Bellarine builder Ned McLarnon spent two and a half weeks in a small village in Papua New Guinea called Lese Oalai. He speaks with Jena Carr about his experience volunteering with Rotary Global and The Peter Nathan Loko Foundation on the Lese Oalai School Toilet Project.
Helping build facilities overseas is something Ned McLarnon has always been passionate about, but it did not seem like a possibility for the busy builder.
That is until Rotary Club member Amanda Hough contacted the Bellarine man to see if he could join The Peter Nathan Loko Foundation (PNLF) in Papua New Guinea.
“It was a dream in the back of my mind, but not something I ever actively pursued until not that long ago, when a friend of a friend of a friend reached out,” Ned said.
“Amanda reached out because Lucy Loko, the foundation creator, had a significant change of plans and no longer had a builder going over with her.
“It was just a matter of convincing myself that this is something I actually could do, and then convincing my lovely partner as well that I’ll be safe and come back in one piece.”
Ned left for Papua New Guinea to help with PNLF and Rotary Global’s Lese Oalai School Toilet Project on June 27 and was taken to a small village in the country’s Gulf Province.
“Lese Oalai is roughly about a six to eight hour drive out of Port Moresby across literally the worst road I’ve ever seen…sitting in the back of a truck, not in a seat,” he said.
“There are old school grounds that still actively have primary school-aged children come to it, and in between the wet and the dry seasons, the school has up to 1000 students.
“They have six derelict pit toilets available which are literally holes in the ground with a bit of building materials put around it for a tiny bit of privacy.”
As part of the project, Ned was tasked with helping the village’s people build 22 waterless composting toilets and a disabled access toilet on the school grounds.
“My first working day was roughly 32 degrees with 90 per cent humidity, if not higher and it was a 12-hour day out in the blistering sun, so I was not prepared for that,” he said.
“We set out the building and had to start digging to flatten the ground and prepare for the foundations. I barely did any digging; the locals did a lot of it, and they were just machines.
“I was struggling, and they just kept pushing on… The sun was intense, and I reckon I drank close to six litres of water and was drenched in sweat the whole day.
“I just had to know to slow down, take breaks and keep the fluids right up. It was good to have the worst day at the start because then everything else was a bit more manageable.”
Ned said that an important part of the PNLF was promoting education in the gulf, and he was glad to share his construction knowledge with the Lese Oalai people.
“The whole idea is that we didn’t want to come in as a bunch of Aussies, build a toilet for them in two weeks, and say, ‘there you go, see you later’, and they have no idea what it is and how to maintain it,” he said.
“A few people there had pretty good English, so I’d be able to converse with them, and they’d share information with the other members in their language.
“I’d physically do the task with them as well, and once we did that task together a couple of times, they understood what we were doing, and that’s when they went away and kept working.
“There’s also not a lot of girls in the school once they reach puberty age. There’s no privacy, facilities, pads or hygiene products for the young girls, so they just don’t come to school.
“The whole idea is if we can get some sanitation and facilities for these school kids, we can increase the attendance and by doing that, we can help promote education.”
Ned said the program was “so much bigger than just me” and that he was proud to be part of PNLF and Lucy’s work in Lese Oalai.
“We were slogging our guts out and they were just so appreciative. What I saw in that two and a half weeks was just joy, and it was cool to know the effect we were having,” he said.
“It was awesome to be a part of this program. What Lucy is doing over there is literally going to change the course of these people’s lives.
“In preparation of us even coming, they were cleaning up the areas, cutting the grass, fixing their black dirt roads, taking some potholes out, and they were bringing back their pride.”
Ned returned to Melbourne on July 14 to seven-degree weather, a drastic change to the Papua New Guinea heat. He said he was thankful for all the support he had while he was away.
“Lucy Loko is an incredible woman, and with the PNLF, all of this is in honour of her late brother, who was trying to help bring back some opportunities to the Gulf Province through education,” he said.
“Doctor John Oswald, the Rotary Club of Torquay and other key affiliates have all done incredible work in getting this to where it is.
“It’s challenging to get away when you have a small business, but my team killed it and did so well while I was away.
“They enabled me to have an incredible time over there and focus 100 per cent on that program and not worry about work back in Australia, so a big shout out to my McLarnon Build Company team.”
The Lese Oalai School Project remains ongoing to complete the waterless toilets and a library. Ned said there were hopes that the program would bring a piped-water network and new classrooms to Lese Oalai in the future.
People can keep up with PNLF’s progress on its Facebook page and offer support by emailing thepeternlokofoundation@gmail.com
Donations of materials and equipment to the project can be made at rawcs.org.au/explore-projects under project number 41 and registered year 2021-22.
