Humanitarian worker

THE downside of catching the travel bug is that usually it leads to sadness, longing and a sense of being trapped in your own hometown.

Yet Pippa Haughton has turned the negative into a positive.

The 24-year-old from Wickham has used her time travelling to help out other countries who need the support.

And while continuing her travelling she has been able to complete her Bachelor of Communications studies attaining honours.

In August 2010 Ms Haughton went to Samoa as part of the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program.

She worked there for 10months as a communications officer for the Samoa Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisation.

She said she had become involved in the work after encouragement from her father.

‘‘He got me into it because he does a lot of humanitarian aid work,’’ she said.

‘‘In 1998 my parents took me out of school for a year to live in South Africa and then travel Europe and Asia.

‘‘It was the first time my father did aid work and he was helping build mud-brick houses in South Africa.’’

Ms Haughton studied in South Africa and it was during her travels around the globe that she first picked up the travel bug.

‘‘I also did an exchange in France when I was 15 so I really did get the bug very early,’’ she said.

Ms Haughton grew up on the mid-north coast near Wingham and described her parents as ‘‘gypsies’’.

She moved to Newcastle to begin her studies in 2007.

Her trip to Samoa has inspired her to follow a career path in humanitarian aid work while travelling the world.

‘‘It [the trip] was pretty amazing, I had a partner at home, which made it difficult, but otherwise it was great,’’ she said.

‘‘It was a bit of a culture shock because they live at a different pace to us.

‘‘They definitely run on island time but they’re really motivated and they’ll work in teams to get what needs to be done, done.’’

Where her next adventure will take her is unknown but it seems certain that Ms Haughton is already on her way to living a fascinating life helping others around the world.