Women Makes Up Half Of Paradise Foods Executives

BY FRANKIY KAPIN - Post Courier

Papua New Guinea owned Paradise Foods company believes women are just as equal as men decision makers and currently half the company’s executive team is made up of female employees.
Paradise Foods Company with an 80 per cent majority Papua New Guinea shareholding through the Nambawan Super Limited and 20 per cent through Comrade Trustee Services has 50 per cent of its females on the company’s Executive Leadership team.
And that includes the chief financial officer, group manager – people and performance, group manager – supply chain, group manager – Chocolate (Queen Emma) & Spice. Other senior leadership roles include finance manager – reporting and analysis, finance manager – operations, trade marketing manager, human resource manager and the quality
assurance manager.
“With 50 percent of the executive leadership team being women in Paradise Foods, they engage as equal partners in the leadership team and contribute to developing and implementing the strategic objectives of the business in their specific areas of expertise leading to the success of the company,” says Michael Shields, CEO.
They are kicking goals for the business!” the Company stated.
And complementing gender equality in the workplace, Paradise Foods Company is as well penetrating the traditionally perceived men jobs.
Currently the men dominated positions held by women at Paradise Foods include plant manager, supply chain manager, production engineer, electricians, production supervisors, packaging supervisors, process workers and machine operators.
“Paradise is an equal opportunity employer so regardless of gender or any other area of potential difference, and in line with legal compliances, we strive to employ and promote the right person for the right job based on ability, potential and performance.” Jane Wickham, GM People and Performance.
Company reward systems at various levels are the same for males and females in same positions.
We have been extremely fortunate in recent times to be seen as an employer of choice and have been able to attract a number of female talents to fill key roles,” Paradise company stated.
“We are aware of the cultural challenges that women face in PNG in terms of education and other stereotype attitudes and behaviors of our society that disadvantage women not only to be gainfully employed but to succeed in the workplace and be promoted to management and executive level jobs.

Go to this link: https://postcourier.com.pg/women-make-half-paradise-foods-executives/

The Girl with the Winning Design

BY PAMELA BARARA - Post Courier 

DWU journalism student

Being the youngest designer among PNG’s top designers, one can only imagine the jitters 20- year-old Josie Nicholas must have felt when she stepped onto a new platform in the fashion industry.

Here, young Josie shares her journey as the official designer to the reigning Miss PNG and the Pacific Islands, Leoshina Kariha.

Josie’s passion started with dressing Barbie dolls at a young age which led to mini runway shows at her school then finally to the big runways of Miss PNG and the Pacific Islands.

The year before, Josie Nicholas, was just another lass from Rigo and Kairiku in Central province who had just graduated from Marianville Secondary in Port Moresby and was looking forward to completing business studies at the Divine Word University in Madang.

But little did Josie know that she would be walking into a year filled with big challenges, one being announced Miss PNG’s official designer for 2018.

Josie developed her sewing interest by watching from her mother at a young age.

“My mom sews and so I watched everything she was doing and copied from there and it became a habit that I grew into in the past three years,” she said.

Josie who is the third in a family of five says her first real sewing came when she was 17 years old when her mother had just purchased a new sewing machine.

“I asked my mom if I could try out her sewing machine and she thought I was joking” she recalls.

Her passion would later spiral her onto the fashion world of the MPIP Pageant where her best friend Janal Lovai first introduced her as a potential designer in the 2018 provincial pageant in Madang.

During the pageant Josie went on to sew an outfit for DWU contestant Leoshina Kariha, who was also a first year student at her university at that time.

“Leoshina and I have known each other since high school, we have been very close and so she supported me throughout the journey with my designs,” she said.

Josie draw’s her inspiration from PNG’s unique culture by studying cultural designs and using her artistic skills to come up amazing pieces.

“I’m interested in our culture and how unique it is, during cultural show’s I like to study designs and traditional attires to get my ideas…inspiration from my designs come from the PNG culture and nature itself, especially birds” she said.

After Leoshina was crowned Miss Madang 2018, wearing a lovely dress designed by Josie, Josie alongside Leoshina then began attending MPIP PNG meetings to await the official announcement.

Josie remembers going speechless when Chairperson of MPIP PNG Ms Molly O’Rourke announced her as the official designer for Miss PNG Pageant during another of her mini runways where her clothing line was being showcased.

“It was shocking and I was speechless but I told myself that I’d do my best.

