Asia-Pacific agricultural researchers awarded Australian Fellowships

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, today presented the John Dillon Memorial Fellowship award to nine talented agricultural scientists and economists – including three from Papua New Guinea -  from the across the Asia-Pacific region

The Fellowship recipients are visiting Australia at the invitation of the Australian Government for leadership training and to make making valuable connections with Australians working in similar fields during their six-week visit.

“Each member of the group has shown potential to lead research institutes and agencies in our partner countries and will be important contributors to the global effort to fight poverty and secure world food security,”Mr McMullan said.

 “They have each won a John Dillon Fellowship, provided by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, ACIAR, for short-term leadership development opportunities in the area of agricultural research management, agricultural policy and extension technologies to people who are participating in ACIAR-funded programs.” McMullan said. 

The scheme is named in recognition of the late Professor John Dillon who made an outstanding contribution to international agricultural research and research collaboration.  

“This year we are once again hosting an impressive group of people who are doing important work on agricultural development in their countries in collaboration with ACIAR,” said ACIAR CEO, Peter Core.

“They are involved in a range of industries, such as the coffee industry in Papua New Guinea, cattle production in Eastern Indonesia, and in Pakistan’s horticultural industries.”

The group of John Dillon Fellows are in Canberra from 10-20 March, visiting ACIAR, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and eWater CRC at the University of Canberra. 

The remainder of the program has been specially tailored to their individual management training needs. 

“The Fellows’ six week visit in Australia commenced with management training at Mt Eliza Business School, and includes training in Canberra and Brisbane.  In addition the Fellows have had placements with Australian R&D organisations in Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Sydney, to experience how they manage research in a changing environment,” Mr Core said.

“The John Dillon Fellowship scheme is just one aspect of the valuable capacity building work ACIAR does,” Mr McMullan said.

The 2009 ACIAR John Dillon Fellows include: 

·        Ms Wahida, Coordinator, Collaborative Research Division, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Socio Economic and Policy Studies, Bogor, INDONESIA

·        Dr Marsetyo, Senior Lecturer, Department of Animal Science, University of Tadulako, Palu, INDONESIA

·        Mr Handoko Widagdo, Acting Country Director, World Education Indonesia, Jakarta, INDONESIA

·        Mr Nelson Simbiken, Senior Research Scientist, Papua New Guinea Coffee Industry Corporation, Goroka, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr William Kerua, Lecturer, Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr Don Yakuma, Program Coordinator Forestry, OK Tedi Development Foundation, Tabubil, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

·        Mr Chea Sareth, Deputy Head of Socio-economics and Science Division, Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA 

·        Dr Babar Ehsan Bajwa, Manager (Technical), Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Board, Lahore, PAKISTAN

·        Mr Oupakone Alounsavath, Director, Planning and Cooperation, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Vientiane, LAO PDR

 

Jungle Child movie seeks Papua New Guinea actors and actresses

Captions: 1. Sabine Kuegler with Fayu warrior. 2. Sabine Kuegler as a child (above) and later a young woman with Fayu friends. 3. Sabine Kuegler with Fayu children. 4. Sabine Kuegler…torn between two races. 5. Cover of Dschunglkind (Jungle Child) by Sabine Kuegler

