Soldier leaves for peacekeeping mission

By KEVIN TEME
YOUNG Jolene and brother Nedi were emotional as they watched their father Major Robby Tanfa walked through the departure lounge at Jackson International Airport yesterday.
They will miss their dad for the next six months as he will be serving in South Sudan with the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
Jolene was only two days old when her dad left her and mum Delma for Bougainville in 1998.
At that time, Major Tanfa was a second lieutenant in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, based in Wewak.
“At first I was so emotional because our baby daughter was just born and Tanfa had to leave for duty in Bougainville,” Delma said.
“But now it has become part of us as he travels most of the time on duty. We are so sad because we will miss him but then things will go back to normal as days go by.”
She said the family was proud he would be in the second batch of local soldiers on a mission to South Sudan.
He will  join two comrades as military observers.
Tanfa will replace Major Nick Henry, while two others will join him later to replace two others who had been posted to the troubled region in October last year.
PNGDF Commander Brig-Gen Francis Agwi, who was at Jackson International Airport, to farewell Tanfa said: “It is a rotation duty, we are sending three soldiers  however depending on the government’s decision we will be sending more in the near future.”