“Ms O’rourke asked me to step up my game, to stick with passion and continue on with what I was doing,” Josie said.

“I was on a little platform where it was just the community and my family and so my first biggest achievement was having Leoshina wear my designs throughout the pageant and be crowned Miss Madang and second Miss PNG,” she added.

The most outstanding collections amongst all of Josie’s designs showcased during MPIP PNG were the Traditional Inspired Dress (TID) and the sarong wear which Leoshina scooped awards for.

“My wardrobe was all about Pacific and so all my designs had to be simple but elegant,” she explained.

Josie said using the traditional inspired dress was a move to promote the Madang culture where she used traditional attires supplied by the locals of Riwo village in Madang.

“It wasn’t that challenging because I loved what I was doing and I just set my mind to it, when you set your mind to something, you make it happen” she said.

Ms Nicholas said for the sarong wear, she tried to embrace the idea of womanhood and to promote the beautiful beaches of Madang and its many islands.

“All my ideas came from Beautiful Madang itself,” she said.

Being the youngest designer at the pageant was a humble and exciting experience for Josie. “I was excited to be among most of the PNG’s top designers.

“They were even shocked to see me showcasing my designs as I was the youngest,” she said adding that they were also very supportive and helped her a lot throughout the pageant.

Josie wants to become a business woman in the future and to continue her passion for fashion.

Josie embraces womanhood and is unafraid to promote women’s freedom in clothing wear, something Papua New Guinean women are slowly adapting into.

“Fashion is all about freedom of expression when it comes to the ladies point of view; I want to put it out there, be part of the fashion industry and grow with it.”

For her success, Josie acknowledged a few significant supporters including her parents, Professor Kula Semos, all the Divine Word University students and community who she says, had the faith to support her throughout her journey alongside Miss Pacific Islands 2018.

“This journey was a really tough one, but it made Leoshina and I stronger, we strengthened each other at our weak moments and so we never gave up.”

“All that hard work was worth it,” she said.

Josie and her mother Francesca Nicholas own and run Paradise Fashion, a PNG owned clothing line SME that’s been in business for a year.

Go to this link: https://postcourier.com.pg/girl-winning-design/

Turnamur gets competency certificate as mine manager

Posted by The National

HILLARY Turnamur from Toma in East New Britain is the first female in the country to be awarded a certificate of competency as mine manager works.
This is according to records of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
Turnamur is a manager at Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), Kiunga operations.
She received notice of the award from the MRA after meeting the experience requirements and successfully completing an oral and written examination.
OTML managing-director and chief executive officer Peter Graham said: “We are particularly proud of Hillary’s achievement.
“She is a role model for young women in Papua New Guinea, demonstrating that women can successfully develop rewarding careers in mining, including into senior operating roles.”
Two years ago, the miner established the Ok Tedi Women’s Network (OWN) for female employees to address safety and security concerns, identify development and career pathways and barriers to entry and progression, and to encourage mentoring and training for women.
Graham added: “In 2019, 14 of the 27 trainees selected for our two-year graduate development programme and our apprentice programme are women.
“We are also reaching out to schools to encourage young girls to consider science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, reviewing relevant employment policies and sharpening our recruitment messaging.
“Women are currently underrepresented in Ok Tedi’s workforce and while it will take time, we plan to change that.”

Go to this link: https://www.thenational.com.pg/turnamur-gets-competency-certificate-as-mine-manager/

The Baya Baya legend: Messiah-like myths amongst the Huli & Foe

By BETTY GABRIEL WAKIA - Posted on PNG Attitude

An entry in the 2016 Crocodile Prize

IN EARLY Huli history, there emerged an important young man named Baya Baya. He was the son of the great high god of Hela, Datagaliwabe, who transformed himself into the sun god Ni, came down to the earth and stayed among the Huli people.

Baya Baya was conceived by the virgin Tiame. He was a perfect young man who went around doing good and persuading people to stop fighting, committing adultery and doing evil things.

He was around 14 or 15 years old when he came with Tiame past Duna to Koroba and then down to Lai Terebo places in Duguba. Lai Terebo is a site for performing the ancient dindi ponegone, the ground knot rites.

From there Tiame and Baya Baya came into the Huli area where they stopped and slept at Gumu.

Then they crossed the Tagali River and went to Lumu Lumu, Wabia and all around the Huli area telling people not to do evil things.

At last they came to Bebenete, the special ground called Abureteanda, the most important Lai Terebo place situated beside where Dauli Teacher’s College is now.