German film production company UFA Cinema Germany will shortly be conductiong an audition to scout Papua New Guinea actors and actresses for a film called Dschunglkind (Jungle Child) which will be shot in Malaysia in 2010.
The auditioning, which has the full support of the National Cultural Commission, will be held on March 31 at the Raun Raun Theatre in Goroka, April 1 and 2 at the Ulli Beier Theatre at the University of PNG in Port Moresby, April 4 at the Vanimo Sports Oval, April 6 at the Prince Charles Oval in Wewak and April 8 at the Madang Visitors and Cultural Bureau.
The film, based on a bestselling German book of the same name, tells the story of Sabine Kuegler and her missionary parents and how they go to live in a remote jungle area of West Papua, Indonesia, among the recently-discovered Fayu, a tribe untouched by modern civilisation.
It is her remarkable true story of a childhood lived out in the jungle, and the struggle to conform to European society that followed.
David Taim, senior festival officer with the NCC, said the German company visited PNG last year, and after having a look in our jungles, opted for Malaysia for logistical reasons, however, the bulk of actors would come from PNG.
“They are seeking to recruit more than 50 actors and actress,” he said.
“The audition is open to any interested public Theatre groups and individuals.
“All wishing to come for audition must be in traditional costume.”
Mr Taim added: “One casting will be done by me and the Australia casting director called Angela Heesom, and the second one will be done by the Germans.
“Then the cast will be finalised and we will work the logistics of how to move the actors over to Malaysia.
“By February next year, they should be flying over.
“The German director travelled to PNG with his technical people last year, scouting locations for this film.
“They went to Lae and Goroka, however, the forests were not to their liking, and they chose Malaysia.
“It was also a matter of logistics.”
Mr Taim stressed that such opportunities for PNG only came once in a blue moon; hence, he would be working closely with the German company to ensure that it gets nothing less than the best from us.
Dschunglkin, first published in 2005, is the story of how an exotic, touching, and unique childhood leads into the drama of a woman who longs to revisit her homeland.
It is highly-emotional, exciting, full of humor, in parts even poetic
“It must have been October. I’m 17 years old, standing at the train station in Hamburg,” Sabine Kuegler writes.
“An icy wind sweeps across the platform.
“I’m terribly cold; nobody explained to me how to dress in winter.
“I’m nervous, all of my senses are on edge.
“I observe the people around me with mistrust and I’m ready to hit anyone who should attack me.
“How can I defend myself?
“I have neither a bow and arrow nor a knife on me.
“I start to shiver, tears roll down my cold cheeks, I long for the humid heat of my homeland.
“I’m a child of the jungle.”
Sabine Kuegler’s story begins as she arrives in West Papua at age five, daughter of German linguists who are missionaries.
She arrives to find a tribe which even today lives as if it were the Stone Age.
She had already spent her earliest years far from civilisation, but now her parents build a house for themselves and their three children in the middle of the jungle, only reachable by air or by sea.
The little blonde girl falls in love with the jungle at first sight – it’s a fantasy world, a playground.
She learns to hunt, to climb, to swim in the raging river which is teeming with crocodiles.
She knows how to shoot arrows at poisonous spiders and how to start a fire without matches.
Instead of French fries she eats roasted insects, instead of gum she chews bat wings.
She learns how brutal nature can be – but also what war and hatred among people can mean.
The once-cannibal Fayu people penalises every infraction with death.
And yet the children of this tribe are like brothers and sisters to Sabine.
At age 17 Sabine is sent to a Swiss boarding school to get her diploma – a disastrous turn of events for her, since she feels and acts like a Fayu.
“Fear is something I didn’t learn until I got here,” she says, but also, “Deep inside me is a fighter.
“I survived in the jungle, why not here?”
And so Sabine learns everything for the first time – how to shop, how to greet people, how to cross the street.
Today, after 14 years in civilisation, she blends in with everyone else, and she has a family and a job.
But homesickness and longing constantly burn inside her.
She is going to return to the jungle to find out for herself: Where do I belong? Who am I really, a Fayu or a European?
Sabine Kuegler writes: “I want to tell a story, a story about a girl who grew up in another age.
“A story of love, hate, forgiveness, brutality, and the beauty of life.
“It’s a true story. It is my story...”
“I had an indescribably beautiful, but also danger-filled childhood.
“I walked barefoot through the jungle and I was one with nature.
“And here, in the only recently-discovered Fayu tribe, which stood for cannibalism and unimaginable brutality, a tribe that still lived in the Stone Age, that was just learning to love instead of hate, to forgive instead of kill, a tribe that became a part of me as I became a part of it, this is where my life changed.
“I wasn’t a German girl anymore, not a white girl from Europe anymore – I became a native, a Fayu girl from the Iyareke tribe.
“In the jungle, when you’ve found food for yourself and your family, then you have done your duty.
“There’s nothing else to do or to worry about.”
“It was only later that I came to understand that my childhood was unique.
“That I don’t have to be ashamed of being from the jungle.
“Beauty, danger, adventure, simplicity and miracle are words that can only describe part of the life I left behind. I want my book to show that there is more to life than money, technology, and progress.”
David Taim can be contacted on telephone (675) 3235114, mobile (675) 71107651 or email ncc@culturetok.org.pg

