The Enigma of James Marape

By PHIL FITZPATRICK - PNG Attitude

TUMBY BAY - I’ve got an elderly aunt in Indiana, USA, who thinks Donald Trump is wonderful. She was a volunteer in his 2016 election campaign and is thinking about doing it again this year.

My aunt thinks Barack Obama was the worst president that America ever had and that the Democrats are socialists who will destroy America. She is one of millions of Americans who don’t realise what the rest of the world thinks about their buffoon president.

Sometimes you have to stand back to see a situation clearly. That’s why a view from a distance often imparts a clarity not available to those up close and involved. I think a lot of people outside Papua New Guinea are still making up their minds about prime minister James Marape. There is a lot to ponder.

On the face of it he seems to be a genuine reformer. How much of this is spin and how much is real is hard to tell. He was, after all, a senior minister in the disastrous O’Neill government. That association raises quite a few questions. If he knew what O’Neill was doing why didn’t he speak up?

He now says he disagreed with O’Neill on several matters. Then why didn’t he resign from the People’s National Congress government and join the Opposition? If he had the same personal convictions he espouses now, why didn’t he act on them when it truly mattered? Why did he let O’Neill get away with what he did?

People inside Papua New Guinean say their politics are complex. From the outside they don’t seem complex at all. With their emphasis on alliances, numbers and personal gain they simply appear chaotic, illogical and, most of all, terribly corrupt.

In that sort of environment maybe Marape, in government under a strong ruthless leader, realised he could do very little. Maybe he decided to wait until he was in a position of greater power.

Or maybe he was enjoying the spoils and only decided to act when he decided O’Neill had burnt up his political capital and was doomed.

Despite what my American aunt thinks, Barack Obama was a good president. Or at least he tried to be a good president. It was a sad reality that just about every good thing he tried to do was nobbled by the Republicans and vested interests.

Is the slow progress that has started to dog James Marape similar to what happened to Barack Obama? Are the vested interests within parliament and in the corporate world outside conspiring to limit his effectiveness?

It’s hard to know but there are a few tell-tale signs worth noting.

One example is of interest to PNG Attitude readers. That is Marape’s apparent indifference to the plight of writers in Papua New Guinea. Does he simply not care? Is it just because he is too busy with what he sees as more important matters? Is it because he is acting on poor advice from his advisors and spin doctors? Fixing the dreadful mess left by Peter O’Neill is a monumental job after all.

But then again, Marape has been seen supporting apparently frivolous things like fashion parades. How can he justify supporting fashion designers but not writers? PNG watchers will remember the enthusiasm that greeted Peter O’Neill when he ousted Michael Somare.

There was a strong hope that O’Neill was going to end the years of corruption under Somare and make Papua New Guinea great. Are all the positive noises that James Marape made when he ousted O’Neill just more of the same empty rhetoric?

Marape booted out many of O’Neill’s most corrupt ministers but he also retained quite a few of them. And corrupt public servants as well. What sort of power have they got over him?

Along with the usual gaggle of rats abandoning the sinking O’Neill ship, Marape has also managed to pull in members of the Opposition to work for him, including quite a few who are very capable and have demonstrated high political ideals.

Do they actually believe in him or are they hoping to change things for the better from inside rather than outside? Or has he offered them something they can’t refuse? I don’t know whether my poor deluded aunt in Indiana would like James Marape or not. Then again, I’m not sure I want to ask her.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/the-enigma-of-james-marape.html

The arrest of Peter O’Neill

BRYAN KRAMER MP
| Kramer Report | Edited

PORT MORESBY - When will Peter O'Neill be arrested? The appropriate authority to answer the question of when the former prime minister will be arrested to face the many corruption allegations against him is the police force.

But if someone were to ask for my opinion, I would say the short answer is sometime this year.

It’s public knowledge that O’Neill is accused of being at the centre of numerous corruption scandals, including the K71 million Paraka saga, the K50 million LR Generators issue and  the K3 billion UBS loan, to name just a few.

There are many more allegations being investigated.

So why hasn’t O'Neill been arrested and charged?