Here men were killing pigs for dindi pongone, the ground knot sacrifice, so they decided Baya Baya was going to hold the pigs and would let his blood flow to bless Hela land and stop people doing wrong things.

The man in charge of the pig killing said, “When you hit the pig, instead of cutting it, just miss and cut Baya Baya’s hand between thumb and forefinger.”

But they hated Baya Baya so they hit him and knocked him to the ground. Then they butchered his body and chopped it into little pieces and mixed his blood with the pig’s blood. The women washed out his intestines like that of a pig.

The men who murdered Baya Baya were mostly from the hameigini (clans) Padagabua, Abua Amuira, Hogo Yuwi, Koroba Goli, Pailero, Uguma Labe, Dugu Kewai, Hubiyabe, Homa, Ambua, in and around Dauli village and other Huli men, people from Obena, Duna and Duguba were there that day.

Pieces of Baya Baya’s dismembered body were buried in the territories of all the guilty clans to stop people from doing wrong. Today some of his remains are at one of the secret places inside Mount Lagabe.

A certain stream flowing from Abureteanda sometimes appears red due to the underlying clay and the Huli say it is the fluid from Baya Baya’s intestines containing his blood.

That day, all the men in charge of the killing told the people not to cross the Huria river or go back to their places for six months while they changed their name from Huli to Homa.

The people spoke the Homa language for six months then changed back to Huli. The reason they did this was because they were afraid that bingi, the darkness, would come to them because they had done wrong.

The darkness had occurred earlier in Huli, but on the day of Baya Baya’s death they were afraid it would return so the dindi pongone yi, the specialists who performed ground knot rituals, altered the nouns in the language to avert this.

The Huli regard darkness as punishment from Datagaliwabe and say that, since Baya Baya's death, his mother has been keeping a special pandanus tree of angalu nanenamu variety in Duna. When the tree bears fruit, darkness will occur. Since then, whenever there has been trouble, famine or drought, the people have come together at Bebenete and changed all the names around.

On the day they killed Baya Baya, they hit his mother and threw mud at her and pulled off her clothes. She ran away naked and dirty, trying to get back to her own place. On the way, the Tani clan, which had not participated in Baya Baya's murder, took her in, washed her, gave her new clothes and looked after her.

As she was leaving, Baya Baya's mother said, "Because you have looked after me and helped me in my trouble, one day you, the Tani clan, will be the largest and greatest of all the Huli clans."

So today the Tani people are the biggest and strongest clan and are growing bigger and stronger all the time. Who knows, the new Hela Governor might be from the Tani or Ni clan because the first Governor came from the place that killed Baya Baya.

Many people believe Baya Baya will one day return to the Huli area. Others fear that his kin may come and demand compensation for his death. This is a common cause for concern since all the Huli clan, except for the Tani, are responsible for his death and it is the only case in Huli history where payback has not been given.

The fact that Baya Baya was a perfect man born from a virgin who never did wrong but shed his blood to atone for the sins of all the people, suggests a connection with the Christian gospel, although there is no resurrection of Baya Baya.

A similar Messiah-like myth is found amongst the Foe, the details of which are closer to the gospel than the legend of Baya Baya. Possibly similar myths occur amongst other Huli neighbours as well.

This is the Messiah like myth found in the Foe area.

“Long ago a bird came from the sky and alighted upon a virgin woman. She saw a mark on her stomach and knew she was pregnant and a son was born.

“When he grew up he went around telling people in each village to stop killing, stealing and committing adultery.

“Because he was a good man people hated him. They wanted to continue doing evil, so they decided to kill him. He knew he would be killed, so he told his mother to come to the place where he would be killed on the fifth day after his death.

“Eventually the men in a certain longhouse grabbed him and dragged him out to kill him in the village. But he said, ‘Remember you will pollute the village if you kill me outside the village’. So they dragged him and killed him in the bush.

“They then lay his dead body on rock ledges. Five days later his mother came to the place where he had been laid, but his body was no longer there. She saw a strange light in the sky and heard a voice saying ‘Your son is no longer dead but is with his father in the sky’.”

The Messiah-like myths from the Foe and the gospel refer to the same events, but the New Testament accounts are more accurate because they were written down.

This indicates that the gospel or a version may have come to the area at least 150 years before contemporary missionary outreach.