Antonia Singut is Miss Papua New Guinea 2009

Caption: Antonia fulfils quest . . . Miss University of Papua New Guinea Antonia Singut (left) is ecstatic on being crowned the Red Cross Miss PNG 2009 by former Miss PNG Genevieve Roberts at the crowning ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Saturday. The event was a huge success, according to the organisers.  – Nationalpic by AURI EVA

 

By CHRISSILLA KABE TALIS in The National

 

ANTONIA Singut, the 21-year-old Sepik beauty, is Miss PNG 2009.

She entered the quest as Miss University of Papua New Guinea

(UPNG), and performed extremely well during the quest to be adorned with the crown on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Port Moresby.

Ms Singut is of mixed East Sepik and East New Britain parentage.

She is the eldest granddaughter of veteran journalist, the late Ian Boden, and she dedicated her win to him.

Ms Singut said her late grandfather, who passed away last November, had a great influence on her life and so she had decided to follow in his footsteps.

She is a third-year journalism student at UPNG and is also pursuing environmental science studies at the university.

The confident, charming, intelligent young lady has a way of lighting up the room when she enters, qualities that helped her win another major title – Miss Charity Runner-Up.

She also won other minor titles of Miss Friendship (voted by her fellow contestants), and Miss Photogenic

(chosen by the quest photographer).

As Miss PNG, Ms Singut said she would endeavour to commit and dedicate her whole life to the work of the Red Cross – disaster relief and humanitarian work.

Later this year, Ms Singut will go on to represent PNG in the Miss South Pacific Pageant in Fiji, and has promised to make the country proud when she participates in this pageant.

The Miss Charity Queen title went to Brigitte Wase, who entered the quest as Miss Ox & Palm, sponsored by Hugo Canning Company Limited.

She made her sponsor very proud as the company’s undying support and dedication in assisting her in all her fundraising activities and preparations for the quest paid off in the end.

Not only is she the Charity Queen, Ms Wase also won another major

title – Miss PNG Runner-Up.

This 22-year-old of mixed Oro and Central parentage walked away with a Toyota Camry Vista last weekend, a prize from Ela Motors to the Charity Queen to acknowledge her efforts in raising funds for a worthy cause.

Altogether, the contestants raised about K90,000 for the Red Cross.

The other minor award of Miss

Patron’s Choice went to Miss Milne Bay, Julie Wapi.

The other contestants were Miss Oro Filma Gadebo, Miss Goroka Jacqueline Saleu, Miss Granville Motel Christine Kenwai and Miss Simbu Isabella Nopro.

The crowning was a historic event for the quest, according to Sue Darby, a judge during the evening and a pioneer member of the quest committee who has always been involved in its activities over the years.

Ms Darby said this was so because apart from former Miss PNG Genevieve Roberts (2006-2008), and the 2009 Miss PNG Ms Singut, there were five other former queens who were present that evening.

They are: Miss PNG 1993 Sharon Onsa Pople (Mistress of Ceremony); Miss PNG 1997 Lisa Linibi (quest judge), and three members of the quest organising committee – Miss PNG 1994 Tania Doyle, Miss PNG 1995 Imanakone Sioa and Miss PNG 2005 Michelle Pala.

 

Papua New Guinea students in China contribute K1,000 towards education of Divine Word University student

By MATHEW YAKAI in China.

