As a boy, Peter Sionai travelled by ship for three weeks just to reach education opportunities in Buka. Four years later when he graduated, MAF was there to bring him home to Siwai. Now, Peter looks forward to MAF’s return to his district.
Story by Tajs Jespersen
“The hardships we face now are the same hardships we faced when I was a boy,” said 76-year-old Peter Sionai from the Siwai district of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.
It’s 57 years since he flew with MAF for the first time after graduating from Hutjena Secondary School, his hour-long flight home a stark contrast to the weeks he spent getting to the school four years prior.
“There was no way to travel to the secondary school in Buka,” said Peter. “All the kids from Siwai, if we wanted to go, we needed to walk to Buin and get on a copra ship to Buka. The journey took us three weeks and when we arrived, school had already started.”
We were quite afraid to fly,” he said. “We were just thinking of home, we had to go home. Without the plane, how else would we come home to Siwai?
Peter ventured on this one-way journey while still a boy. He didn’t know how long it would be until he’d see his parents, his family or his community again.
“In 1966 we came to Buka and we just stayed at the school for four years because there was no way back,” he said. “All the Buka Island locals were going back to their villages (during holidays), but us from Siwai, what could we do?”
But things changed around the time of Peter’s graduation in 1969.
“It was at this time that I heard of an aviation organisation called MAF,” he said. “During my time at school, the Siwai people back home had built an airstrip called Tonu. The people at the secondary school said to us, ‘Now you have a chance, a way to go back home again.’ We were so happy.”
Peter had never seen a plane up close before, let alone flown in one. But he was finally seeing a way home, and fear would not stop him.
“We were quite afraid to fly,” he said. “We were just thinking of home, we had to go home. Without the plane, how else would we come home to Siwai?”
After surveying needs in Bougainville in 1965, MAF opened a permanent base in Buka in 1966. The MAF service was later transformed into Bougainville Air Services, or ‘Boug Air’, and eventually purchased by the local government.
I think the plane is the answer. The best answer.
Tragically, the Bougainville conflict from 1988 to 1998 ceased flying operations in the province, leaving island and remote communities cut-off from services.
“After the crisis we went back to before the time of aviation,” said Peter. “No planes, just roads.”
It wasn’t until 2026 that accessible aviation options returned to the region with MAF. And even though his local airstrip is not yet reopened, Peter has hope that true change will finally come to his home.
“I have travelled around the world,” he said. “I have seen planes arriving and departing. I’ve seen other countries experiencing change. You can see all these things and then you come back to your home, and you think, ‘Oh... When will we ever reach this stage of development?’
“I think the plane is the answer. The best answer. I want the people to support and see and hear this because I know that when I was young, I was travelling with MAF, and there were no issues.”
MAF is currently working to support government and community leaders to reopen to the Tonu airstrip in Siwai.