Well, because he has been evading arrest by refusing to avail himself to the police, hiding out in hotel rooms, fleeing the country and filing fake court documents to obtain stay orders.

So he has been able to continually avoid arrest due to a dysfunctional and ineffective police force which is a result of years of neglect and political interference.

In my view, the best means to fight corruption, including having O'Neill answer to the allegations against him, is to first fix the police force.

This includes taking immediate action to restore discipline, ensure sufficient funding as well as address the many welfare issues, including basic entitlements, adequate pay, housing and paying outstanding allowances.

Under the Marape-Steven government there has been significant improvements in the police force and it has been the number one issue on the floor of parliament and in the media.

2020 will be a blockbuster year for our police force as it addresses many internal issues as well as coming out to bat against corruption and addressing escalating law and order issues around the country.

There have been claims that I’m scared of Peter O’Neill?

Well, the last time I checked, I wasn’t the one hiding out in hotel rooms, crouching in the back of vehicles or fleeing overseas to avoid arrest.

People who are innocent will always be happy to make themselves available to the law to prove their innocence.

Those who are guilty will always run and hide.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/the-arrest-of-peter-oneill.htm

Making a start on a PNG book catalogue

By BAKA BINA - PNG Attitude 

PORT MORESBY - Writings about Papua New Guinea and books by Papua New Guinean authors are multiplying but scattered all across the country.

There has never been a central reservoir of information about them. And there should be.

Most of these books are self-published by the authors, sometimes assisted by experienced people like Francis Nii and Jordan Dean, and produced using the Amazon hard copy and Kindle Direct Publishing ebook platforms.

Libraries For All has helped several authors including Caroline Evari while others like Ms Solien does her own publishing.  I am also doing my own.  A few others are engaged with commercial publishing companies.

But we do need a central information data place to list all these books. I’ve made a rough start at a catalogue which you can download here.

Download Catalogue of books by PNG authors as at January 2020

Not mentioned? So how about you get your title and name on the list? Just email me here with a short description and cover shot of the book.

And include this information:

Book title
Author
Category of book (see my note at the end of the catalogue)
Year published
Number of pages
Publisher

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/making-a-start-on-a-png-book-catalogue.html

Cash crunch as debt repayment soars

JONATHAN BARRETT & CHARLOTTE GREENFIELD
| Reuters

SYDNEY & WELLINGTON - Papua New Guinea’s annual debt repayments to China are forecast to increase 25% by 2023, new budget figures show, at the same time as the Pacific nation falls to its largest ever deficit.

The resource-rich country, which is at the centre of a diplomatic tussle between China and the United States, has blamed extravagant spending by the previous administration for its souring finances, which will require the government to borrow even more to pay the bills.

Balancing its books has been made more difficult by recalculations to the country’s outstanding debt. It has soared 10% since the last annual budget to 42% of gross domestic product, above the legal limit of 35%.

“You have some of those loans clicking in; the repayments are going to be a problem,” said Paul Barker, executive director of Port Moresby-based think tank the Institute of National Affairs.

Formerly administered by Australia, PNG has in recent years turned increasingly to China for financing as Beijing becomes a bigger player in the region.

The US has repeatedly warned that China was using “predatory economics” to destabilise the Indo-Pacific; a charge strongly denied by Beijing.

Although the total debt owed to Beijing was not disclosed in PNG’s budget documents released on Thursday, repayment schedules show China is by far the biggest bilateral creditor, with annual repayments to the Asian giant projected to increase 25% to about K160 million by 2023.

Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey said that past excesses, including extravagant spending linked to hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last year, were emblematic of the financial problems that had been building up.

“At that time, we were in the midst of the APEC extravaganza with our new APEC Haus, red carpet, fancy new roads all focused in Port Moresby, and Maseratis,” he said in a speech delivered to parliament on Thursday.

“Now, we have a new prime minister that travels economy class.”

The purchase of a luxury fleet of cars during the forum, including 40 slick Maserati Quattroporte sedans, sparked public protests at the time, given the country is beset by poverty.

Prime Minister James Marape took over as leader in late May after Peter O’Neill lost the support of the parliament following almost eight years in power.

