Message in a bottle: From the Bismarck Sea to the Solomon Sea!

Around this time sometime in December 2004, I had boarded a Lutheran Shipping vessel from Lae and travelled to Manus. Iam not sure which ship is was but it definately was either MV Manemba or MV Umboi which Iam sure many people who travel by ship know. From Lae it takes one full day and two nights on the open sea before we land in Loregnau town. As is the custom when travelling on long trip over the sea, we have lots of fresh fruits, home cooked meals and lots of water to keep stay on these cargo ships as homely as possible.

Anyway, we left the Lae port at around 5pm and began the journey. By 10pm people like myself were already sound asleep. I woke up at 5pm to the sound of the sailors pulling in yellow fin tuna and mackeral. During the day I had nothing to do but play cards and tell stories with however i met on the ship. Besides, the majority on the ship were Manusians so it wasnt hard finding people who told stories..lol

At around midday, we were heading full steam ahead, the sea was calm, the wind was slight and as far as the eye could see, there was no sign of land in all directions. After I had eaten salty biscuits and drunk a 500ml coca cola, I decided to try sending a letter in a bottle. I think i was inspired by a story that in the 1700s, a Japanese crew of 44, were shipwrecked and marooned on a small Island in the South Pacific. The captain scratched details of their story and fate onto chips of wood and put them into a bottle. The bottle was found 150 years later on the shoreline of Japan, reportedly, close to where the sailors had grew up.

Well i wrote i my name and postal address on the white inside part of the cocacola label and said that whoever found it should write to me. In the middle of the Bismarck Sea, I threw the bottle

I went home for the holidays then came back to Lae. It was the year 2005 now. I was working away when early in March that year, I received a letter. Here is the letter below:

And here is the exact letter that was written....

The coke plastic bottle with my note inside had reached Poroporo village at the tip of the Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands. It had gone international! WOW!!!!

It was picked up by a Mr. Andrew Silukana of poroporo village just across the Papua New Guinea border! It had taken almost two months from when I first threw the bottle in the middle of the Bismarck to when Andrew picked it up in his village. I dont know how it travelled there but my assumption is that it must have travelled past the gap between Manus and New Ireland and then the strong tides of the Pacific Ocean travelling south must have pushed it down past Bouganville right through to the tip of Choiseul province where Poroporo village is.
On that same day I quickly wrote a letter back to him on the address he had provided. But sadly, to this day I havent received a reply. If anyone in Solomon Islands knows Andrew Silukana, please let me know!

Leaving this place as a student...

Well its October now. The school year has ended. Well for the students that is. Many have already left the campus and many will continue to leave the campus in the coming days. Then the campus will be quiet - too quiet for my liking...hahahaha.

The bad thing about leaving DWU for holidays is that if you are in fourth year - it will be very hard to say goodbye to your friends. It will be painful alright. The other day I was walking past the boys dorm area and I could see a young men hug a group of his friends -his bags on their shoulders and the PMV bus waiting by ready to go. I could see that a few were wiping tears from their eyes and then the other one walked up to bus, waved goodbye and the bus took off.

This made me remember two incidents that I experienced just before i was to leave DWU at the end of the school year in 2003. Now I may see them in a funny light but back then, it was no laughing matter.

My room mate or what was commoly known then as 'roomsie' was a tall higherlander by the name of David Gera. He was the typical Highlander, physcially strong, intelligence and a down to earth person. He took PNG studies and I took CA. We were both in 4th year and we had been roomsies at Cottage A room 5 for two semesters and had shared loads of laughter and good times. On the day he was to leave, his 'hauslain' had come to pick him up. There were about five or six of them sitting in the back of the care. They had come in a Toyata Landcruiser. He had already packed the night before. I stepped out of the room and let him take his things to the car - an open back landcruizer. Once he had packed all his things, he quickly walked passed said 'goodby mate', put up the last things on the car and they drove off. That was all he said. I think its a thing among us the male species - we dont like to show our emtions especially the going away type ones.
Well I stood on the cottage steps and with the other residents of cottage A waved good bye and wished them well. We watched them drive off.
Along the way past the timber workshop and student mess, all of a sudden I heard some of the passengers sitting at the back of the cruizer fired some wild words loudly and shouted something in their language to the driver. The car stopped. Then I saw it reversed back to the cottage area. As I stood I saw my roomsie jump down from the back of the car and run towards us. He came and grabbed me in a bear hug and together we cried like somebody had died! We let the tears flow freely for a good 15 minutes until his father started blaring the horn of the car and telling us to break it up. It sounded funny as Iam writing this but back then it was one truly a sad moment! To this day, I have not seen my roomsie. I hear that he is with the Royal PNG Constabulary but have never actually seen him yet.


