Fundraising for Andrew Molen

 

Morobe Show on again

The 2008 Morobe Show will be held at the Lae Showground on Saturday, October 18^th and Sunday, October 19th, 2008.

The Morobe Agricultural Show is a major tourist attraction and showcases the agricultural, industrial, commercial and cultural aspects of Lae and the Morobe Province.

It plays a major role in the dissemination of information on cultivation, crops, diseases and breeding, as well as being the largest entertainment event in the province.

This is the 48th show since 1959 and, like its predecessors, will pull in people from all over Papua New Guinea as well as tourists from overseas.

Goroka hospital goes online in a first for Papua New Guinea

Dr William Mol giving the thumbs up to the Goroka General Hospital website
On the 7th of March 2008, the Goroka General Hospital was honoured to be visited by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Screenshot of the hospital's new website

Goroka General Hospital has taken a giant step forward into the information age and e-health revolution by being the first hospital in the country to set up a website.

The website http://www.ggh.org.pg/ was set up recently by the hospital’s volunteer IT manager Robert Schilt.

“Goroka General Hospital is committed to embracing Information Technology (IT) as part of its overall strategic direction, which is to enhance and improve the delivery of effective Health Services to people of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea,” said a proud hospital CEO Dr Joseph Apa.

In addition to the commissioning of this website, the hospital has already implemented several other IT-related projects over the past 18 months under Schilt, which include:

Establishment up of a Business Resource Center (BRC) that has a state-of-the art IT training facility with 12 PC’s, where regular computer training is conducted and offered to hospital staff.
Deployment of approximately 50 PC’s and laptops to various hospital departments.
Availability of Internet services such as the World Wide Web and email to staff through the Business Resources Center including access to the HINARI Online Subscription.
Development and programming of several hospital information systems (HIS) including laboratory results application, medical stores application, attendance register and various statistical reporting tools to assist departments with their reporting requirements.
Development of a hospital Intranet which is now almost complete. The Intranet is an online resource that will only be made available to hospital staff; and will make information such as staff telephone directories, standard forms and other internal resources easily accessible. It is envisaged that all future hospital information systems and applications will be deployed through the hospital's Intranet.

“We are also very excited to announce that all of the software and systems deployed at the hospital have been done using an Open Source Software (OSS) framework,” Dr Apa said.

“This approach has saved the hospital the high costs associated with the licensing of proprietary software systems such as Microsoft.

“This website will continue to evolve and we already have planned to launch the following web services in the near future:

An online forum for PNG doctors to discuss and share relevant clinical information.
A member’s section which will give registered users access to additional information.
Hospital news items.
Links to useful health resources.
Other features.

“So stay tuned and in the meantime, if you need to contact the Hospital, you may do so by sending an email to info@ggh.org.pg.”

Schilt said both Internet access and access to the HINARI service was a first for hospital staff in Papua New Guinea.

“The Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) provides free or very low cost online access to the major journals in medical and related social sciences to local, not-for-profit institutions in developing countries,” he explained.

“HINARI was launched in January 2002, with some 1500 journals from six major publishers: Blackwell, Elsevier Science, the Harcourt Worldwide STM Group, Wolters Kluwer International Health & Science, Springer Verlag and John Wiley, following the principles in a Statement of Intent signed in July 2001.

“Twenty-two additional publishers joined in May 2002, bringing the total number of journals to over 2000.

“Since that time, the numbers of participating publishers and of journals and other full-text resources has grown continuously.

“Today more than 70 publishers are offering their content in HINARI and others will soon be joining the programme.

“An evaluation is in progress which will determine the long term future of HINARI.”

For those familiar with website design the original site was developed with an Open Source application called Joomla.

This new and revamped website has been put together for Goroka General Hospital using Wordpress.

“Some folks would like to think of Wordpress as solely a platform for writing blogs but as I’m learning it is far more powerful than that,” Schilt said.

“Due to its structure, available functionality and Content Management System (CMS) abilities it can easily be used to create fully fledged websites.

“I will shortly add Forum functionality using an add-on product called ‘bbPress’.

“The Forum will be made available to Health professionals with access to the Internet in Papua New Guinea to share ideas and resources and will naturally be called the ‘PNG Health Forum’.

“The new website is still lacking a lot of content but hopefully, with time and quality contributions from hospital management and staff, we will see it become a valuable online resource for the health professionals in the Highlands region and also the rest of PNG.”

Access to health services is a right and not a privilege for the 432,972 people of the Eastern Highlands province.

For the past 38 years, both national and provincial governments have been achieving this through the provision of stable and essential health services to our people.