Adding to the fiscal strain, income from the country’s natural gas sector has also repeatedly come in below forecasts.

PNG’s total expenditure in the 2020 budget is forecast to reach a record K18.7 billion against an anticipated K14.1 billion in revenue, creating the largest deficit it has ever faced, according to budget documents.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/cash-crunch-as-debt-repayment-soars.html

Under Marape, rights getting worse - report

NEWS DESK
| Radio New Zealand

AUCKLAND - A human rights organisation has released a damning report into the state of Papua New Guinea, where a change of prime minister has done little to tackle rampant violence and corruption.

Human Rights Watch's annual report reveals rates of violence, domestic abuse, corruption and foreign debt haven't improved over the past year, where weak enforcement and a lack of accountability fostered a culture of impunity and lawlessness.

Its deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, said despite a change in prime minister, progress was still slow and the key findings were dire.

"We are talking about a very desperately poor country. One where there is a lot of violence that's committed with impunity ... where women are particularly affected, as well as children.

"Forty percent of the population still lives in poverty, and this is a very resource-rich country. Twenty five percent of the children are not in school, and our estimate is that one in 13 have died of preventable disease."

The report found more than two-thirds of women and girls were subjected to domestic violence, while 75 percent of children surveyed across 30 communities experienced violence at home.

"PNG has an underfunded health system and children are particularly vulnerable to disease. An estimated one in thirteen children die each year from preventable diseases, and large numbers of children experienced malnutrition resulting in stunted growth," it said.

There was little chance of redressing it with the culture of corruption and impunity that had been fostered, the report said, with corruption convictions rare and prosecutions for brutality at the hands of the state and military few and far between.

To date, no police officers had been prosecuted for killing 17 prison escapees in 2017 and four prison escapees from Buimo prison in Lae in 2018, the report noted. Police officers who killed eight student protesters in Port Moresby in 2016 had also not been held accountable.

A new prime minister, James Marape, had done little so far to rein in corruption, it said, and the unequal distribution of the revenue from the country's natural resources was creating friction and eroding land rights in rural areas. In multiple cases, landowners had been mistreated by foreign mining companies, it said.

Robertson said PNG had not really worked to dig itself out the hole it was in, and it was only getting worse.

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/under-marape-rights-getting-worse-report.html

Centuries-long Hela war gets deadlier

AHMAD HALLAK
| The Age (Melbourne)

HELA - It is often said that tribal fighting in the Papua New Guinea Highlands is part and parcel of the socio-cultural fabric of the region.

With a history stretching back hundreds of years (if not more), it can be seen simply as an indivisible feature of the Highland way of life.

While to some extent true, tribal fighting in the last 30 years has become more akin to conventional warfare on the battlefields of the Middle East or sub-Saharan Africa than the pitched battles using the bows and arrows that characterised pre-colonial confrontations in the Highlands.

In the last 30 years, modern weapons, along with other accoutrements of modern technology, have made their way into Papua New Guinea. They have disrupted the traditional rules of tribal fighting that had historically limited the effects and consequences of the fighting and restrained fighters from going too far.

While in the past a decision to go to war with an opposing clan or tribe would have been taken collectively, now young and disillusioned men with access to modern weapons can unleash devastation on their enemies and their own communities almost single-handedly.

The presence of these modern weapons and their destructive firepower has also meant that the number of casualties is much higher, making it harder for opposing sides to reconcile (and the traditional exchange of compensation prohibitive) and leading to completely unprecedented tribal fighting dynamics.

Instead of pre-arranged battles between warriors in designated areas as in the past, villages are now attacked under cover of darkness as part of a scorched earth policy to kill and destroy with abandon. And while previously fighting was restricted to the geography of the tribes involved, targeted killings can now occur against random members of either side almost anywhere.

Schools and clinics are frequently attacked and destroyed, and most recently in Hela pregnant women and children were killed and some burnt alive.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been present in PNG since 2007 and opened its offices in Mount Hagen and Bougainville in 2012. Since then, we have progressively grown our presence.