A few days later I was again involved in another incident that I also clearly remember to the day as I was leaving on the bus to go to to Lae. The 15 seater bus had picked me and some other boys at the cottage area. In the bus too was the then DWU SRC President David Kitchnoge. As we drove slowly past the timber workshop and student mess, I could sense that many of the boys were tearing up inside knowing they would never set foot on this place again. You know we often say that PNG is a small country but when you depart from school, you know in your heart of hearts that you will never see some of your brothers again. So the last time you see them, there are bound to be strong emtotions all around.

Anyway, we were feeling the hurt and David was by the window of the bus looked out and said in a sad way: 'Displa em last time blo mi na mi wari ya' and then as we came to the junior dorm and some of the boys came over to the bus to say goodbye. The bus driver seeing the boys approach the care, stopped. David, while sitting in the bus, shook their hands and tried to hugg them but it was when he saw this young West Papuan student -Nelson, he could not hold himself and burst into tears. The boys inside and outside the bus were also choking up. The realisation had hit home: We were never going to be students again and we were going to leave this place and friendships behind.

One of the boys shouted to the driver, as if angrily: "Draiva yu take off nau ya! Em ol mangi ya bai nonap stop sopos yu stap yet." and the driver kind of revved the car to let us know and then slowly pulled to the road and we left.


There will only one time that you will ever be a student and share such fun and excitment with your friends. Once you leave DWU, you may never come back to visit or even see the place again. Even if you did come back, there will be the possibility that no-one here will recognise you and also the physical setting will have changed.

So sapos em last taim blong yu long DWU, orait pinisim olgeta aiwara na pinis ok yu ken go!

A visit to Globe Manufacturing factory in Madang

Globe Manufacturing Limited is a part of the WR Carpenters (PNG) Group of Business which is one of PNG's largest employers.
I was very priviledged to have a look around the company's production line and packing section at Globe Manufacturing's factory in Madang. I went along with first year Communication Arts students and their lectuer to have a look at what they acturaly do to make thier well known products such as Sita Corned Beef, Globe Cooking Oil, Globe Curry Chicken and many other popular products.

The company's tobacco smoking zone for employees


Br. Micheal introduces to our tour guides..

Part of the CA1 group

Uncooked meat that is imported from Australia is grinded and then sent to a cooker


Globe Corned Beef tins ready for the production line


A stack of tins


Unused or faulty cooking oil plastics stored in this container


The plastic bottles being labelled on one side before they go in for filling


Tins already sealed, lablled and then prepared for packing


the tins again...

Earlier in September, Globe Manufauring took over the Coconut Oil Production Madang Limited (COPM).

