The UPNG West New Britain Students Association have recently carried out a major project in West New Britain Province. The project consists of two parts, which includes an academic excellence awareness talk as well as a Book Drive program. Both the programs were carried out in five schools in each of the LLGs in the Province. The 2021 President of the UPNG WNBSA, Zeal Dau, said that as of the first program, the WNBSA conducted an academic excellence awareness to talk to students about the importance of education. According to Dau, this was to help students make informed decisions about their choices of studies, specifically to tertiary institutions such as UPNG. “One of the key message that was addressed to the students during this awareness was the entry requirements and courses of UPNG. Additional to that, we also addressed the behaviour and attitudes of students towards their education.” According to Dau, the awareness itself was carried out in three schools and was initially planned out for five days, however, was decided in the end that the program be carried out for just two days. “We attended three secondary schools which were, Poinini Catholic Agricultural Technical Secondary School, Hoskins and Kimbe Secondary School. The aim was to educate, motivate and challenge the students to work hard and secure a space at the University.” Apart from the awareness talk, the Book Drive was also part of the association’s program. Dau said that this was the second phase of the program where the association distributed mainly reading books to the students. “As for this part of the program, the schools in which we distributed the books to were selected randomly. The schools included, Ruango Junior High, Talasea High, Mosa High Ceneka High and Ceneka Secondary.” Dau said that so far, the two programs carried out were so far a success. He added that the teachers of those schools responded positively by organizing their students. “We as an association, are happy with the outcome we received, mainly from the first phase of our program, where the talk we gave to the students was helpful to them. The students were keen to know more about the University’s Courses and requirements.”

The Yumi FM PNG Musik Awards is back this year to recognize the contributions of local musicians and producers in the PNG music industry. This year the Musik Awards is set to take place on the 4th of December, where Yumi FM will announce the most nominated artists who are chosen by the dedicated listeners and loyal fans of the artists. The Awards show will be aired live on the Yumi FM radio station from 8pm to 12midnight. Program Director of Yumi FM, Tuluan Vitz, said this is the second time Yumi FM will be hosting the event live on air because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it impossible to host the event live on stage. According to the Program Director, the Musik Awards for this year will consist of eight categories, which includes two additional categories. The categories are Best New Artist, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Male and Female Artist of the Year, Best Producer and Best Duo Group. The two additional categories include the Justin Kili Award and Listeners’ Choice Song of the Year. “The event will be delivered live on air as well as on our Yumi FM social media page, giving our listeners a feel of the event in which they can take part in.” According to Tuluan Vitz, the only difference between the Musik Awards aired live on radio and showcased live on stage, is that the audience and listeners will not be able to see their favorite artist perform when its live on air. “During the airing time of the Musik Awards, we will only be able to play the hit songs for those most nominated artists and not every one of their songs due to the interference of our scheduled programs that is already set to go on air.” “That is why we are given only a time span from 8pm to 12midnight for the event,” Tuluan said. The Program Director added that once the names of those most nominated artists have been announced on air, they can then go to the PNGFM office where they will receive their awards. “These artists are given awards based on the votes and requests from the listeners. We then acknowledge them by rewarding them for their outstanding work.” She said despite the covid-19 pandemic, Yumi FM still managed to get good feedback from the listeners based on last year's experience. “Though we had to cancel our show for last year and again this year as well, we still received a good feedback and participation from our listeners.” She concluded that Yumi FM is the first ever radio station to host a big event like this on air and encouraged everyone to listen in to vote and request for their favorite artist. Tuluan Vitz has also encouraged everyone to tune in during the time the Musik Awards will be aired on the radio on December 4.

