Community Voice – Bonny

Hello, my name is Bonny.

I used to have a job, but I'm no longer employed.

I live in Nebilyer Green Valley, in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

The road conditions here are very poor. During the wet season, only four-wheel-drive vehicles can travel on these roads.

Our community has no electricity and no reliable power supply.

Accessing mobile data is very difficult and expensive. Even after purchasing data, we often have to climb to higher ground or find a location with a signal, then remain there for hours just to connect to the internet.

When our children need to do their homework or school research, we have to spend money on mobile data.

Even after we buy data, it runs out very quickly. Sometimes we buy a small data package, but it is gone before the children can finish their schoolwork.

Internet access is expensive for families like ours, and it is difficult to afford enough data for education.

We also face another challenge. When our phone batteries go flat, we have no electricity in the village to recharge them.

We must travel to another village, catch a public motor vehicle, and go into town just to charge our phones before we can use them again.

After charging our phones, our mobile data is often already exhausted, so we have to spend even more money to buy additional data.

It is a difficult life when you are trying to stay connected to the internet.

Buying data in the village is even more expensive because local resellers charge much higher prices than those available in town. If we can, we travel into town to buy data at the normal price, but that means spending more time and money on transport.

Without reliable electricity and affordable internet, we face challenges from both sides. It makes everyday life, communication and education much more difficult.