 

PAPUA New Guinea students currently studying in mainland China have contributed a total of K1, 000 towards the tuition fee of a Divine Word University final year student in Madang.

The students, who are scattered all over China,  gave what  little they got from the Chinese Scholarship Council as part of their scholarship allowance towards Michael D. Kapus’ (pictured) tuition fee.

Michael is a fourth-year health management student at DWU.

 He is from Southern Highlands province.

In an e-mail dated Feb 19, Michael shared his sad financial situation with students in China that he would not be able to complete his studies.

“It is already week four of the schooling year but I am still hanging around the school to fill my withdrawal form,” he said.

“I need only K4300 but nobody is able to help me and my parents could not afford as they are very poor and exhausted.”

DWU refused to allow Michael to register due to insufficient funds.

The students quickly responded with an e-mail to DWU administration to allow Michael’s registration while funds were collected.

A total of K1, 000 was collected and sent through Madang Westpac last Thursday.

Students who contributed included Jeffers Teargun Hepol, Gene Drekeke Iyovo, Albert B Tobby, Livingstone Hosea, Mathew Yakai and Malcome Philip Taureka

Liza Gabina, Third Secretary with the PNG Embassy in Beijing, also contributed.

The PNG students studying in China are predominantly Christian.

 

Youth views on Millenium Dedvelopment Goalss important, says Dame Carol Kidu

Captions: 1. Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu and Acting British High Commissioner Colin Glass explain how a video conference facility will work to POM Grammar and St Josephs International College students at the British High Commission. 2. Acting British High Commissioner to PNG Colin Glass presents Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu with her travel documents as POM Grammar and St Josephs International College students, who will participate in a video conference as part of a side event of the same MDGs conference, look on.

 

 The views of Papua New Guinea’s youth on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are important, Community Development Minister Dame Carol Kidu said today.

Speaking to students from the Port Moresby Grammar School and St Josephs International College, the Minister said they would be part of an important meeting when they discussed MDG issues with peers from six schools in Wellington, New Zealand via a video conference linkup.

“It is a very high level meeting that you are going to be speaking to so you should be very proud of that. And the voice of young people is very important so what you are saying and doing will be very important,” the Minister added, when meeting the students at the British High Commission.

This Friday’s video conference between the PNG and New Zealand students is a side programme of a two-day MDG symposium at the Victoria University, Wellington in which Dame Carol will participate in as well as present a paper titled ‘Maternal Health in PNG: Reality, Challenges and Possible Solutions’.

The British High Commission is funding Dame Carol’s travel to New Zealand with the Acting High Commissioner Colin Glass, upon presenting the Minister with her travel documents, saying he hoped the symposium and its outcomes will be beneficial for PNG.

The video conference between the PNG and New Zealand students would not be possible without the assistance of the World Bank, added Mr Glass as he expressed his appreciation to the bank’s PNG office for making available their facilities.

The discussions between the 12 participating PNG students and their New Zealand colleagues will focus on MDG 2 which is ‘achieve universal primary education’.

The MDGs symposium is being organised by the New Zealand Institute of Policy Studies in partnership with Oxfam New Zealand, the Council for International Development and the British High Commission, Wellington.

 

Divine Word University/UNESCO Communication and Development Award

Journalists, media and other organisations are invited to submit nominations for the Divine Word University/UNESCO Communication and Development Award.

This award will be presented as part of World Media Freedom Day celebrations on May 1 at Divine Word University, Madang.

The DWU Award was formerly presented annually in recognition of good journalism practices.

 In recent years the emphasis has shifted to the wider area of communication and development and how journalists, media and civil society organisations report issues of development.

 The award is open to individuals and organistions, whether they are, or were at the time of publication, working in the print media, radio, television or some other medium, at the judges’ discretion.

The competition is also open to organisations and individuals involved in information-related activities such as NGOs and community groups.

This year, the judges will be looking for a meticulously written news report, feature, or other writing (special publications, series of articles), or a well-reduced audio/visual program that focuses on development issues and has had a significant impact on a community or the country.