As a result, the provincial life expectancy has increased from 53.6 years in 1990 to the current 56.1 years, which is higher than the current national average.

Goroka General Hospital is located in the picturesque Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

The hospital provides specialist health services to the entire Highlands Region

The website http://www.ggh.org.pg/ is a giant step for the health system in Papua New Guinea.

CHALLENGES REMAIN IN EDUCATION

Many challenges remain in the education sector despite the millions of dollars spent trying to provide quality education for all children in the Pacific region.

Speaking at the opening of the three-day workshop for senior education officials from the Forum Island Countries to discuss the review of the Forum Basic Education Action Plan in Nadi, Fiji, today, Dr Helen Tavola, the Forum Secretariat’s Social Policy Adviser said countries in the region need to work together to meet these challenges.

“This review shows us that there are many issues in education that unite us as a region and it makes good sense that we grapple with them together, to combine both human and financial  resources where possible,” Dr Tavola said.

The review of the Forum Basic Education Action Plan mandated by the region’s Education Ministers last November has been undertaken in the last several months and held consultations with over 200 people around the region.

“In this region we all have to grapple with the concept of regionalism. What makes us a region; what can we do at a regional level that adds value to the national level; and how we can fit in with the broader regional mandates of the Pacific Plan. This is not easy,” Dr Tavola said.

“Many people have an underlying fear of regional initiatives; especially if there is a perception that funding might go into regional endeavours rather than country level ones. It can be quite difficult to think beyond the national level but regionalism is a reality that we all must live with.

”We should remember, however, that regional activities do not limit the sovereign right of countries to determine their own national goals and priorities; neither do they restrict bilateral development programmes and activities. Regional activities must enhance what is done at the country level,” she said.

Dr Tavola pointed out that education does not exist in a vacuum and education systems tend to reflect the societies that they exist in.

“When there are crises in countries, education systems also often undergo crises. Many countries have what I call ‘lines in the sand’ referring to before and after significant events: states of emergencies; coups; economic crises; economic reforms; ethnic troubles; riots; hurricanes; pre and post Compact etc. The converse should be of course, that when countries are stable and prosper, education systems should flourish and to an extent we see that happening.”

Dr Tavola told the participants that the Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum adopted a Vision in 2004 and despite education not explicitly being mentioned most of the high ideals in the Vision cannot be achieved without education, without an educated population.

“We are here to work together to find a way forward for supporting education at a regional level so that these goals articulated by our Leaders can be realised.”

The workshop is part of the review process which is being funded by the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID).

For more information, contact Dr Helen Tavola at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi, Fiji on phone 679 672 0277 or email helent@forumsec.org.fj

 

Trupela Man

 

SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS WAYS TO INCREASE NUMBER OF WOMEN IN PACIFIC PARLIAMENTS

To consider ways to help increase and sustain the number of women in Pacific Parliaments through the use of special measures, officials and key representatives from four Pacific Islands Countries (PICs) will attend a sub-regional workshop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea,  25 – 26 September.

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), AusAID, UNDP Pacific Centre, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) are organising the workshop.

Over 30 participants will be from the four Melanesian countries of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. 

Against the world average of 16 percent women Parliamentarians, the Pacific countries have the lowest average by region of 3.1 percent (excluding Australia and New Zealand).

 The Pacific region has five out of the eight countries in the world without any women in parliament.

The five countries are Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

“It is with these facts in mind that women parliamentarians from the Forum Island countries together with development partners, academics and civil society organizations agreed at a meeting in the Cook Islands in 2006 on the need to address barriers to women’s representation and participation in Pacific parliaments,” says Peter Forau, Acting Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

“This workshop supported by these development partners also supports the good governance pillar of the Pacific Plan specifically participatory democracy, consultative decision-making and electoral process. It is also in response to Forum Leaders’ directive in 2007 for member countries to explore ways to enhance participation, particularly by women in decision making processes and institutions, and in particular parliamentary processes,” says Mr Forau

Mr Forau said: “For many reasons, elections in the region have not been particularly favourable towards aspiring women candidates resulting in the low numbers of women in Pacific parliaments. One approach that has made a difference is the use of special measures. Their use in other parts of the world has led to significant increases in the number of women parliamentarians.”

Special measures include reserved seats and quotas and can also include electoral reforms aimed at improving the representation of women in parliament.

The organisers of the workshop hope participants who will be hearing from seasoned international experts and the experiences of Pacific champions such as Papua New Guineas’ lone woman parliamentarian Dame Carol Kidu, come away better informed about special measures and perhaps work on appropriate country strategies for discussion and consideration by policy-makers in their own countries.

Other similar workshops will be scheduled for the other sub-regions in the Pacific after the one in Papua New Guinea.

