By MALUM NALU
A dream came true for 13-year-old Ngaru Nen in remote
Maralina village in Lower Watut, Morobe province, yesterday Saturday - Saturday, july 7, 2012 - as he delivered a
container load of books from the USA for the children of three schools in the
area.
In emotional scenes at Maralina, six hours by
motorised canoe up the Markham and Watut rivers, Ngaru and his siblings Betty
and Aral Jr presented the books to the children of Maralina, Uruf and Tsili
Tsili primary schools.
The Nen children had been collecting books for the
children of Lower Watut since 2008, however, they ran into a hitch when their
father could not afford the high cost of transporting the books to PNG.
They, their mother Mary and father travelled all the
way from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, too make the book presentation.
The Nen family is welcomed to Maralina |
Morobe Mining Joint Ventures general manager -
sustainability and external relations, David Wissink, turned Good Samaritan as
he read about young Ngaru’s plight on Facebook.
From left are Aral Nen, wife Mary, children Ngaru, Betty and Aral Jr, and David Wissink of MMJV at Maralina on Saturday. |
In January this year, thanks to Wissink, a container
load of books and school supplies left Milwaukee for Lae, final destination
Watut.
The books arrived in Lae earlier this year and were
kept in storage by MMJV until the Nens arrived.
In another twist of fate, major Korean TV company
SBS, heard about Nen’s story and paid for all his family to travel to PNG so
that they could make a documentary on the life of the family.
Givers become receivers…Nen children (from left) Aral Jr, Ngaru and Betty are showered with gifts at Maralina on Saturday. |
Immediately after the book presentation, the Nen
family and the TV crew travelled to Nen’s Zenem village, where they will spend
the next couple of weeks shooting the documentary,
The people of Lower Watut laid down the red carpet
on Saturday to welcome the Nen family home to present the books.
A quietly-spoken Ngaru said he was glad that the
books had reached Watut safely after his ordeal in putting them together.
“I hope that they are useful to you,” he told a
crowd of Watut school schildren and the local community who gathered at
Maralina.”
Ngaru addresses the crown at Maralina |
Wissink heaped praise on Ngaru and his siblings.
“This is a good partnership,” he said.
“Thank you to Ngaru and his sister and brother.”
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