“Doing what I am good at is not for the sake of the money but for the passion I have for it.” These are the words of one talented Jayde Jemimah Ovia, who has always had a dream of becoming a professional makeup artist one day. Ovia, aged 23 from Central and Gulf, took up Cosmetology at Caritas Technical Secondary School. After completing her studies in 2016, Ovia went into the fashion industry and took up modelling. She has been modelling ever since, following the recent fashion runway shows she took part in; the MPIP fashion show and the Paradise Runway. “This is my sixth year of modelling now and ever since; the experience of modelling has boosted me even more in doing what I am most passionate about.” “Modelling comes with beauty and that’s where my passion has grown.” Ovia who has always had a passion for beauty and fashion said that being a makeup artist is something that she loves doing, especially for young girls and women. “I mainly do makeups for little girls in schools and also within the community that I reside in.” “As part of my practice and experimentation, I also practice applying makeup on my sisters and nieces at home.” Apart from modelling, Ovia has also done voluntary work with Cheshire Homes in which she helps out during her free time. Ms Ovia volunteers in reading books to the students as well as taking part during their play time. “Due to the shortage of teaching staff, I help assist the teachers with the children.” “I also prepare them for special events such as fun days, parent teacher days and so forth.” “With the skills that I have gained, I share with them and that is of course through doing makeups for the little girls and dressing them up.” “Another school where I do voluntary work is Waigani Primary School where I usually volunteer to dress them up for mini fashion shows, specifically for Book Week,” Ms Ovia said. Apart from volunteering at schools, Ovia also conducts sessions with young girls in her community where she teaches modelling and fashion. “Being a model is not only about dressing up and looking pretty but also about being respectable and having integrity in your own self.” “This is part of me being a good role model to these young girls and most importantly, having an impact in someone else’s life.” In addition to this, Ovia has also used her makeup talent to address awareness based on real life issues in the country such as Gender based violence. “I create makeup, specifically makeup that I use for real life issues such as GBV, one of them being the passing of Late Jenelyn Kennedy who died as a result of violence.” “My aim is to influence a lot of people; especially females as I believe that using my talent to change others’ lives, will create a greater and safer community.” According to Ovia, she believes that in order to build the fashion industry, she would like to use her talent to address issues affecting the country. This will make sense as to why the fashion industry is important as well. Due to her vast modelling experiences and makeup skills, Ovia was invited as an inspirational speaker for the Native Fashion and Arts Academy for young girls modelling training which was part of their modelling and ethics training. “I hope that with my gift and talent, I can help a lot of young girls and women.” “Fashion and styles are not only about the looks but it is something we can use to inspire and help others.” Ms Ovia is currently providing a makeup treat for young girls for their graduations and formals which is free of charge. The young makeup artist said that this is part of her way of helping those who can’t afford such services and is happy to do what she can to help these young girls. Images supplied

An ambulance crew belonging to the St John Ambulance was attacked in the early hours of Thursday morning by a group of anti-vax protesters in Lae. The crew consisting of three ambulance officers were attending to a female patient along the Boinamo Gravel Road in Lae when they were attacked by the group. The group were under the assumption that the crew was giving vaccine jabs to the people. The crew members were verbally abused and accused of conducting vaccinations and threatened to have the ambulance smashed for being suspected of carrying out vaccination in the communities. It so happened that while two ambulance officers were attending to the patient, the other officer including the patient’s husband stepped out to try and appease the angry protestors by explaining to them what was actually happening. Both the officer and the husband were assuring the crowd that they were not the vaccination team and that they were only attending to an emergency case in the area. “This is now the second incident that the ambulance officers in Lae have had to come across within the space of two weeks,” said CEO of St John Ambulance Matt Cannon. A similar incident had taken place last week when a crew was attending to a case which the police are still trying to investigate and resolve. “Scepticism and misinformation floating around is that the public assumption now is that St John Ambulance is involved in a vaccine roll out when that is clearly not the case.” “Under this pretext, the work life of our ambulance officers is at high risk of getting attacked under these threats from these anti-vax groups and protesters.” “It is an on-going issue where assumptions are made by these protesters that the St John Ambulance officers attending to emergency cases are seemingly seen to be roll out vaccinations,” Mr Cannon said. St John Ambulance in Lae have assured that they are not running any vaccination rollouts in any community and that the Ambulance teams are there to help people in Lae in times of emergencies. “Being abused or assaulted by those whom we are trying to help is really unacceptable and does not help us do our job.” “We call on the Lae community to be respectful toward our ambulance officers during this time as so much more people are in need of our help,” Mr Canon said.