Concerning Baya Baya the Huli say he is not Jesus Christ but God allowed this legend in their oral history so that they would understand the gospel when it came to them.  

Go to link: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2016/05/the-baya-baya-legend-messiah-like-myths-amongst-the-huli-foe.html

The history & mythology of biango dudu, the Huli singing dog

By BETTY GABRIEL WAKIA - Posted on PNG Attitude

This is dedicated to my dad because of his love for 'biango dudu'

SINCE the beginning of Hela history, Huli people have lived in close contact with animals, usually as farmers and hunters, and have developed myths and legends about them.

All kinds of creatures play important roles in Huli mythology. In some Huli legends, animals perform heroic acts as mediators between heaven and earth. They may also be the source of the wisdom and power of a shaman.

Animals often have a dual quality in Huli mythology, being helpful to humans or harmful or sometimes both. They provide people with food, but at the same time, they can be dangerous. As sources and symbols, Huli myths and legends of animals represent the mystery and power of the natural world, which can create or destroy.

Dogs were important to the Huli people. It is said Huli men and dogs worked together to hunt for survival.

The mossy, wet-cloud forest of Hela holds an ancient secret. A seldom seen, fiercely predatory type of wild dingo called biango dudu or hiyawi.

Not a lot is known about this dog, popularly known as the New Guinea singing dog because multiple individuals may howl in chorus.

The Huli biango dudu is a slim dog mostly living in the high mountains. They often burst out howling during the morning and evening and each has its own unique voice. They use their tuneful howling to communicate with other dogs.

In those times of old, many Huli people would capture biango dudu male puppies and raise them as hunting dogs. They were highly valued by Huli hunters in those times.

The biango dudu’s feet are extremely agile and able to grasp objects. They climb and jump like a cat and ascend any tree large enough to hold their weight if they spot prey.

They also have great joint elasticity, especially in the neck and spine, and good rotation of the hip joint.

In appearance, biango dudu have wide faces and golden brown fur with patches of white on chest, paws and the tip of their tails. Compared to domestic dogs of the same size, biango dudu have shorter legs, flexible joints and paws that rotate further than those of the domestic dog.

This legend illustrates the bravery of Hela and the dog Peli and also the importance of dogs as informer.

There were two dama (Satans), Dabera Lira and Dabera Ali, living at Guluanda. We don’t know where they came from but one of them wanted to kill and eat the people.

One night, biango Peli met a dama and asked, “Where are you going?” “I’m going to kill and eat all the people,” the dama said.

“All right”, said Peli, “I’ll show you where the people are if you can count all my hairs before daylight”.

So the dama started counting and when it had finished, Peli said: “Now you must count all the dust.” When it had finished that, Peli said, “Now you must count all the trees.”

When it had counted all the trees, Peli said, “Now you count all the water.” But the dama said, “You can’t count water; mindiya, kindiya, goregira, koregira,” (which were nonsense words) and went off in a huff.

Hela tried to chase the dama, but couldn’t catch it. They went on and on until night fell. The dama came to a big tree and stopped beside it. Hela came to the same tree and slept on the other side, but neither knew the other was there.

Hela went back in the morning and the dama went away. Dog Peli in this legend was biango dudu, how brave and heroic was biango dudu at that time.

A certain track throughout the Huli area, known as habua hariga (the greedy road), passed from Bebenete to Guluanda, was avoided by women with children younger than four months. This path was said to have been taken by the snake and dog in early times; they were good friends in those days.

The dog could curl up but the snake could only stretch out in a straight line. So the snake said to the dog, “Give me your magic to bend.” So then it could bend and roll into a coil. So the snake gave the dog the magic to blow ash off sweet potato so that dogs can think of food.

The biango dudu live happily and take advantage of any meal that comes their way. They eat birds, rodents, cassowaries and as well as small or medium sized marsupials.

They has no problem with taking the catch if Huli hunters don’t check their traps often enough. They have also been known to occasionally eat fruit.

In present Huli culture, biango dudu are sometimes kept as guard dogs but are generally neglected and left to scavenge for food. Their population fluctuates because they are destroyed when they compete with pigs for food.

After white contact, they were also killed off in preference for the supposedly more ferocious European dog used by other Papua New Guineans.

But Huli biango dudu remain unique because of their beautiful singing. In the middle of the rainforest, they sing their hearts out making  the Huli wonder why they are crying. Today, they are one of the most endangered species in Hela Province.

