Dream come true as books delivered to remote Watut

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. 

Watut man Aral Nen (left) and his children Aral Jr, Betty and Ngaru, and wife Mary, on the banks of the Markham River at 40-Mile outside Lae last Friday before leaving to deliver books from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, to schools in the Lower Watut area.

 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.”