PNG's Next Generation

I got home late last night in the pouring rain, soaked through but utterly inspired by two of Karkar’s next generation. Yesterday afternoon, a stop at Tarak to visit the Pacific Island Heath School’s founder—and our host last year—Malek Atua, left me in conversation with his wonderful daughter Christine. She’s just graduated from UPNG with a business degree and was incredibly interested in Panango’s program and, following our discussion of environmental exploitation, offered to help create a mini curriculum on land rights and other rights awareness for our teachers. She’s also looking for paying gig with an NGO. (Aren’t we all?)

I left Tarak late—I had to wait for the servings of kaikai to be distributed (how they thought I could eat 5 potatoes, 2 plaintains, greens, and a shank of lamb is beyond me). The PMV dropped off me and Pop’s bugarup bike (the second tire went flat as soon as I replaced the first) at the base of the 20-min. path up to Taleng just as the rain started falling. The local guest house owner’s son, Sam, offered to walk up with me. Pholas had told me of his son’s new job in microfinance, and I was eager to hear more about it.

Since January, Sam has been the sole representative of PNG National Bank’s microfinance efforts on KarKar. In that time he’s helped form 5 small business groups of 25-30 members each. Group members pool their savings to get a group loan from the bank at a 1:2 ratio (so twice as much loan as savings). Currently, their projects include chicken raising and petrol, pastry, and other goods retail. Sam’s job is to monitor all the groups and educate them on savings and money management. So far he reports 100% repayment on time. This sort of micro-business is exactly what many of the Panango group had been hoping for KarKar last year; when I got involved with Kiva this past year, I too had wondered how we could partner to make such projects happen. But Sam’s already making it happen!

By the time I reached Taleng, I had ditched the flipflops to wade through three or four inches of water and mud, but I was in incredibly good spirits (despite my concern for my computer in my sodden backpack).

Both Christine and Sam are only in their mid 20’s and as idealistic and motivated as any of our volunteers. And they are in an incredible position we will never share. Through the luck of parents that valued and supported their education, they have been empowered to take action on issues in their own communities with all the local connections and knowhow to make them happen—and they are!