The judges will acknowledge quality reporting and writing, attention to detail, accuracy, variety of sources, originality of coverage, creativity, new information and insights into development issues in PNG.

Individuals and organisations are invited to submit applications for the awards, consisting of either a portfolio of their work on a single topic or a single article by April 25, 2009.

Nominations, addressed to Br Michael McManus, can be faxed to (675) 852 2812, emailed to mmcmanus@dwu.ac.pg  or mailed to the Communication Arts Department, P.O. Box 483, Madang.

 

For further information please contact:

Br Michael McManus

Divine Word University

PO Box 483, Madang, Papua New Guinea, Tel:  (675) 852 3033, Fax:  852 2812

Email: mmcmanus@dwu.ac.pg  Website: www.dwu.ac.pg

 

The Audacity of Hope

By IAN TAUKURO

 

I recently bought a copy of Barack Obama's 'Audacity of Hope' while in Brisbane last month.

Why am I reading it?

Well, apart from the obvious answer that it's a book by the current US president, who also happens to be the first African American to occupy the Oval Office; I am reading the book to gain an insight into the thoughts of the man who advocated change throughout his election campaign. How much change is he really looking to achieve for the US and the free world?

It is well known that decisions made by the President of the United States (whoever he or she may be) affect everyone in the world in one way or another. Obama's actions, while in office, will similarly affect us all today and into the immediate future.

The enactment of the economic stimulus package is a good example of how the decision of the president can affect the whole world.

So far what I have gleaned from the elegantly written 'Audacity of Hope' is that Obama believes, indeed yearns, for politicians in America to be more practical about dealing with the issues and concerns affecting the American people. He appears to be of the view that the American government is too far removed from the people it is supposed to serve. The comments he puts forward in the book about how government should operate seem leftist and maybe even socialist but that is no surprise considering Obama is a member of the Democratic party but bringing his ideas to fruition might have a chance to succeed if, perhaps, both Republicans and Democrats worked together to achieve them - a difficult notion when you have one party holding the majority of seats in Congress.

The most interesting chapter that I have read so far is the one entitled 'Opportunity'. In it, Obama notes that, in the US, opportunities available to some are not necessarily available to everyone else because of race and he goes on to provide interesting statistics about the differences between blacks, latinos and white Americans in education, lifestyle habits and crime. For instance, there are a lot more white Americans than blacks and other minorities in the important fields of maths and science, which, as Obama opines, is because minority students do not seem motivated enough by the current education system to pursue interests in these fields. I kind of understand that when I see that a lot more blacks prefer to pursue a career in some professional sport! Despite the historical event of the presidential election, minorities in the US will still have a hard time trying to get by, which shows that the US is still very much a nation divided by race.

Still, it is pleasing to note that Obama is very concerned about the fate of his people and, in the position he now is, stands ready to act on the ideas that he has proposed in his book to make life a bit better for all American citizens regardless of race or creed. This is perhaps because Obama comes from a middle class background and understands the issues facing the mothers and fathers of this social bracket. His recent decision to reform Health Care for Americans appears in order with the theme of his book, which, to some commentators in America, is audacious.

Obama has only been president for about 50 days but, to this writer, he does appear to be practicing what he has preached in his book and, I guess, you need to be seen to be doing that if you are a politician in the US, especially if you are the president.

On the issue of foreign affairs, it remains to be seen though if Obama will change the hawkish image of the US that the rest of the world has had to contend with for eight years under George W. Bush. Obama does not have much experience with dealing with foreign affairs but he has a capable team around him in the likes of Mrs Hilary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden who, as Obama's recent emissaries to Europe, Asia and the Middle East, may have reassured some that the Obama Administration is going to be a lot more friendlier. Still, hanging over the White House like a dark cloud on a beautiful clear day are Osama Bin Laden, Iraq, Afghanistan and the ever belligerent North Korea. It will be very interesting indeed to see how President Obama, the advocate of change, handles them all.

 

Ian Taukuro