The influence of my teaching experience in Papua New Guinea on ‘Lies Within the Rainforest’

My first teaching position was in 1987 with Voluntary Service Overseas, at Koroba High School in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. The school was funded by the World Bank and located in one of the most remote parts of the country. When I arrived, I was told that my predecessor, an African Canadian, had completed several years on contract before returning home. He was a quiet man, and I knew very little about him. I was given a well-equipped, modern house, complete with solar hot water and a washing machine.

Most of the students were either Huli or Duna. Huli men are known for their elaborate headdresses made of human hair, and for their vibrant yellow and red face paint.

Because the school could only be reached by private transport, I needed to find a vehicle. I was told I might be able to buy a second-hand motorbike from SIL–PNG, a community of Bible translators based near Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands. It was a fenced compound that resembled suburban America, complete with a cinema, shops, a guesthouse, a school, and even a yellow school bus. SIL only had off-road bikes available, so I was advised to ask the Australian manager of a nearby coffee plantation about a bike he had for sale. After purchasing it, it took me three days to ride the motorbike back to school.

During one holiday, some students took me to the Levani Valley, which was a two-day walk away. We started at 1,700 metres above sea level and crossed a 2,680-metre range. The valley, only accessible via bush tracks, had minimal contact with the outside world. I used this location as the inspiration for the fictional village of Karani in Lies Within the Rainforest.

On another break, I visited a Ghanaian volunteer living in the Trobriand Islands. The villages there became the coastal setting for the fictional community of Akolau in the same novel.