Go to link: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2016/06/the-history-mythology-of-biango-dudu-the-huli-singing-dog.html

The remarkable & true story of the Huli wig school

By BETTY GABRIEL WAKIA - Posted on PNG Attitude

An entry in the Crocodile Prize
Award for Tourism, Arts & Culture

DESPITE tribal warfare and the bad reputation that follows, Hela is one of the provinces that puts Papua New Guinea on the world map.

In terms of its natural resources and culture, the people of Hela strongly and proudly uphold their tradition and culture.

Hela always participates in special occasions, to showcase and promote its unique culture. Today Hela culture is a significant most tourist attraction in PNG.

Papua New Guineans sometimes believe that education only comes from Western countries. But for thousands of years we had education as well. Traditional education.

The Huli wig school is one of the oldest traditional schools in Hela Province and possibly PNG.

Its lessons have been passed down from generation to generation and still exist today.

Huli men are best known for their custom of wearing decorative woven wigs, elaborate head-dresses decorated with bundles of multi-coloured feathers and adopted a celebratory festivals.

The famous Huli Wigmen attend the wig school, in which they live together in isolation from the rest of the community.

Wig masters are normally elders who have special powers and are able to cast spells to enable the growth of hair.

At wig school, they learn the fundamentals and rules of Huli traditional customs: growing their hair; collecting feathers; and making armbands.

One of the rules of Huli culture is that boys live with their mothers until they are seven or eight years old, then they live with their fathers to learn skills like hunting with bows and arrows, building mud walls and making houses.

When they are 14 to 15 years old, they go to wig school and don’t return home until they graduate.

Sometimes they stay there for 10 years and may be given the choice between returning to their villages or to staying in the forest to learn more and improve their skills.

To enter the wig school, the boys’ families pays the wig master in cash or with a pig. The boys stay with the wig master for 18 months to grow one wig. If they want to grow another, they stay longer and pay again.

Not everyone is accepted as a student. Only young, virgin males can enter wig school. Before the student arrives, the wig master has to put a powerful spell on the students. The spell will not work on someone who has had a sexual relations. Women are not allowed to go to wig schools because they don’t wear wigs.

Once accepted into the school, the students and master perform a special ritual near a creek or other water source.

First, the master spits into a bamboo pipe filled with water from the creek. The students each gulp down half of the water and spit it into the air so the water falls onto them and cleans their souls.

The other half is then drunk to cleanse the interior of the students’ bodies. Students have to wet their hair at least three times a day.

Students sing while using fern leaves to sprinkle water onto the big bouncy hairdo. They also have to follow a diet where certain types of food are not allowed, such as pig hearts, pig fat and spicy food.

They must adopt a special sleeping position: perched on one elbow and neck resting on a wooden log, all to ensure the healthy growth of hair.

After 18 months of growing their hair, the wigmen cut their hair and hand it to the wig specialist, who then sews and weaves the hair into wigs. The wigs are decorated with feathers from various birds, including parrots, birds of paradise and killer cassowaries.

Most wigmen have more than one wig, but they must all be grown before they get married. Some are used as daily wigs, while other ceremonial wigs are worn only on special occasions. The ceremonial wigs are made with two wigs combined and shaped into a headdress that resembles the silhouette of a bird with wings stretched out.

Once the wig specialist weaves the immaculate wigs, he goes to market and sells them. Many Huli men who don’t grow their own hair will buy them to wear for festivals or major events.

The daily wigs can cost as much as K600 to K700, while the ceremonial ones fetch double that price, K1,500 or more depending on their appearance of the wigs. This money helps pay for the bride dowry, as marriage is always on the horizon when wigmen graduate from school.

On the day that the students graduate and leave the school, they put ochre on their face and head and go out to find a wife. They carry with them two or three wigs that can be used in festive times, festivals, weddings and for greeting tourists.

In the past the Huli wig school took in 20 to 30 students each term, but now it’s only gets 10 or less. More Huli men prefer to go to public schools these days.

Today most of the wig schools are some distance from the Tari town and difficult to find, so tourists need to organise transport with a guesthouse in Tari or join a tour.

Often some of the wigmen students supplement their income by travelling to town to demonstrate how they grow and care for their hair.

Tourists should ask permission before photographing anyone in full traditional dress.

Hulis are usually happy to be snapped and do not ask for payment. Make your thanks known and offer to send them copies of the photos.

The main market day in Tari is on Saturday and this is a particularly good time to meet Hulis in their full traditional attire.