Today, most ICRC staff and resources are focused on protecting and assisting people affected by the tribal fighting in the provinces of Enga, Hela and the Southern Highlands.

Our teams are consistently in the field working with and supporting affected communities and local authorities to rebuild or rehabilitate schools (sometimes working hand in hand with previously warring tribes) and clinics, to install rainwater harvesting systems, storage tanks, and sanitation facilities.

The ICRC has helped women and orphan-headed households whose previous main breadwinners were killed in tribal fights, with one such beneficiary telling a colleague of mine how she was now no longer “invisible in her community” and part of the communal fabric once again.

Such cash grants are complemented with training on keeping livestock and agricultural techniques as well as on financial literacy. ICRC experts also carry out training for health professionals on emergency room trauma care and emergency management of victims of sexual violence. Soon, they are also looking to provide mental health and psycho-social support to victims of violence.

As we have a unique relationship with weapon bearers, we also conduct training on international policing standards for the Royal PNG Constabulary and officers of PNG Defence Forces involved in law enforcement operations. Moreover, we conduct training on international humanitarian law for legal advisors and senior officers from the PNG Defence Forces.

Having worked with the ICRC in Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Sudan before Papua New Guinea, I cannot claim that the violence in the country, both past and present, shocks or surprises me, and that is unfortunate in its own way.

What complicates our work in PNG is that where it concerns tribal fighting groups, unlike an armed force of the state or non-state armed group, there is no established hierarchy to have a dialogue with who can issue orders to its soldiers.

Bouts of tribal fighting to the outside observer are as unpredictable as the weather, some with roots going back many generations.

Our teams spend countless hours listening, conversing with and persuading widows and community leaders, policemen and tribal fighters, provincial bureaucrats and church leaders to become partners in an age-old struggle to lessen the inevitable human suffering arising from conflict.

Ahmad Hallak was the head of mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Papua New Guinea

Go to this link for more: https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/01/a-violent-centuries-long-war-gets-deadlier.html

Namah insults PNG and should resign as Opposition Leader

By Hela Governor Philip Undialu

Firstly, Hon. Namah made no remarks to comfort the busfire disaster victims. His never ending personal attack on PMJM at every opportunity is uncalled for. As leaders, we should leave our political or personal differences and stand with our closest friend. Its not time to play politics and grandstanding. Its time to offer prayers, comfort and help.

Hon. Belen Namah should by now understand he is no longer at Moem Barracks. He is at Waigani Parliament as Opposition Leader and he must speak and behave like one.

PMJM's commitment was a high level commitment to his counterpart in Australia so details can be worked based on request. He offered his sorrow and grief at first instance. Then he made High level commitment not just to put off Fire but also for restoration effort.

Just like Namah matched to the Court House to arrest the then Chief Justice in 2017, he is now seen doing his military style Parade to Australia without common courtesy.

This is outrageus, domineering and making fool our capability and ability to help. He is a disgrace to the nation and should bow out in shamed. His statement is insult to the 8 million people of PNG and he should retract it immediately.

PM: Marape Conveys sympathies to Australia Bushfires Disaster

By Prime Minister James Marape

To family and loved ones of victims of the fire tragedies in Australia , to the greater Australian people and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Papua New Guinea convey our sympathies, sorrow and grief in your moment of pain.

Australia is the closest friend of PNG and is always the first in PNG in our times of adversities and we offer our hearts and our hands to you in this time of fire induced tragedies.

PM Morrison and myself have been in constant conversation the last few weeks and if need be, 1000 of our combine soldiers and fire fighters stand ready to be deployed to give a hand upon PM Morrison's invitation.

I also convey to Australian people that many PNGeans on their own free will are doing fundraising and offering prayers for Australia since the disaster first started.

It shows we are with you in thoughts and prayers.

May the God Yahweh of PNG and Australia contain this adversity! In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God promises that in all problems /temptations there is an escape route for those who call upon God’s name.

I believe in that and PNG prays that consolation to our friends in Australia.