The Divine Word University Eastern Highlands Students Association in Madang recently hosted an appeal to help families of those suffering from Covid-19 back in their home province in Goroka. The appeal program which took place last week Saturday was organised by Mr. Awaso Peter, a final year Mathematics and Computer Science student who said that the program was aimed at helping families and loved ones back at home who are currently battling the Covid-19 pandemic. “We the students came up with this initiative a couple of weeks back where we decided to do a wheelbarrow push collecting money starting from the school all the way to Madang town and back.” “After getting approval from the school administration, we carried out the program at Madang town however we disregarded the wheelbarrow push due to the increase in Covid-19 cases in the Madang Province.” “There were two parts to our appeal program. The first part took place in the morning at Madang town where we set up by putting up a banner and a table for anyone who was willing to contribute." “The second part was also similar and was held at the school campus,” Peter said. Due to the current surge in Covid-19 cases, only vaccinated students were allowed to take part in this appeal program. Peter said that the outcome of the appeal program turned out to be successful as there where a lot of contributions that were given in. He said that a total of K1, 321.30 was raised that day. Peter thanked everyone for the contributions towards raising funds for the families back at home. “I would like to thank all the other students’ associations in the school for their contributions as well as the lecturers and staff of DWU and also not forgetting our EHP community residing in Madang and to everyone else out there who contributed in one way or the other.” Apart from the contributions made, the students also put in a total of K1, 500 from their own provincial club money. He said that the EHP students of DWU decided that they will give what they raised for their club back to the ones who need it the most. Peter further added that the association leaders from the three universities (UPNG, Unitech & DWU) will meet when the holidays resume and organize to take the cash donations to Goroka.

Grade 10 students in Goroka, Eastern Highlands are among 74,000 plus students sitting their first paper in the Grade 10 national examinations nationwide, despite a provincial lock down in place due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in the province. Eastern Highlands Governor Peter Numu and the Provincial COVID-19 Controller John Gimiseve announced on the weekend that the lock down which begun today will continue till 26th October to minimize high COVID-19 surge in the province that has spread to all eight districts in the province killing many people. Principal of Goroka Secondary, Mr. Peter Hasu, said the Department of Education has suspended all grade 9 and 11 classes for two weeks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said this was to create sufficient space in the school for the students who will be sitting for their exams. “We the staff and students are applying as much as possible the COVID-19 protocols within the school premises. Face masks are compulsory for everyone to wear as well sanitizing of hands and social distancing.” “We are also applying 1.5 to 2 meters social distancing in all classrooms. In addition to that, students are also being sanitized at the gates before making their way into the school.” Hasu said that the school are coping well as usual. He added that the students and staff are strictly sticking to the new normal. He added that with the current Covid-19 surge in the Province, movement of students are being closely monitored. “We are making sure that all COVID-19 preventive measures are being applied this week so that all the grade 10 students can be able to sit for their exams without any disturbances relating to COVID-19.” Hasu said that the school has been given further instructions from the Governor as well as the Pandemic Controller that there will be lockdown as of 2pm today. Hasu however said that the school are trying to get in touch with the National Pandemic Controller to make an exception particularly for the grade 10 and 12s as well the teacher to continue attending school for the sake of the National Exams. The grade 10's began their exams today starting with Mathematics, followed by their second paper which is Personal Development. Earlier, the Education Department said the national examinations for this year will go ahead as planned and there will be no delays despite the surge in COVID-19 cases. Education Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra said the examinations must be held as scheduled to avoid any delays in the certification and selections and most importantly any opportunities for mal-practices such as cheating or selling and buying of examination information. "I am calling on every province to take full responsibility and assess the COVID-19 situation in the province and ensure that students are given all support they need to be able to sit the exams." The published dates for the examinations are; Grade 10 (LSSCE) Exam Dates: 11 – 15 October (One Week), Grade 12 (USSCE) Exam, 18 – 22 October (One Week) and Grade 8 (COBE) Exam 25-28 October, 2021 (4 days). A total of 31, 817 Grade 12, 74, 982 Grade10, and 137,769 Grade 8 students are expected to sit the national examinations.

