TELEVISION viewers will tonight see Oxford woman Sass Willis attempt to tackle life without creature comforts on a remote Panamanian island.

The 35-year-old, from Headington, copes without running water, central heating or a computer as she becomes the first Westerner to live with 1,000 members of the Kuna tribe.

The BBC2 documentary Tribal Wives follows Miss Willis as she battles against 100F heat, tropical storms and learns to gut fish and cook using a coconut husk during a month-long adventure on the mile-long island of Niadup in the Pacific Ocean.

She said: "It was an amazing experience. I didn't go over there looking for answers to my life, but they came to me.

"Their life can be tough - and it is completely determined by the elements - but I loved the fact I was away from everything in western life."

Miss Willis formed a close bond with tribal wife Ana Lida who became like a surrogate mother to the former Milham Ford School pupil.

Despite having to communicate through hand gestures, Miss Willis believes their relationship helped her to come to terms with the fact she had not seen her mother since her parents divorced 22 years ago.

"Being on the island was so positive because it allowed me to have a mother figure back in my life," she said.

The amateur rower and keen horserider said the trauma of the divorce made her attempt to fill her life with activities.

Miss Willis believes losing touch with her mother at the age of 13 might have been the reason for her nightmares on the island, which led to her taking medicine from the island's witch doctor.

She took an unpaid sabbatical from her job as the manager of a child mentoring scheme at Oxfordshire County Council, but has since changed career and now works for the environmental charity EarthWatch, based in Summertown.

She said: "I see life differently now. The connection I had with Ana Lida was quite amazing - and you can see that she is a brilliant woman.

"The experience has allowed me to move on in such a positive way. I feel a lot more solid.

"It was really, really hard for me to leave the island. I was just overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity.

"The Kuna tribe aren't allowed to show their emotion, but I could see that Ana Lida was crying as I left."

Miss Willis was told by her tribal family she should settle down and get married.

She believes the adventure has allowed her to feel happy in a relationship and, since returning, has started dating a farmer from Hertfordshire.

She said: "I now have a boyfriend and I don't think I'd be in love or in a strong relationship if it wasn't for going on the island.

"I promised them that I would return with my husband one day and I fully intend to keep that promise."

  • Tribal Wives is screened tonight on BBC2 at 9pm.