Four US students visit PNG to to learn about the culture

The Tribal Foundation PNG completed its international internship programme recently with four international students from the US to introduce to PNG’s vast culture and its people.
Noah Anthony, Zachary Plemons, Avery Bustin and Micah Trostle spent their summer holidays in PNG using skills that each possessed to help Papua New Guineans through partner organisations that worked with Tribal Foundation.
The foundation said the programme aimed to give the interns a glimpse of what living in PNG was like and to expose them to nation-building work the Tribal Foundation was doing.
The young men spent time in various missions in Bautama outside Port Moresby, Madang and with ICare4U and Life PNG Care in Mt Hagen.
First-timers to PNG, Noah and Zachary said they loved every bit of their time in the country and hoped this was not their last visit.
Zachary said he might organise some more of his friends to join him on his next visit and that PNG had been the highlight of his entire life.
For Avery and Micah, it was not their first time to PNG.
Avery said he first came to PNG when his father was the president of Samaritan Aviation and that he was a fourth generation in his family to serve the country starting with his great grandfather 70 years ago.
Meanwhile, Micah Trostle grew up in PNG where his family did mission work in several parts of the country.
He said: “After I finish college, I want to come here and help the people of PNG through the talent that God has given me with photography and filming.”
The interns spent two weeks each, with Noah and Zachary staying in May and Avery and Micah in June.
Tribal Foundation president GT Bustin said they screened the interns so that they brought students who contributed to PNG and learnt as well as being respectful of the culture and people.
“The internships are a life-changing experience for them and they leave with new friends from across PNG with a deep appreciation for our Melanesian culture,” the president added.