16th September 2011

Do you remember where you were and what you did on September 16 last year? What about the year before? An the year before that? The 16th of September is a very special day for Papua New Guinean. Each year, September 16 marks our country most important calendar day - Independence - a very important day for Papua New Guineans and individuals, social networks, families, clubs, schools and many other groups get together to celebrate this memorable day. I could go on and on how why it is important for us to celebrate.....but i wont. Today Iam putting up pictures of my celebration this year - 2011. The Health management Department here in the DWU main campus took time out to celebrate this day with a combined staff and student ’Independence meal’ or a get together meal or as we say it in Pidgin, a 'bung kaikai'
I was sitting there in the shade of the gum tree next to the classroom when the the Head of the Health Management Department, Ms. Margaret Samei to ld the group of staff and famlies and students that the idea to have this celebration was to remember the day we became a sovereign nation and to not forget that we are a free nation of over 800 language groups guided by one constitution that encourages freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and the right to come to school and be educated among many good things that many other countries around the world do not have. She said that despite many difficult struggles that a lot of Papua New Guineans face, we could also be thankful for many things that we often take for granted. At the same time, at this small meal, the HM Department also took time out to acknowledge and farewell the year four students. I think it is an achivement itself to start a program and keep at it over a four year period then come out off it on top. Now with just a few days before to go, they are content but know in their hearts that they will miss their friends terribly. I guess it is just one phase of life that students go through from being a student to working in the field. I, too, did feel the same thing many years ago.
The HOD said: “ These 24 young men and women have just a few weeks to go before they move on onto the PNG workforce. “The have been here for four years and have learnt a lot both in theory and in practice. “I wish them all the best and encourage them to never forget the good values they have learnt in Health Management and Divine Word University. The HM Department also said farewell to one of our more influential lectures Mr. Albert Sika who left the HM Department earlier this year to join the Modilon Hospital as the Director of Corporate Services. After all the short speechs and a gift and poem reading by the second years to farewell Mr. Sika, Mr. Ambang prayed for the day and also blessed the meal.
The food was really good, the cake was beautiful anf i jsut loved the happy smiling faces of the students.
Mr. Peter Sion who organized the event said that he was pleased the students responded well with the idea. He hoped that this event would become a tradition and help the students and academics staff feel part of the DWU community and work towards a common good for PNG. Well em tasol and I hope we get to celebrate this day again next year!

Below are the pictures on that day!

Planti piksa tumas na hard tru long putim olgeta go antap long hia...

A Reason

Sometimes, things in life do not fall in the places where I want them to fall. I guess that is the way it is. There are some things I can control but sometimes I just cannot seem to have a grasp on it. Be it petty things like walking in the rain or wearing a wrinkled shirt; things that put my day into a bad mood. Other things like paying for school fees or taking care of family are activities that demand more of me and sometimes causes me to stress over it.
But whatever they may be, they always, and i say always...become pale in comparision to the sight of my daughter. When i come home each afternoon, her face is the one i want to see. She is the world to me. She is ten months old and is the brightest spark in my life. When i have very difficult days and everything seems to be a blur, her smile just makes me want to hug and kiss her till her skin is red all over...hahahha. She is developing quickly physically and each day she is learning about new things - shapes, colour, taste and hearing. I hope she starts speaking soon, takes her first steps and can call my name. I know it wont be too long now.

Microsoft Access Database Design for NGOs

For everyone who works with a non-governmental organisation, faithbased organisation or community based orgnisation in PNG, this four day workshop on creating simple electronic databases is one huge key building block for the organisation's project sustainability, future funding and resource management.

Their information brochure reads:

This dynamic four day workshop run by Divine Word University is intended for people working with Non-Governmental Organizations in Papua New Guinea.

It aims to help organizations gain the capacity to create and manage their own electronic databases. Examples of how this skill could be useful include:
• Keeping records of clients who come to a NGO clinic. Their personal details like age, weight,
medications, residential area etc can be kept and be easily retrieved by a single push of a
button. This saves time and money spent keeping manual records
• Keeping records of types of publications distributed by the NGO. Names of organizations
that received your publications in bulk, locations of distribution points, numbers of publications
distributed etc can be kept to monitor usage and justification for future projects.
• If your organization already has a small database created, the information kept such as:
how many people visit your organization for help or for services etc could be easily turned
into statistics thus reproduced into professional reports such as Annual Activity Plans or
Project Reports.

Although less extensive, this four day course offers a budget-priced educational experience designed to help stimulate your creative mind. This hands-on workshop will provide you with effective new ways to extend Access 2007 in creating electronic databases.

The workshop will provide participants with illustrative examples, notes, and sample annotated Access files, as well as suggestions for ways to adapt the techniques to your own needs. Particpants will utilise Microsoft Access 2007 to create these databases.

