Return of US scholarship

The United States ambassador to Papua New Guinea Leslie Rowe announced yesterday the return of the Fulbright Scholarship Programme to PNG after its withdrawal some 10 years ago.
The embassy made the announcement at the first PNG-USA Alumni Association meeting at the Holiday Inn in Port Moresby.
The ambassador said this year would be a busy one for her team because they will be getting the two-year scholarship package advertised, seeing to the applications and interviews and getting the lucky candidate ready for studies in mid-2009.
And she added that her team would need the assistance of the newly-established alumni association in picking out a winner for the Fulbright Scholarship Programme.
The PNG-USA Alumni Association is made up of national academics who studied in the United States under US scholarships and fellowship programmes.
“It will be an honour for me to support the development and activities of a strong alumni association, because I believe that alumni of US exchange programmes and universities are a powerful force in furthering mutual understanding, not only in PNG and the US but among other nations as well,” Ambassador Rowe said in her address at the meeting.
She said the embassy would be available to assist the association but the real task falls now on its members.
Meanwhile, association members, who refused to be named, are all fired up with enthusiasm at its formation and are looking forward to really helping young Papua New Guineans take up studies in the US because from their experiences, studying in US was an eye-opener for them and made them broaden their way of looking at the world and their limits.
“We were taught that nothing was impossible until you tried it out and failed, otherwise the sky is the limit,” excited academics commented.
They said among other projects they would be offering counsel and guidance to young PNG students who wish to continue studies in the States.