With sincere love and sympathy,

Hon James Marape
Prime Minister of Papau New Guinea
On behalf of the people of PNG

Carolyn fulfills dad’s dream, wish

 

Right: Bomai after her certification as a practising lawyer at the Waigani Court House on Dec 13 – Nationalpic by JASON KAVAN

By ZEDAIAH KANAU - The National

IT was around noon on Dec 13 the Waigani National Court welcomed 75 new lawyers into the legal fraternity.
Among them was Carolyn Bomai, who had similar emotions as her fellow students who had just received certificates to practise law.
Coming from a Chimbu-Eastern Highlands parentage, Bomai, 24, had achieved two goals on the day.
She had just fulfilled her dad’s wish and dreams for her to become a lawyer.
Bomai is the second of five children, all grew up at Morata One, Port Moresby.
Dad Cletus grew up in one of the remotest parts of Chimbu at Kuleka village, Gumine district, where vegetation is overruled by the a rocky landscape, making gardening difficult.
Dad’s struggling background has always been Carolyn’s inspiration.
He is a mechanical engineer while mum is self-employed??.
“My role model is my father because he comes from a very poor background and his struggles will always be my drive and motivation,” Bomai said.
“Because of the struggles he had gone through, the only way I could make him feel better is through education which is his emphasis towards us, his children.”
Dad was beaming with pride on April 26 when Bomai graduated from the University of PNG with a law degree after four years of hard work.
“If there is no hard work and support, then expect nothing. You have to work hard and put effort into what you want to achieve,” Bomai said.
“Education is the key to all doors. This is what my father used to tell me all the time.”
Bomai started her journey in 2001 at Noblet Catholic Elementary School and then proceeded to Carr Memorial Adventist to finish her primary schooling.
In 2010, she went to Kabiufa Adventist Secondary (in EHP) for grade 9 but returned to Port Moresby and enrolled at Jubilee Catholic Secondary where she had her secondary school education.
Bomai took up studies at UPNG in 2015, making it through to her final year. She was the vice-president of the Eastern Highlands Students’ Union in 2018.
“Most of the leadership roles during our school years were taken up by males so I decided to take up that role to involve the females and prove that women are capable of leading too.”
Bomai did her postgraduate legal training last year at the Legal Training Institute.
“My interest in becoming a criminal lawyer grew stronger due to one of my instructors at LTI, Vasiti Mauta.

“ My role model is my father because he comes from a very poor background and his struggles will always be my drive and motivation.”

“After attending all her classes and seeing how she conducts herself motivated me to becoming a criminal lawyer. She always tells us to believe in ourselves and know our worth, which is what I stand for.”
One of Bomai’s ambitions is to one day see that all PNG citizens versed in law and know their rights.
“The enforcers of the law have to do more awareness and educate the people. People need to know their rights and when they know their rights that’s when they do things in an acceptable way in the society,”Bomai said.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/carolyn-fulfills-dads-dream-wish/

Alice has certificate in motor mechanic

 

Founding principal of the Hela Hewate Multi Skills Training Institute David Angobe with Alice Agobe and her daughter Florida after the graduation last Friday
at Tari.

By ELIAS LARI - The National

MOTHER of six Alice Agobe, from Hela, was the only female who graduated with certificate in motor mechanic at the Hela Hewate Multi Skills Training Institute last Friday in Tari.
Though many women considered taking up this male-dominated course, few opted for it but Agobe, 35, from Hewate village in the Tari-Pori electorate, decided to give it a crack.
Agobe dropped out of grade 10 in 2000, becoming a housewife and mother and believing that was her future.
However, after struggles and pain in depending on her husband’s income, Agobe felt that she had to do something to change that for the sake of the famly.
In 2016 she applied to the Hela Hewate Multi Skills Training Institute in Tari and was accepted to do motor mechanics.
She completed it the following year and so decided to spend another on schooling – taking up basic computing at the same institution.
She completed that last year.
Last Friday she was among 101 students who graduated with certificates.
Agobe received two certificates – motor mechanic and basic computing. The institution informed Agobe that she was accepted to further her National Certificate (NC) studies at the Mt Hagen Technical College.
She described her achievement as “a miracle from God”.
“I want to encourage every mother and young women who are at home to look for such opportunities because God created man and women the same.
“I’m happy that finally my dream for the last six years has come to a reality,” she said.
“Many women nowadays have forgotten that they are important and can live a life without depending heavily on others or even their husbands,” she said.
Agobe said she wanted to continue her studies.
She was thankful to the Hela Hewate Multi Skills Training Institute for giving her a second chance in life.
Founding principal of the Institute David Angobe said that his vision to establish the institution was to help the unfortunate because education was a right for people. He said Hela, despite having so much bad publicity, could change and promote the province for positive living.

