Skul Bilong Yumi

It’s a personal journey trying to discover just how one can, as an individual create the change they want to see around them. I must admit if it hadn’t been for my energetic ego in volunteerism while been in High School and university I doubt that I would have ever progressed in my quest to always create change in the various community and environment that I find myself  in from time to time. This following blog is about my project Skul Bilong Yumi.

The basic term “Skul Bilong Yumi” when translated in English depicts the phrase “Our School” which is   in pidgin the local national language of Papua New Guinea. The most obvious reason why I came up with this name was to give the children a sense of ownership over the program and in the process learn to value themselves in the community. By introducing such a program into the community in Konedobu I felt impressed that it would be an avenue to create future leaders who would change change the trend of the present times into improving their livelihood for the future.

Education is core to the development of a country’s betterment or rather still its advancement. But what happens when resources and priorities are shifted away from driving factors such as education. This is an all too familiar scenario in Papua New Guinea. The failure to prioritize resources and the large inequality gap has lead to social issues such as the increasing crime rates; upsurge of domestic violence cases, inequality and not to mention the disturbing HIV/AIDS figures that are rapidly climbing.

Skul Bilong Yumi is a program that aims to establish itself into a community that needs to alleviate itself from many of these social problems. Education isn’t just a solution to the change that’s indispensable but it’s also a key to changing the mindsets of individuals living under limited provisions and conditions that are unfavourable to human standards.

My Life

Morning brings yet another load, the difficulty of life in the city has created the cycle to work for survival thus many times losing sight of what it really means to live and enjoy this gift called life. No one knows of the struggles I face because much of it down plays in my mind. My only hope is that I live for those that I fend for. Somehow one day they will make it big and be able to survive on their own and maybe just maybe then we can enjoy life after all. At my most breaking points my thoughts of “I should have’s” pop up, regrets over my very poor choices in life has left me where I am I must admit.

I lie awake at night thinking about the way out of this struggle, I ask myself if there really is a way to get out of this lifestyle, if so which way is it? Many questions about life flood through my mind, I really don’t know what tomorrow will bring???

I wrote this after witnessing a mother and her five (5) children at one of Port Moresby’s popular settlement areas. As I sat from a distance watching this young family my attention was caught by the worried eyes of their mother. Although I had watching for only thirty minutes it was sufficient to tell that behind her eyes was a story of a struggle that only she was all too familiar with.

My Country PNG

At first I never held any high regard for my country, I dreamt of MYSELF. I never bothered to take a second glance at the children roaming the streets outside my house or never attempted to ask why unemployment or illiteracy never seemed to fade. Reality began to sink in as more learning took place thus changing my initial thoughts of selfishness to selfless. I realized more and more than that it was attitude such as mine that contributed towards the vast disparity of inequality between the rich and poor.

More so as I took a closer look I felt more and more ownership over my country because been a citizen everything that happens is reflective of me as well. I’m happy to say with time and experience I’ve developed a profound sense of appreciation over my homeland. And it’s always become a norm that whenever my eyes  catches a glimpse of the PNG Flag or when I travel overseas I carry with me pride over been a Papua New Guinean.

Its now or never

I've been contemplating on setting this blog but it seems I’ve been putting it off with the notion that once I’ve done a really good write- up maybe then I could begin posting. But it seems the more I prolong this I’m  just not getting any way so here it is as the  title states “It’s now or never”, I’m finally gonna make a start now and from here I’m not looking back. Many of the things I plan to discuss in this virtual environment will significantly feature  my work and most obviously my thoughts on issues affecting my beloved country Papua New Guinea and the international community. I'm glad I've made this move to get this moving. I hope you all enjoy the coming posts that follow after