Go to link: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2015/01/great-moments-in-png-tourism-the-huli-wig-school.html

16 powerful & inspirational Papua New Guinean women

By BETTY GABRIEL WAKIA - Posted on PNG Attitude

DESPITE domestic violence, gender inequality and other challenging issues, Papua New Guinea has produced many powerful and inspirational women of real accomplishment.

The next International Women’s Day on 8 March will be a wonderful opportunity to honour these heroes and, with the assistance of PNG Attitudeand Pukpuk Publications, the collection of women’s writing, My Walk to Equality, edited by Rashmii Amoah Bell, will do just this.

Traditionally, Papua New Guinean society views women as playing a role that is second fiddle to men. As a result, PNG women who journey along the path of equality and independence find it a road less travelled.

The woman I have selected in this brief catalogue inspire hope and a promise of a greater tomorrow. They can be held high as examples for young PNG women who have historically suffered from a lack of female role models.

History will remember them and their work will continue to greatly inspire upcoming generations and their trail-blazing lives will encourage others to travel their path.

Dame Josephine Abaijah

Dame Josephine is an educator, businesswoman and political leader, being PNG’s first woman to be elected to the House of Assembly in 1972.

She was born in Wamira village, Milne Bay Province, and her career encompassed health administration, several retail businesses and chairmanship of the Interim Commission of the National Capital District.

In 1991, she was named a Dame of the British Empire. In the same year, she published A Thousand Coloured Dreams, based on her life story and the first novel published by a PNG woman. In March 2014, she was awarded the US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award.

Dame Josephine stepped into politics at a time when deeply embedded cultural perceptions of women’s role precluded them from public life and women’s leadership at the political level was non-existent. She is one of the recognised inspirational role model for advancing the status of women in PNG.

Justice Catherine Anne Davani

Catherine Davani, whose recent early death from breast cancer saddened the nation, came from Dorom village, Rigo, Central Province, and was PNG’s first indigenous female judge. She was also a soccer international.

After graduating from the Legal Training Institute in 1984, Justice Davani started her career with the Public Solicitors office.

In March 2001, she was appointed a judge of the national and supreme courts becoming a great role mole for all PNG girls.

Dame Meg Taylor

Dame Meg, a daughter of Australian explorer Jim Taylor and Yerima Taylor from the Eastern Highlands, is a Papua New Guinean lawyer and diplomat who became the first PNG and a Pacific Islands woman to become Secretary-General to the Pacific Islands Forum.

She hold an law degree from Melbourne University and an master’s degree in law from Harvard University. She began her career as private secretary to then chief minister Michael Somare before PNG independence and continued in this role during his tenure as prime minister.

She was a member of the Law Reform Commission and ambassador to the United States, Mexico and Canada from 1989-94. In 2002, she was made a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire.

In 2014, Dame Meg became a vice president of the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group.

Her appointment as secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum was a significant breakthrough for women throughout the Pacific.

Hon Julie Soso Akeke

Julie Soso Akeke, from Eastern Highland Province and the daughter of a paramount chief, is a businesswoman and former radio broadcaster.

In 2012, she became PNG’s first female governor and the first woman from the Highlands region to be elected to parliament.

Before entering politics, Julie Soso was known as a humble and outspoken women’s rights leader and was president of Eastern Highlands Women’s Council and deputy chair of the Eastern Highlands AIDS Council.

Hon Delilah Pueka Gore

Delilah Gore is a daughter of a chief in the Sohe electorate and was elected at the 2012 elections as the first female political leader from Oro Province being appointed as Minister for Higher Education, Science, Research and Technology.

Currently in the role of Minister for Religion, Youth and Community Development, she is one of the inspirational female political leader who urge PNG women to stand together to address women’s issues and women’s rights.

Loujaya Toni Kouza

Loujaya Toni, from Lae, is a poet, teacher, journalist, singer, songwriter and the first woman from her province to become an elected politician. As a schoolgirl, she was nominated as the PNG’s youngest poet by University of Papua New Guinea.

In 1985, she beginning a career as a singer and songwriter and launched a string of solo gospel music albums. In 1991, during the South Pacific Games in Port Moresby, she performed her song Keep the Fire Alive with the group Tambaran Culture. Her poetry was subsequently published by the Education Department in 1998.

In April 2012, shortly before being elected to parliament, Loujaya graduated with a master’s degree in Communication Development Studies at PNG University of Technology.