For more information, contact Dr Henry Ivarature, the Forum’s Regional Governance Adviser on phone 679 331 2600 or email henryi@forumsec.org.fj

 

Lest we forget

Lest we forget, Wednesday September 17^th is the 14^th anniversary of the twin volcanic eruptions which devastated Rabaul, East New Britain province, on this day in 1994.

 

My Dad's memories of Michael Somare

Picture caption: Mathias Nalu (second from right, standing), with fellow trainee teachers at Sogeri Education Centre in 1956 including Michael Somare, (third from left,  sitting),  Paulias Matane (sitting far right) and Alkan Tololo  (standing far right).

 

 

September 17^th is the 15^th anniversary of the death of my father , Mathias Nalu, who left us on this day in 1993. Below is a tribute to my father.

My father, the late Mathias Nalu, until the day he died in 1993, remained committed to the ideals of his former school mate and Pangu Pati founder Michael Somare.

Dad went to school with Somare, first at Dregerhaffen in Finschhafen, and then at Sogeri outside Port Moresby.

But unlike his mates like Somare, Paulias Matane and Alkan Tololo who would one day figure in the formation of this country, Dad remained a simple school teacher, and later a primary school inspector, until the day he died so prematurely of a stroke after 35 years of distinguished service to his country.

We, his children, were born and grew up all over the country in the pre-independence days as Dad excelled as a member of the highly-disciplined and efficient ‘shorts and socks brigade’ public service under the colonial administration.

We grew up listening in fascination as Dad told us one story after another of his mates like Somare, Matane and Tololo.

Many years later, after Dad died and I was working as a journalist, I often bumped into Somare, Matane and Tololo and they always extolled the virtues of my ‘Old Man’, which left me with a great deal of pride.

One thing that is forever etched in my memory was of growing up on Sohano, a small island off Buka, in the halcyonic days of the early 1970’s, when I would have been about five or six years of age.

Papua New Guinea’s Chief Minister visited Sohano, and while reminiscing with Dad about their old days, a Bouganville Copper employee named Bill, who lived next door to us, said something that offended Somare.

Somare ordered him out of the country immediately!

I can remember as Bill, with tears, handed all his worldly possessions to Mum and Dad and left.

Independence came and I remember Dad, as we listened to the radio at 12am on September 16, 1975, celebrating as his former school mate became the first Prime Minister of the newly-independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Later, in 1976, when my youngest sister Anna was born, the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister personally visited our house while in Goroka, gave Mum K100, and said that Anna’s second name was ‘Moaso’ after his mother.

As Somare celebrates 40 years in politics and Papua New Guinea celebrates 33 years of independence, I know that somewhere over the rainbow way up high, Dad will also celebrating.

 

 

Papua New Guinea Independence celebrations in full throttle

I just caught a bus to work which drove past the University of PNG, and I got off at the Sir John Guise Stadium, when I saw thousands of people there.

Papua New Guineans, not only in Port Moresby, but all over the country, are caught up in the excitement of the day, wearing PNG t-shirts and caps, as well as showing a strong spirit of patriotism reminiscent of 30^th Independence celebrations in 2005.

The country’s new television station (refer to story below) will be launched by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in Wewak later today.

 

Happy 33rd Independence Anniversary, Papua New Guinea

Happy 33rd Independence Anniversary, Papua New Guinea!

Yes, indeed, we have gone through some very trying times since September 16^th, 1975, and it is all too easy to be a Doubting Thomas, an eternal pessimist.

But hey, let’s all be happy, as this is all our day!

A Happy 33^rd Independence Day to all you Papua New Guineans living, studying and working overseas; all you wonderful people of this great land; as well as all our many friends from all over the world.

God Bless Papua New Guinea real good!

Plans underway to celebrate World Food Day in October

‘World Food Security; the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy’ is the theme for the 2008 World Food Day to be observed next month.

The Department of Agriculture and Livestock, in an official statement, advised all stakeholders, government and agricultural agencies, provinces, non-government organisations and the public to make preparations to celebrate the event on October 16.

The statement said that a collaborative effort was required by all stakeholders to join the Department of Agriculture and Livestock in organising various activities to promote and create awareness on WFD and the theme.

The activities can include agricultural field days, farmer displays, agricultural shows, cultural and sporting events, workshops, poster and art exhibitions and others.

The annual observance of WFD by PNG is part of the global commitment to increase public awareness and understanding of the problems of hunger and poverty and emerging global issues such as climate change and bioenergy that will impact on food security.

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation, more than 850 million people worldwide suffer from hunger and malnutrition and global initiatives have been launched to reduce this figure.

