In 2013, myself and 5 other cadets from Catherine Booth College, along with three staff, went to Manus Island, PNG, as part of our training, to work as part of The Salvation Army’s Humanitarian team working in the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre. Four years on, I’ve decided to share my diary from that experience. Names have been changed, and I acknowledge that the centre has changed a lot since then, but it is my hope that this will share a bit of light into how our government is treating Asylum Seekers.
7 March 2013 – The start of the journey home.
We left Manus Island today. We packed up our stuff, had a debrief, and headed to the airport. After checking in, we waited. It got to the time the flight was supposed to leave, and we got word that it hadn’t left Port Moresby yet. So we went back to base, had lunch, then headed out once more.
Because of the delay, we missed our connecting flight to Brisbane. So we stayed over night in Port Moresby, and catch a flight to Brisbane then Melbourne tomorrow. At least I’m still home tomorrow, but later in the day. Will probably be 5 by the time I get home.
Right now, it’s 4.45am. While I have a comfortable room, I feel like I can’t be comfortable. I’ve had disturbed sleep, and feel like I can’t switch off my mind, but my mind isn’t doing anything. I was just laying in bed, not doing anything. Hopefully its nothing. But something I do need to watch out for, and talk to Psycare if needed.
Ben Clapton 