 1945 God spoke to a group of young men who had just survived the attrocities of WWII. He told them that He didn’t want them to use their skills for death and destruction but to bring life and hope to those living in isolation.

To find out more about MAF go to: http://maf-youth.org/our-history

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health, hope and tea

I’d been ill for almost three weeks when I went to the doctor. I thought I could fight it off quickly with rest and tea, but it eventually dawned on me that I couldn’t.