Meet the 29-year-old travelling to Papua New Guinea to help remote communities facing isolation, violence and nature's brutal elements

Natasha Tordoff is on her way to the country from which her mother fled.

In the two years, at least, that she plans to spend in Papua New Guinea, she’ll be working to transform the lives of people in need in some of the world’s most isolated communities.

The 29-year-old says she hopes to make a difference in the homeland of her mother Rachel, whilst learning more about the culture and people in the nation where many of her relatives still live today.

“From a very young age, I was instilled by my parents with a love for different cultures and for different people,” says Natasha, who was born in Surrey to a British-Zambian father and her Papua New Guinean mother. “And I’ve always loved adventure and had this drive to help people as well and be useful I guess.”

Just over two years ago, she left her office-based job with Network Rail, planning to look for community projects around the village in which her mother grew up.

“I just wanted to do something that was a bit more meaningful in the bigger picture of things rather than just working for a paycheck, do something that would impact on people’s lives,” Natasha says.

“I thought the best place to start would be my mother’s country because it’s still a developing nation and it’s still somewhat of a mystery to me.”

Papua New Guinea remains one of the most dangerous places to be a woman or girl, where violence against women and children is rampant, according to international organisation Human Rights Watch.

Rachel grew up as a victim of abuse and witnessed violence during her childhood. She describes how she would wait, “with a bucket of water ready to throw on the beaten women after their ordeal to make sure they were still alive”.

As well as threats of violence, people in Papua New Guinea are also living with challenges from the elements, Natasha says. “They are always also battling threat to life from nature - hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes.”

Against this backdrop, Natasha will be working. “I definitely have to be very diligent. I don’t want to take unnecessary risks,” she says,

“But I think it all adds more to the motivation behind what I’m doing in the sense that people in the remote areas where I will be working, need support and help and a lifeline.”

“My mother is a little bit afraid for me,” she adds, “but she’s also told me that she’s very proud as well and she’s happy I’m going to help her people.”

Former model Natasha, who has been living with her family between both Wakefield and the Wirral, had a flight booked to the country for March 2020. But when the first Covid-19 lockdown was put in place, she was forced to put her plans on hold.

“Being a Christian I was praying and thinking about how I could get there,” she says. Searching online, she found an opportunity with Mission Aviation Fellowship(MAF), a charity which helps the world’s remotest people access the essentials they need to survive, including medical care, clean water and food.

In Papua New Guinea, MAF’s fleet of nine humanitarian aircraft provide emergency medical evacuations, transport medicines, help with crisis relief, and facilitate social action projects.

“Access is a massive thing,” Natasha says. “There’s no such thing as national railway connections, the roads are very limited…so for people in the highlands where I’m going to be based, it’s a three day trip to a hospital, school or government service.

“My mum is from a village on an island off the coast. It takes a day for people to get there and it’s not an island with electricity or things set up. It’s very remote and rural.

“In these scenarios, when things go wrong, when people have accidents or are sick, there’s no immediate access to hospitals or healthcare.”

Natasha has waited for two years to go out and join MAF’s work in the country, a period of great uncertainty during the Covid pandemic, after closing the door on her previous job.

She tested positive for the virus in August last year and her mum also contracted it around the same time. Rachel was admitted to hospital, spending time in intensive care and though she is home and making a slow recovery, she is still suffering acute fatigue.

Natasha says: “These past two years, waiting for a safe time to move to Papua New Guinea, have been very tough. When mum was in ICU with Covid, things reached a low point – I couldn’t visit but all we could do was pray.

“But thank God she pulled through. I’m more determined now than ever, and I feel more mature, humble and prepared for what’s ahead because of what I’ve been through.”

Natasha believes her role with MAF – which will involve the day-to-day running of its technology services, a technical arm of the charity which installs radio masts and solar power and offers technology training using Wifi in remote communities – will be a vital help to villagers living in complete isolation.

“Imagine a remote community in the mountains where there’s no mobile phone coverage, MAF technologies will install radio masts so that villagers can contact MAF airbases, government services, whoever they need to contact,” Natasha explains.

“I am also looking forward to learning about my mother’s people and fitting into a new community,” she adds. “It’s a real privilege to be part of MAF, be able to return to my roots, see hidden places and give something back.”

When Papua New Guinean women in remote highland villages experience abuse, there is no 999 – sometimes an MAF plane is the only way out. In 2021, MAF conducted 113 emergency medical flights, carrying critical patients from tiny villages to medical facilities. Among them are many women who have suffered domestic violence, problematic labours, or experienced pregnancy complications.

Radios installed by MAF’s technology services allow emergency callouts from locations with no other means of communication, making sure patients are evacuated quickly – saving days of dangerous overland travel.

Visit www.maf-uk.org to find out more.