The true taste of paradise (From Southend Standard)

The true taste of paradise

9:50am Monday 8th February 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

SWAPPING Pitsea for a Pacific Island might sound like paradise. But when your coach is held up by armed bandits wielding bows and arrows you realise the reality is much different.

Teachers Alison and Mike Blant survived their 12-month trip to remote Papua New Guinea, but had some close shaves along the way.

Alison, 52, from Leigh, is headteacher at Pitsea Junior School and went abroad to help train up locals to fill similar positions.

Describing the trip as an eye-opener is an understatement.

She said: “One day we went out for a walk and were mugged by some youths.

“They call them ‘rascals’ out there. They took our cameras and bags. I tried to fight back, but they got away.

“The villagers were so annoyed they went running into the bush to find the main culprit.

“They found him, then beat him up before returning to us to ask if we wanted to beat him up.

“We said no, of course, and he was then taken to the police station, where he was beaten up again.

“Justice is certainly served in a different way out there.”

It wasn’t the only frightening experience for Alison and husband Mike, 55, a former headteacher of Winter Gardens Primary School, in Canvey.

Alison explained: “There’s a huge problem on the island with bandits, who hold people up in cars.

“One time, we were travelling to a school and were held up by a group of men holding bows and arrows.

“They refused to let us pass unless we paid them a lot of money.

“Our guides kept telling them we were on a charity trip, but they wouldn’t let us go.

“They got really aggressive and started pointing their weapons right at us.

“I don’t mind admitting I started crying. It was very tense.

“Eventually, they got into the car with us and drove to the school where we were going to, and made them pay them some money.

“This kind of thing happens all the time.” The couple went on the trip with the charity Voluntary Services Oversees.

The tough job saw them travel to 15 different schools across the rural highlands of the island, where they discovered a world far removed from the classrooms back home.

Alison, a mum of three, said: “They were basically mud huts with a blackboard. That was it. No running water, books, electricity or computers.

“But it was such a heartening experience. Despite not having anything, the children were so eager to learn.

“In Papua New Guinea, you have to pay to go to school. It isn’t a right.

“Most of the pupils are boys, as families are so poor they can only afford to send one child.

The couple stayed in a modest house in the highlands region of Kundiawa, in the Simbu Province of the island, for the duration of their trip.

Alison explained: “It was very basic.

“Sometimes we had electricity, but then it would just go off for weeks.

Papua New Guinea, which has more than 700 native tongues, is stricken with poverty and social problems, which shocked the pair.

“I was shocked to see a lot of domestic violence out there.

“Things like beating a child with a stick are, sadly, not uncommon.”

She said: “Despite the ups and downs we had an amazing time.

“This was an unforgettable experience and I’m thrilled we did it.

“If our story inspires even one person to join VSO, then we will be happy.”

“It’s a world away from here. None of us realise how lucky we are to be born in a country like ours.

“I held an assembly for the children when I returned to tell them about what it’s like out there, and how we can raise money to help the children.

“They have a life expectancy of 56 in Papua New Guinea.

“I remember a nurse telling me we had more medical facilities in our back-pack first aid kits, than they had at their main hospital.”

For more details about working with VSO, e-mail www.vso.org.uk

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)