Papua New Guinea

‘De La Salle continued its aid work in Papua New Guinea this year as 13 Year 11 students, under the assured leadership of veteran Mr Warren Walker and new inclusion, Mr Tim ‘Tractor’ Hogan, travelled to the country in the September holidays. Joining us were plumbers Craig Stewart, a parent, and for his second year helping with the PNG project, Murray Wells. This year, we were situated at De La Salle Bomana, an all boys 9–12 school twelve miles outside of Port Moresby. We were welcomed by Brothers Leo and Adolf, our hosts for the duration of our stay, and Mr Ume, Principal of the college. We were also introduced to Mr Siki, Chairman of the College, who was to become our driver, head of security and friend during the course of the trip. The school has struggled recently without the help of Government funding, so our presence was greatly appreciated by the Bomana community. Over the course of the two weeks we managed to lay a 400metre water pipe, fix up multiple septic tanks, re-tile a bathroom and, most significantly, re-establish a former World War II infirmary as a computer lab. It was a considerable project, but one we managed to complete within our time limit. We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to immerse ourselves in Papua New Guinean culture. We were taken to the Bomana War Cemetery, swam in the local river with the Bomana boys and travelled out to Mainohana Secondary College, Bomana’s Brother school. Here we were granted the unique opportunity of experiencing village life and joined some of the local boys in having a swim at the pristine, black sand beach nearby. On our final day, we decided to travel to the end of the Kokoda trail, and we were not disappointed, as the mountain mist lifted long enough for us to be granted a look at the track that has cemented itself firmly in Australian folklore. Our greatest memories, however, come from the people we met along the way. Everywhere we went, people stopped us to shake our hands and smile, producing gifts and asking to take photos with us. The Bomana community in particular was incredibly grateful for our assistance, and we were astonished to discover an entire pig had been butchered for our final dinner together, a great honour in PNG. Gratitude must be extended to Mr Warren Walker, who led us well and made sure we were always safe, Mr Tim Hogan, whose knowledge and insights made the site meetings at the end of the day always enjoyable and, of course, Craig Stewart and Murray Wells, who paid their own way to help with the project. Thank you to the College and the Lasallian foundation for their assistance in initiating the project. Finally, thank you to the boys of De La, whose contributions to Mission Action Day enabled us to see the work of the De La Brothers in action and take part in a project that we will never forget.

Nick Rodway

Volunteers Damien Tyrer, Ed Will, Damon Grant, Liam Corkhill, Liam Dimmatina, Ilias Roytberg, Mr Warren Walker, Nick Curwood, Steve Cosgrave, Nick Rodway, William Carson, Daniel King, Mr Craig Stewart, Mr Tim Hogan Kneeling: Louis Holmes and Mr Murray Wells