Florence Jaukae Kamel

Florence Kamel has gained internationally renown as an artist and designer and was elected as a local government councillor in 2002.

She is a founder of Jaukae Bilum Products, managing director of the Goroka Bilum Weavers Cooperative and principal artist of the Goroka Bilum Festival.

She learned the art of the bilum – an integral part of the identity of Papua New Guinean women and, in more recent years, men - from her grandmother.

The work of the Goroka Bilum Weavers Cooperative is now on the walls of leading international galleries including the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane and the Australian Museum in Sydney. Artists from the cooperative have travelled as far as New York and London to mentor design students in their craft.

Florence is an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, a respected leader in the Eastern Highlands and supports more than 50 female artisans by providing a source of income to supplement the seasonal cash crops many women rely on.

Janet Sape

Janet Sape is a founder and executive director of first Women’s Micro Bank in PNG, the first bank of its type in the South Pacific region and fourth in the world. She’s also the founder of Women in Business, established to develop financial literacy among PNG’s women.

She was named by APEC as the first winner of PNG’s Iconic Women in 2015. In the same year, she also became Westpac’s Outstanding Woman of the Year.

In her youth, Janet was a professional netball player who represented PNG in the world championships, going on to coach the national team and eventually becoming president of the PNG Netball Federation.

She has been an unsuccessful candidate in the last three national elections and is one of the Pacific’s best known advocates on women’s issues, particularly on the need for economic empowerment and financial freedom.

Francesca Rhianna Semoso

Francesca Semoso was a radio broadcaster and one the first women to be deputy speaker of the Bougainville House of Representatives. She was elected to parliament in 2005 for the North Bougainville Women Constituency.

She also serves as deputy chair of the Standing Orders Committee and as a member of the Parliament Business Committee.

Francesca is an advocate of women’s leadership in PNG and ardent supporter of temporary special measures (TSMs) to increase the number of women in the region’s highest decision making body because she believes “the women of Bougainville are natural leaders”.

Bosa Togs

Bosa Togs is general manager of information technology at Telikom PNG. She won the 2016 Westpac Outstanding Women award after successfully campaigning for equal pay for women employed by Telikom, taking up the case of two female colleagues, both engineers and single mothers struggling to support their families.

Mary Handen

Mary Handen is one of the only female to have been elevated to the Steamship Trading Company’s expatriate male-dominated senior management team after being appointed General Manager of Human Resources.

Moale Leah Vagikapi

Moale Vagikapi is a female entrepreneur, founder and co-director of IM Associates, a property development and management business that has expanded into other areas including mobile medical services.

She was recognised for her long service to the now disbanded Australian International Development Agency (AusAID). Moale has been also recognised by the Royal PNG Constabulary for her contribution to the human resource development in the police force.

Rita Jaima Paru

Rita is owner and manageress of Dial-A-Lunch services, a catering business operating in Port Moresby supplying affordable catering for government, business and the public. In 2014, she won the Westpac Outstanding Women Awards and was a finalist for the SP Brewery Entrepreneur Award.

In 2016, she was a Global Women in Management leadership training program recipient awarded by Exxon Mobil and Plan USA. Rita is an inspiring community leader and businesswoman who help girls and women in local churches to learn basic cooking, food handling, baking and other skills.

Penny Sage-embo

Penny Sage-embo is a professional social work counsellor and trainer. She is founder and Director of Joy’s Social Training Institute, which aims to help women by empowering and motivating them through counselling, formal supervision, awareness raising and focused training programs for businesses and the community on gender equalities and the roles and responsibilities of women in the business world.

Joyce Kiage

Joyce Kiage is a tailoring entrepreneur and became a successful businesswoman by providing sewing services and making uniforms for major businesses. She was the winner of the 2015 Westpac Outstanding Women SP Brewery Entrepreneur Award. Her businesses expansion has been driven largely by commitment to service. Her goal is to own a garment factory in PNG.

Lady Winifred Kamit

Lady Winifred has led change to improve the economic of women in PNG. She is a commissioner of the Public Service Commission, founding chairperson of the Coalition for Change and patron of the PNG Business Coalition for Women.

She also a senior partner in Garden’s Lawyers and board member for numerous businesses, where she helps PNG develop a consciousness about domestic violence and workplace equality.

Go to link: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2016/12/16-powerful-inspirational-papua-new-guinea-women.html