You will learn how to exploit Access storing and retrievingcapabilities using SQL to retrieve informationin Queries, Tables, Forms and Reports.
Your electronicdatabases can be a tool you can use to storecommunity project information and other vital datathat would become beneficial to your Organizationand your partners. Such features will include:• Data tables• Queries• SQL parameters• Interactive Forms• Reports.
This workshop will provide participants with Access foundation and after completing this workshop, they can be able to create their organization's database system. Participate who wish to gain further training on how to maintain their database system can attend the nextworkshop which is a special workshop in advanced Access later on in the year.
Note: One of the requirements of this course is that participantsmust have strong background in the use ofcomputers especially the use of Microsoft office.

Cost for this workshop
Participant cost: Cost: K 450.00 per head

Cost will cover:
• Duration of the workshop
• Use of computer facilities
• Lunch at the staff mess

Cost will not cover:
• Accommodation
• Travel
• Additional meals

Location for the four day Workshop is at the Divine Word University Campus in Madang Province.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Thadreina Abady on
Phone: (675) 422 2937
Direct Line: (675) 424 1882
Fax: (675) 422 2812
E-mail: tabady@dwu.ac.pg

15 weeks of transition

Friday 27th May
Well today marks the last day of the first semester. It also marks the end of my first semester as a teacher here. Wow…I really did survive this transition from being a student to becoming a teacher of other students. You know a few years ago, if somebody had said that I would be teaching university students, I would look at them strangely and then burst out laughing. My unbelief coupled with my very limited years of experience in the workplace guaranteed me ample ammunition to suggest that I was unfit for this endeavour of teaching in a tertiary institution in Papua New Guinea. Besides, I would be as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I mean I had no teaching experience whatsoever and here I was trying to lecture students on how the world should be viewed, accepted, critiqued, laughed at and even loved. Well, I took the plunge in January this year into the life of being a academic and here Iam – still alive!
Now 15 weeks later, I look back and say with heart filled with confidence that I took a very important step along this path. Even though I have bumped, skidded, fell or pushed myself over the weeks, today ensured that I had gone into and come out on top. I had set out to give my best to teach students about why the world goes round and how they could contribute to our country’s development (as cliché as it may sound, I actually tried to impress this idea upon them). However, there were little things I saw along the way that put my heart down. Such was the case when I saw a few students who do not really appreciate or understand the fact that there were in university and have access to high quality learning resources. Seriously, if only you were very bright yet could not secure a place at a university and were out on the street, you would understand how a person like that would feel. There were others who didn’t have time to read or do independent research and just wanted all things to come from the lecturer. There were also others who were to lazy to even attempt assignments. Yet in each of these students, I did see a picture of myself when I was in university –someone who just wanted to be average and get out of here. Now as I sit and look back, the potential to do great things is just around the corner for these young Papua New Guineas. Iam in a privileged position because for 15 weeks I get to mould their minds and teach them how the world works not only in class but also out of the classroom too. Today’s student is much more equipped then those previously and has enough ability to go further then before and so much be encouraged to do so. I believe that it is also part of the lecturer’s duty to instill confidence in the student to seek out higher learning.
I think one of the greatest lessons, I have learnt these past 15 weeks, is to be true to yourself. If you do not know something or an idea or theory is beyond you, you need to acknowledge that in class, come back, do your research and then go back and tackle that issue or idea. It is no use pretending to know something you do not know. Be true to your students and peers because they deserve that respect.
Another thing I have learnt is to be creative in your teaching methodology. Most students hate being in the position where the lecturer talks all throughout the lesson and they have to listen. This process is painful for the student as his or her ability to gain knowledge is lost through frustration of not being able to participatein the learning process. I have been at fault in this case and the key for me is to think of different ways to teach ideas rather then just lecturing to the students.
Well I got another 15 more weeks next semester and Iam already looking forward to the challenge. I dread the workload but I guess I just have to prepare well and make sure I get all the unit outlines and resources ready. When the students arrive in July, it will be on again.