By MALUM NALU
A dream came true for 13-year-old Ngaru Nen in
remote Maralina village in Lower Watut, Morobe province, last 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 picture-perfect 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.
They, their mother Mary and father Aral travelled
all the way from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, too make the book presentation.
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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.-Pictures by MALUM NALU
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The people of Lower Watut laid down the red carpet
last Saturday to welcome the Nen family home to present the books.
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They sang, danced and cheered as the books were
handed over.
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| Some of the books on display at Maralina last Saturday. |
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.
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| Givers become receivers…Nen children (from left) Aral Jr, Ngaru and Betty are showered with gifts from a young warrior at Maralina last Saturday. |
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.
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| One of the positive stories in light of all the negative...Watut man Aral Nel (left), wife Mary, and children Aral Jr, Ngaru and Betty with their Good Samaritan David Wissink of MMJV at Maralina village last 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.
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| A local singsing group welcomes the Nen family to Maralina Primary School last Saturday. |
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.
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Betty Nen (right) and a female member of the Korean TV crew join in
celebrations at Maralina last Saturday.
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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,
A quietly-spoken Ngaru said he was glad that the
books had reached Watut safely after his ordeal in putting them together.
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| Young Ngaru Nen addresses the crowd at Maralina. |
“I hope that they are useful to you,” he told a
crowd of Watut school children and the local community who gathered 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.”
The story starts in June 2008, when nine-year-old
Ngaru Nen visited his father Aral’s home in remote Watut.
It was the trip of a lifetime for Ngaru, who had
never travelled out of America before, to his mama graun and it had a profound effect on his life.
The trip was a special one for Ngaru, because he is
the elder son of the Nen's and according to Sangark clan of Watut, needs to go
through an initiation ceremony and be declared as a chief.
One thing that bothered him was the large number of
children roaming around because of no schools, no school fees and no space.
He was also surprised to learn that schools in Watut
had very little school supplies and books, and had to sit on the ground and
learn, because there were no classrooms.
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Bush material classrooms at Maralina Primary School
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“I could see that this really bothered Ngaru because
he kept on asking me ‘why’,” his father recalls.
“I had to explain to him the truth of the situation,
and also told him that it happens in many other very- remote areas in the
country, and even urban areas.
Ngaru was heartbroken, so much so, that he vowed
that that upon return to USA, he would collect whatever books and school supplies
he could, and send them to the children of Watut.
Thus began a three-year labour of love, collecting
books and school supplies, however, the young man hit an 11th-hour hitch.
His dad, Aral, tried so many shipping companies,
however, the fees were so high and father told son that the books would go to
Africa instead of Watut, as there was a Rotary club which could ship to that
continent.
A teary Ngaru was heartbroken and prayed for a
miracle to happen.
God must have heard his prayers, for in far-off PNG,
MMJV’s Wissink read about the plight of the young man.
In late January this year, thanks to Wissink, a
container load of books and school supplies left Milwaukee for Lae, final
destination Watut.
“When I was in Papua New Guinea, one of the things
that struck me most was that so many people would go barefoot, be able to live
so far away from hospitals and also have no health care,” Ngaru told me in
January.
“I was also surprised that the schools in Watut had
very little school supplies and books and had to sit on the ground and learn.
“I know I have a lot of books and supplies I can
donate to them.
“I told my dad that, when I return to America, I'd
like to collect books and school supplies and send them to Watut schools
because I feel sorry for all these kids.
“My dad and family agreed and helped me collect
books and supplies over three years.
“Now we have a problem with transportation.
“My dad tried so many shipping companies but the
fees were so high for us to afford.
“Sadly, one afternoon, my dad told me that, the
books would go to Africa instead of Watut, because we cannot afford it and
there is a Rotary club which can ship only to Africa.
“Also, since our garage was so full of boxes of
books and winter was approaching, we needed to get rid of those books somehow.
“My heart was broken and I prayed in my heart that
the Good Lord will know the struggles of my people and will help me get the
books and supplies to Watut.
“While we were packing and taping the boxes for
Africa, my dad got a message from someone in PNG (Wissink), offering to pay for
shipping costs from my garage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, to Lae, then to
Watut.
“I call him my guardian angel.
“Without him, this would not have been possible.”
The final chapter of this story unfolded in style at
Maralina last Saturday.
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It’s good to be back home again.Nen brothers Aral Jr (left) and Ngaru enjoying
the Watut countryside last Saturday.
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