“ I want to encourage every mother and young women who are at home to look for such opportunities because God created man and women the same. I’m happy that finally my dream for the last six years has come to a reality.”

Angobe said the institute was level-four and it also offered FODE studies used for upgrading marks as well graduate pupils for grade 12 certificate.
He said to help people like Agobe, the institution had to struggle with farming and fishery to maintain its operations.
“We are here to serve and support people who feel that they do not have a hope of facing a new life,” he said.
Angobe said his plan was to extend the institution and make sure that those who had lost a chance could come and make a fresh start.
“If people like Alice can make her up from a housewife to a mechanic and computer person, then why not you?
“It all depends on how you plan your life because a hard-working person will always have food on the table,” Angobe said.
“If you want to make a change in your life, then there is hope and it is about time you get committed to make your way up.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/alice-has-certificate-in-motor-mechanic/

Post navig

Life teaches Helen empathy

Helen after her admission at the Waigani National Court in Port Moresby on Dec 13.

By ZEDAIAH KANAU - The National

In a country where leadership is commonly associated with patriarchy in almost every aspects of life, one young lass is breaking barriers by inspiring the next generation of Papua New Guineans moving forward.

TWENTY-four-year old Helen Yurus is a proud Papua New Guinean with an enduring passion to help progress the nation in any way she can.
Helen recently graduated from the Legal Training Institute (LTI) and was admitted to the bar of the National and Supreme Courts on Dec 13. Born to Margaret Yurus and late William Yurus, Helen comes from East Sepik where dad is from Turubu Village and mom is from Boikin. She is the last of four children.
Helen’s dad was a telecommunications engineer while mom was a primary school teacher before she assumed a teaching role with the Red Cross special education centre in Hohola, NCD where she teaches special-needs student’s (hearing and speech impaired) sign language.
“I’ve always look up to my dad because he was a man of integrity. Regardless of his job and his role he always wanted to do the right thing which was important to us growing up,” Helen says.
“I have two older sisters and a brother. Dad always instilled in us that as women in our society we (my sisters and I) must be independent and not depend on others too much. He raised us to be strong and independent and that’s why I admire my dad.”
Helen began her schooling at Lahara Pre-school in 2001. In 2009 she completed grade eight at Korobosea International School and enrolled at the Port Moresby International School (Pomis) the following year. While in grade 10 in 2011, her late dad switched jobs and was unable to complete her fees for that year.
Helen transferred to Jubilee Secondary School in 2012 to do grade 10 again and remained at Jubilee until she finished her secondary education in 2014.
But a month from her grade 12 exams, Helen’s dad William passed away and her life came crumbling down. Before his passing, Dad William had always dreamed of her daughter (Helen) becoming a lawyer.
“I never wanted to apply for law; I wanted to become an economist but because dad died, all my family expected me to choose law.
“My big sister Wilma Yurus is a very important person in my life. She and her partner Matthew Tade are like my second parents. They practically looked after me when my dad passed away.”
Before travelling to Wewak for dad’s funeral, Helen changed her school leaver form selection from economics to law at the very last minute and was selected for law at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in 2015.
Whilst at university, Helen heard about The Voice Inc.
“I’m always passionate about contributing to the growth of the country so I heard about The Voice Inc PNG, which is a platform for young people to be engaged, like a youth programme to help build your leadership skills and to know how you can give back as a young person.”
Helen was an active member of the Law Student Society (LSS) and in her second year at university, she became class representative for all second year law students in 2016.
“In 2016, in order to help my mother who was struggling to pay back the loan for my fees, I applied to the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited Scholarship scheme and was a successful recipient and as such they have met my fees from my third year of studies till the completion of my education at LTI this year.”
Helen’s journey took another turn when she got pregnant while still in university.
