A PNG Experience- Princes Hill Secondary College
John Stone - Principal Princess Hill Secondary College and students Lucy and Elise
John stone and two senior students from the college, Lucy and Elise spoke about their School trip to Papua New Guinea for seventeen days last December. On arrival in Port Moresby the computers were down and the airport was in chaos. The team then travelled to
Mt Hagen where the airport building is just a single shed. The students noticed a man at the airport with red teeth. They all thought he had been in a fight only to find out he had been chewing beetle juice. This was the first time it became apparent that they were the only white people and did not fit in. The locals were very interested in them, except one man who threw a bottle out of a car window. The team climbed the highest mountain in Papua New Guinea, visited a hospital and met a twenty eight year old lady who had been attacked with a machete to the head. The accommodation for the students was in a hut made for their visit. The stay involved killing pigs as an honour to the visitors and the sharing of crackling. The best shower after a week was with a bucket of hot water. Student projects for the visit involved journalism, interviewing and photographing the locals. It was noted the main aspiration was to have a happy simple life and to provide for the family. The group finished the trip at Madang where they swam with tropical fish and coral, resulting in sunburn. The trip was summarised as confronting. It was noted, despite the tough conditions that the group stuck together with no complaints.