The village boy who became chief censor
‘Morrison not listening’, say Pacific leaders

Notes from our aviation casebook

MAFMAF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
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MT HAGEN – Recently I flew six teachers from Daru back to Kawito and Balimo, writes pilot Joseph Tua.

They had been helping mark the Grade 10 examination papers for schools mainly in the South and Middle fly areas.

After landing at Kawito they told me the story of how they had first tried to make their way back to Kawito and Balimo by dinghy.

MAFtua
The exam markers made a quick trip home with Joseph after their overloaded dinghy sank

The dinghy was overloaded and the high winds sunk their it.

Luckily they were close enough to shore for other operators to spot them and they were rescued.

Upon returning to Daru, they got the Education Department to book their flight home with MAF.

I had the privilege of being the pilot to fly them back home safely.

Instead of a full day’s travel by dinghy, they got home in 30 minutes.

MAF’s pilot family Knigge (Wilfred & Harriëtte) visited their friends from New Tribes Mission at Yambaitok.

While there, they found out that the village up the mountain, Mengailam, had been working on constructing an airstrip for more than a year.

MAFmrpilot
An eight hour trek to allow Wilfred to check out how the strip at Mengailam is going

When the villagers heard that a pilot was close by (longwei liklik) they really wanted some advice.

So Wilfred, together with two men from the mission, walked eight hours up the mountain, stayed the night and then walked six hours back the next day.

It was a journey that would have taken one minute by air.

The people were incredibly happy when ‘Mr Pilot’ came to give advice and the photo shows the gratitude when the group arrived.

MAFmui
Mui airstrip

THERE were a lot of happy faces when pilot Ryan Cole did the test landing at Mui airstrip last week.

It's been almost 25 years since the airstrip has been used and, after a lot of work to restore it, it is now officially open again and can serve the 14 surrounding villages and the 10,000 people living there.

 

MAFtambure
Joseph Tambure at work in the hangar at Mt Hagen

JOSEPH Tambure, from the Gende clan close to Mt Wilhelm, joined MAF with a vision.

Having limited schooling, he started with MAF as a gardener, then became a painter and persevered with his studies to become a licensed engineer.

Keith Jackson writes:

Joseph is better known to PNG Attitude readers for his contributions of poetry.

His colleagues recognise this, and have written that “he is not only very skilled and precise when it comes to doing borescope inspections on an engine, but also has a creative side to tell others about his passion for aircraft”.

His favourite poems are ‘Gende is Losing its Virginity in the Name of Development’ and ‘What a Life’, which are linked to here along with some of his other poems published in PNG Attitude.

Gende is losing its virginity in the name of development  (November 2018)

What a Life  (February 2019)

A Bee in the Sky (February 2019)

Ples Mahn  (September 2019)

Papua New Guinea Mourns  (March 2021)

In April 2019, Joseph told PNG Attitude what induced him to write poetry.

MAF Joseph
Joseph

Joseph Tambure writes:

I’m from the Gende clan which nestles in the embrace of Mt Wilhelm in Usino, Bundi country. I work for MAF out of Hagen.

Poetry was my hobby during my early primary school days but I lost track of it after that until 2016. I retrieved my early inspiration when I saw the changes happening around me

I want to challenge readers to see and feel what's happening around them. I like to explore and express my views on environment and on people because we're all connected.

I have an ancestry of oral storytelling and my family members like the idea of writing that will live on for a long time. It's an amazing way to preserve the present through the centuries.

It's also important because we expose and express our country and people as a treasure to the outside world.

My uppermost feeling is when I know my traditional culture is preserved in writing for the coming generations. My low point is that most people are not interested.

My favourite poems are ‘Gende is Losing its Virginity in the Name of Development’ and ‘What a Life’, which are republished here.

I’m from the Gende clan which nestles in the embrace of Mt Wilhelm in Usino, Bundi country. I work for the MAF out of Hagen.

Poetry was my hobby during my early primary school days but I lost track of it after that until 2016. I retrieved my early inspiration when I saw the changes happening around me

I want to challenge readers to see and feel what's happening around them. I like to explore and express my views on environment and on people because we're all connected.

I have an ancestry of oral storytelling and my family members like the idea of writing that will live on for a long time. It's an amazing way to preserve the present through the centuries.

It's also important because we expose and express our country and people as a treasure to the outside world.

My uppermost feeling is when I know my traditional culture is preserved in writing for the coming generations. My low point is that most people are not interested.

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Arthur Williams

MAF PNG 2011 – 2020
• 68,496 hours flown
• 320,650 passengers transported
• 13,525,809 km flown
• 19,758,892 kg cargo flown
• 105,241 total flights

MAF PNG in 2021
• 9 aircraft
• 105 airstrips served
• 134 staff (96 National, 38 International)

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