Warangoi Secondary School in East New Britain Province, will be launching two projects that will take place this year. This includes the launching of a new school truck worth K155, 000 as well as two school policy books created by both the Principal and the Deputy Principal of the school. According to School Principal, Mrs. Naomi Vuvu, the first policy book is titled BMP which stands for Behavioral Management Policy (BMP) and the second policy book is called SLIP which is the School Improvement Plan Policy. Mrs Vuvu said that both books will serve its’ purpose on shaping the school in terms of discipline, academic and financial stability. “As for the Behavioral Management Policy Book, we will use that for the discipline of the school.” “This book will be used as a guidance for students in disciplining them well and putting them on the right path,” Mrs Vuvu said. “For the second book which is the School Improvement Policy, this book is more tied to the budget of the school. How we spend the school’s project fees and so forth will reflect on this book. Therefore, it is important we have this book so the school is guided on how to spend money wisely.” Mrs Vuvu added that funding for the school truck as well as the two policy books have been funded and taken from the school’s project fees. “This is the first time for the school to be funding our own projects without the help of anyone in authority. Though it is quite challenging for the school, it is also an accomplishment because this shows how independent we are as well.” Mrs Vuvu said that the official launching of the projects will be launched by the Member of the Pomio, Honorable, Elias Kapavore. Apart from the launching, the school has an upcoming project that is set to take place soon and that is the duplex houses for the teachers. Mrs Vuvu said the duplex houses will also be funded by the school itself worth K460, 000. “These are the projects that we the school are funding for the benefit of our students and staff. This comes with improving the quality of infrastructures and education in the school.” Mrs Vuvu further added that the school is looking forward to a good outcome from these projects and hopes for a better and improved school for the sake of the students and teachers.

Karkar Secondary School in Madang Province, yesterday received a cheque sum of K100, 000 plus a total of eighty computers from the Madang Governor, Sir Peter Yama, as part of his commitment towards helping the school. The money was presented to the Principal of Karkar Secondary, Mr. Jeremiah Buza at the Governor’s office within the Sir Bato Bultin Building. According to Yama, the money presented was a promise made to the students and staff of Karkar Secondary when he visited Karkar Island for the Provincial Executive Council meeting. “This is the K100, 000 I promised the school when I went to Karkar Island on a ‘Going Rural Policy’ with the PEC. I promised to help run the school towards the end of the year and this is what I am doing now.” “Apart from this, I also made a commitment of providing the school with eighty computers which I will be presenting to the school during the graduation,” Yama said. The Principal of Karkar Secondary School, Mr. Jeremiah Buza, thanked the Governor for honoring his commitment towards the school as this is a huge help for the students in terms of their studies. “This money will truly help the students and the school to complete the year on a high note.” “Therefore, on behalf of the school, its administration and the people of Karkar Island in the Sumkar District, I would like to thank you Mr. Peter Yama for your support,” Mr Buza said. The presentation by the Governor was made in the presence of acting Provincial Administrator Clement Tare, as well as Sumgilbar LLG President Brenden Kennedy and the Sumkar District Administrator and President of Karkar LLG, Alex Kudud, who were all there to witness the ceremony yesterday. Yama also thanked the school principal for honoring his commitment and for his tireless effort towards managing the school as well as the students and staff.

The DWU Alumni Madang Chapter hosted their first meeting last week Saturday at the Madang Star International Hotel Conference Room. The agendas of the meeting included fundraisings, membership fees and annual activity plans to be hosted and planned by the members of the Chapter. Secretary of the DWU Alumni Madang Chapter, Rex Sos, said that the first meeting followed right after the executive members were elected to run the Chapter. Sos said that the executives met to discuss in-house issues before the first general meeting took place. “We the executives sat down to discuss a number of in-house issues before we called the first general meeting where all the members of the chapter took part in to discuss our plans for this year.” Sos said that agendas discussed during the meeting included a number activities starting with the first one being the registration fee for members. He said that this is where the executives discussed and came up with a certain amount that the members will pay in order to be part of the chapter. “Once the registration is done, the members then have access to a number of activities that the alumni chapter will go through for this year.” “The second agenda we discussed were fundraisings. This is where we planned a number of fundraisings that the chapter will be preparing for and how many will be hosted for this year alone.” Sos said that the third agenda was choosing committee members for the Chapter. These working committees will be chosen according to different sectors of the chapter that these committees will be allocated to and will be in charge of. “The final agenda of the meeting was to come up with an annual yearly work plan calendar where we plan and jot down dates for events, whether it be community service work or an event that is in line with the university or in line with the Madang Community.” Sos added that the whole purpose of the creation of this Madang chapter is to help give back to the community of Divine Word and to Madang and also to create a unity bond between the Alumni members of Madang. “The outcome of the meeting was successful and although the turn up wasn’t as expected, we still had enough quorum for the meeting.” “The committee members and the yearly plan calendar have been finalized and will be announced as of this week,” Sos said.