The WFD is an opportunity for everyone to come together and reaffirm their commitment to address food insecurity and other associated problems in a collaborative and participatory manner with national, international, local communities and NGOs.

 The 2008 theme highlights the importance of climate change and energy situation on agriculture and food security and the need for proper management of natural resource base and the environment to sustain agricultural productivity for food production and income generation to ensure food security for a growing world population.

DAL has urged government departments, agricultural agencies, NGOs, provinces, business houses and the public to join hands and celebrate WFD in their local communities on October 16 or thereafter.

Preparations are also underway for the official WFD celebrations to be held in conjunction with an agriculture road show at Bogia in the Madang Province on October 30-31.

The local community is all geared up and is working hard to organise the two-day event to celebrate World Food Day, Rural Women’s Day and promote agriculture potential and opportunities all at the same time.

 

Muruks win the SP Cup for third consecutive year

In case you haven’t heard as yet, Mendi Muruks yesterday took out the SP Cup rugby league grand final for the third consecutive year with a resounding 34-14 win over Mount Hagen Eagles.

Log on to The National, Papua New Guinea’s leading daily newspaper, for all the details.

Young Papua New Guineans meet New Zealand All Blacks in Brisbane

I received an email today from my old buddy and ex-Aiyura school mate, Chris Taukuro, who is based in Brisbane with wife Katherine and family.

Chris sent me pictures of New Zealand All Blacks Mils Muliana and Kevin Mealamu with his daughter Sarah Taukuro and her cousin Alu Amini.

New Zealand, as you may already know, staged a second half comeback from 10 points down for a thrilling 28-24 win against Australia and denied the Wallabies their first Tri-Nations title since 2001 and also kept the Bledisloe Cup across the Tasman for the six straight year.

“Hi Malum,

 “If you can use these photos, here is a photo of Mils Muliaina and Kevin Mealamu with Sarah Taukuro, my daughter, and her cousin, Alu Amini.

 “I was very sad to hear of Chris Kaines passing last month!! He was a dear brother!!

 “Have a good day brother.

 “Best regards.”

 

• A Happy 33^rd Anniversary to Chris, Katherine and all the expatriate Papua New Guineans all over the world and I hope you can return home before you get too old!

 

New TV station for Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guineans will receive a special gift when the country celebrates its independence anniversary on September 16.

They will be able to switch on to a new free to air television service with more local content and programmes—thanks to government.

NTS (National Television Service) will telecast live giving a choice to Papua New Guineans to watch a new TV service, hence provide competition to PNG’s only commercial TV station, EMTV.

EMTV is owned by Fiji-based Yasana Holdings, also owners of Fiji TV.

NTS will be operated and managed by PNG’s National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of which PINA (Pacific Islands News Association) president, Joseph Ealedona, is managing director.

Since independence in 1975, successive PNG governments have recognised the need to have a national television service in PNG.

In 1981, PNG NEC (National Executive Council) approved in principle the introduction of a television service of which NBC was to undertake a feasibility study on the technical, engineering, financial, management and programming aspects of the project. The process was not concluded due to the 1982 national elections.

The 1981 NEC decision was resurrected in 1989 and NBC was directed to initiate the processes to realise the service.

Prime Minister Somare in March 2007 directed NBC again to initiate the processes on NTS.

On September last year during the opening of PNG’s 8th parliament, Somare reiterated his call for the introduction of the TV service for PNG. A taskforce was established and progress so far has been successful, according to Ealedona.

The first phase will make it possible for Port Moresby viewers to watch NTS, second phase will be the provinces (19), the third phase will be for rural people and the fourth phase will be the region.

 

SP Cup grand final today

Papua New Guinea's premier rugby league competition, the SP Cup, has its grand final in Port Moresby this afternoon between 2006 and 2007 champions Mabey & Johnson Mabey Muruks against Bintangor Mount Hagen Eagles.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Whale shark beached up on Iokea

Villagers from Iokea in the Gulf province were surprised to find a whale shark beached up on their shores last Sunday morning.

Thomas Auhava, curator of the Schwimmer War Museum outside Port Moresby, was at his Iokea village at the weekend and took pictures of the beached whale shark.

Pictures taken by Mr Auhava show a whale shark with white spots on its back.

“It’s about 6.5m long and 2m wide,” he said.

“It couldn’t get out because of shallow water.

“It’s still alive.

“It was just waiting for the tide to push it out.”

Iokea villagers took a ride on the back of the beached whale last Sunday.

 

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Malum

First pictures of my yet unnamed nephew, born to my youngest sister Anna at Angau Memorial Hospital, Lae, on Friday, August 29th, 2008