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MADAN, Papua New Guinea — Barely 12 hours after I set foot on this exotic land of dark-skinned people with frizzy hair and beteI nut chew, I was already badly missing home. It was my life’s worst evening of heartfelt crying in the confines of a small-sized hotel room. Spontaneously I was scribbling at the back pages of the briefing paper my script for repeated acts of soliloquy. “Why am I here? Did I make the right choice?” Questions I kept asking myself until I finally dozed off.

Outside the room humidity gradually dropped and life in town was starting to end. Toward dusk the shrieking fruit bats stirred the silence. By nightfall the poorly-lit streets were virtually deserted. Papua New Guinea is notorious for petty crimes and rascals, hence, public utility vehicles and business and commercial establishments operate only up to 6 p.m.

That was my first taste of the so-called culture shock.

So what brought me here, to a country where many people say cannibalism still exists and which has the highest HIV/AIDS cases in the Oceania region?

Call it passion. I left a good life in Palawan to volunteer in another developing country through the Voluntary Service Overseas – Bahaginan, a federation member of the bigger VSO charity organization with head offices in the United Kingdom (Philippines is the only VSO recruitment base in Asia). I was offered a one-year volunteer placement as Training Course Development Advisor for the Foundation for People and Community Development, a national NGO working towards sustainable forest resource management.

PNG, a Melanesian country about 2,000 miles east of the Philippine archipelago, owns 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Being one of the most heterogeneous ethnic groups in the world, PNG is unique — 97 percent of its land is owned by the indigenous peoples through its customary laws. Endowed with fertile soil, majority of the population rely on subsistence farming.

After a short-lived introspection of a different chapter in my life that was just commencing, I began to embrace the challenges awaiting me in this country, my home for one year until about two years ago. Instantly, I felt good vibes when I first entered the office and met my colleagues.

The sudden attack of culture shock was soon taken as a necessary transition to a life-learning process, in this case, my volunteering experience. Surprising realities, which taught me practical lessons in life, came one after the other. Smiling to strangers became spontaneous. I was humbled to see my colleagues come to office barefoot and they rarely eat three meals a day. As most of the goods are second-hand and sold at an incredibly cheap price, I have saved some volunteer allowance on clothing. PNG culture dictates that showing the lower body parts is a taboo, so I bade goodbye to my shorts and mini-skirts. In the bush where we held trainings, we slept in makeshift shelters made of palm and bamboo poles. We bathed in a river 45 minutes away from the venue and used the open toilet. Such was a life of adventure and reflections.

Among VSO’s placement countries in the global South, PNG falls under “high security risk” status. For safety measures I missed out on my early morning brisk walk or late night outdoor treats. As expatriates, we hardly travelled by land to avoid any incidents caused by the rascals.

Apart from local crimes and tribal wars happening almost around the islands, PNG is also plagued with a variety of natural calamities. Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the country is frequented by earthquakes, tsunami and sometimes volcanic eruptions. One early morning I awoke from a strong tremors that made me think how unprepared I was to die in another country.

Volunteerism is a dynamic process of reciprocal learning and it comes with a package of opportunities. Hence, not all first impressions last.

The writer, a native of Silay City, is a Mass Communications alumna of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos. She worked in Puerto Princesa and other parts of Palawan prior to her PNG experiences.