“I got pregnant when I was in third year and I didn’t know how to tell my mother about it. When I did it took a lot for her to come around and accept that I was pregnant.”
The year 2018 was an eventful one for the young lass. Before registering for her final year of studies, Helen was shortlisted for the 2018 Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF) Archer Leadership programme and was selected for 2018.
The KTF is a non-governmental organisation that contributes to education, leadership and health in the country in order to keep the spirit of Kokoda alive through its team headed by Dr Genevieve Nelson.
Concurrently, Helen has recently completed an inaugural three-month internship programme with Transparency International and applied for the KTF programme prior to finishing her training. As an Archer leader under the KTF, Helen was selected to travel to Australia. On May 11 that year, a month before travelling, Helen gave birth to her daughter Tehillah Azure-Mira Wariambu before marrying the father of her child Percy Wariambu.
“It was a complicated birth so I had to recover within two weeks and then come sit for my first semester exams.”
Helen and other KTF recipients visited Sydney and Melbourne in their two week trip which centred upon adaptive leadership.
“In Melbourne we went to visit Newcrest and spoke with the vice president. While in Sydney I went to Dentons which is one of the biggest law firms in the world and was fortunate to do a one-day work experience with them in their Sydney office.”
While away, Mum Margaret and Sister Wilma and her husband Matthew stepped in and raised Helen’s daughter which became the norm leading up to her final days of studies.
Upon returning, Helen managed to complete her formal years at university level awaiting graduation the next year (2019). Helen was also presented with a K1,000 grant through her KTF scholarship. While prepping for husband Percy’s graduation at the University of Technology in Morobe, Helen consulted the KTF about doing her community project in an elementary school in Morobe, located in her husband’s village.
Using her grant money, Helen liaised with an organisation called Library for All which is based in Australia that provides culturally appropriate books directed for Papua New Guinea children.
“Comprehension is really important; your foundation is really important. Teaching them (children) at an early age when they are trying to comprehend should be culturally appropriate in their context so that they have a better understanding,” she says.
Helen bought 32 brand new A5-sized books written by PNG authors for children aged three to seven years old.
“Shipping was really expensive so I had to ask the KTF chief operating officer Mike Nelsen and CEO Dr Genevieve Nelson to bring the books when coming to PNG and thankfully that’s what they did.”
Helen went to donate the books to the Puseka Elementary School for their library in Puseka Village, Huon Gulf in Morobe on April 7. She hopes to continue to give back to the community anyway she can. Last April 26, Helen was able to achieve what her late dad had wished for her by graduating with a law degree from UPNG.
“The four years was a real struggle but I was happy that I was able to make my mum proud because my dad wasn’t there. So my sister and mum, those are the two people that told me to never give up when things got tough and when I wanted to withdraw from school.”
Helen then went through another six months at the LTI for a practicing certificate whilst at the same time was chosen (unanimously) to lead as the female class representative of the LTI 2019 trainees. She earned the respect of her colleges by treating everyone as equals regardless of gender.
Balancing the duties of being a mom and student at a young age wasn’t easy but fortunately for Helen, husband Percy with the support of his family, father Gregory and mother Abigail were able to assist her with that.
On Nov 29, she graduated from LTI and was the recipient of the female class leader award.
“Going through the KTF Foundation, going through the adaptive leadership programme teaches you to take a step back and look at what is happening in front of you.
“It has taught me to be innovative and to stand firm on my values and have empathy for other people. You don’t know what other people are facing every day.
“I’ve been through situations that brought me down. You are not what you are without the experiences you go through. I don’t pretend to be anyone else but myself. I’m not going to pretend that I wasn’t pregnant or I had the perfect life after uni because I didn’t.”
“We all have a story to tell and that’s my story. That’s how I lead having empathy and putting everyone else before me and that’s what life is supposed to be about.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/life-teaches-helen-empathy/