‘Children by choice and not by chance’ is the mission statement made by Marie Stopes PNG in line with the World Contraceptive Day that is set to take place this Sunday. This announcement was made yesterday during a press conference organised by Marie Stopes. Marie Stopes Country Director, Dr. David Ayres, said that the purpose for the celebrations is to raise awareness about the World Contraceptive Day and the importance of contraception aimed to help youths, men and women of reproductive age. Ayres stressed that these people have the right to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health. “We are working towards empowering people to have children by choice and not by chance.” “This means people have the power to choose when they have children, the power to choose how many children they want to have and the power to choose how far apart those children will be.” “The reality in PNG is that a large number of pregnancies are unplanned with approximately 25% unwanted pregnancies.” Ayres said that a large number of unwanted and unplanned pregnancies end in abortion which is a reality in PNG and around the world. “Women and girls living in a country such as PNG where abortion practices are restricted, often resort to unsafe abortions.” “We also know that unplanned and unwanted pregnancies result in higher child mortality and high maternal mortality.” Ayres said that Marie Stopes is striving towards avoiding unwanted and unplanned pregnancies and to do that, contraception is the key. According to Ayres, World Contraceptive Day is important for many other reasons. He said that regardless of what stage of life you are at, contraception is appropriate. “Contraception is also important for married women who still want children because this helps space their pregnancies.” “Men are also entitled in using contraception as well in terms of using a condom or having a vasectomy for those who don’t want to have any more children.” Mr Ayres also encouraged all parents to educate their children about contraception at an early age and further added that contraception is for anyone despite of age. The family planning organization which operates in thirty-seven countries around the world, hopes to help more people in educating them about contraception so that every pregnancy can be made by choice.

The Central and NCD Students Association of Divine Word University recently donated bags of clothing to the people of Uya Community, Ward 13 of Astrolabe Bay LLG, Rai Coast District in Madang Province. President of the Association, Mr Nicholas Kaita, said that this was one of the club’s main objectives for this year which was to give back to one of the many communities in Madang. “This was an initiative taken by us the students to give back to the people as a way of saying thank you for the beautiful institution and the province in which we are getting an education from.” “As our school motto goes, ‘It is in giving that we receive’, and this is what we are doing for the community,” Mr Kaita said. According to Kaita, this is the first time a provincial group from the institution has taken up an initiative like this. “The community was really happy with the donations they were given, especially from us students just by seeing on their faces how happy they were.” Kaita said that this program was not only about giving to community but was also a good time for the students to see and experience a new environment out of their comfort zone and to know and learn about the struggles these kinds of communities’ face. “Most of these communities have lack of access to basic services such as health, education as well as a lack of law and order in their community and so this is something we students need to see and learn from.” Kaita added that apart from the donations made, the students also made time to give educational talks about current issues in the province and around the country as well. “The educational talks we gave covered issues on law and order as well as creating awareness about Covid-19 in the country and how it can be prevented,” said Mr Kaita. The students’ association extended their word of thank you to Kalibobo Clothing Haus for providing 3 bales of clothing in making the program possible. Kaita encouraged other provincial groups within the institution to help the communities in the province in whatever way they can.

Divine Word University will be hosting its Diversity Night tomorrow at the DWU campus hosted by the DWU SRC committee. The theme for this year’s Diversity Night is ‘Unite and share the language of love through the true spirit of independence.’ The annual event is a pre-independence celebration which leads up to the Independence Day. This event is about students from the twenty-two provinces showcasing their diverse cultures through their traditions and cultures. The event consists of two representatives each, a male and female who are selected to represent their province. SRC President, Phillie Julai, said that, as for this year’s event, it will be different adding that this year’s diversity night will be dedicated to the Late Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare. Julai said that a representative from each province will provide a speech in commemoration of what Sir Michael did for each of the province and the impacts he had on them that led the country to independence. “We planned the Diversity Night to be a more educational event so that we educate ourselves on what Sir Michael Somare has done for our country as a sign of respect to him and to also keep his legacy alive during this year’s Independence celebration.” According to Julai, there will be no Independence Celebration this year in school due to Covid-19, however, there will be a raising of the PNG flag followed by fun activities and games.