| Business |
Kelly’s
determination pays off
“My message to
them is that you must master your destiny now and the world will
be bright for you tomorrow.”
By KEVIN PAMBA
No one thought Kelly Yapa would become an accountant with the
Department of Finance when he “failed” in Grade 10 in 1989.
Kelly’s fate, like many others of his ilk, appeared to be sealed
when he was not one of those that the headmaster of Ialibu High
School (now Secondary School) called up to his office to collect
their offers for further studies the following year.
He was, as they say, a “school drop out”.
It seemed he was bound for his gardens up at his ancestral Koraipe
and the trout fishing traps up and down the chilly Yalo River that
flows out of Mount Giluwe past his Kendagl village in Imbonggu
District of Southern Highlands province.
That though was not a bad option as he was to follow the footsteps
of his ancestors over millennia and what his relatives continue to
do today.
But fate essentially had other plans for him.
Many things happened in Kelly’s life since 1989 including being a
soldier of the PNG Defence Force on Bougainville during the height
of the crisis and being discharged from the force as the Sandline
mercenaries crisis got out of hand in 1997.
Perhaps the most rewarding experience in Kelly’s life, is being a
pioneer graduate of the Bachelor of Commerce program offered
through the external learning mode by the Institute of Distance
and Continuing Education (IDCE) of the University of PNG in 2006.
Previously, the accounting degree course was only offered through
the normal semester program to fulltime students.
Kelly’s is a story of trying his chances and letting determination
take him wherever it could. It started back home when he
alternated between planting cabbage and selling them to Ialibu
High School and upgrading his marks at the College of Distance
Education (CODE) centre in Mount Hagen while staying with a cousin
there.
A successful upgrading of his marks landed him a casual labourer’s
position at the PNG Electricity Commission (now PNG Power) office
in Mount Hagen in 1991.
The following year he moved up to being a pay clerk and was with
Elcom until 1994 when he decided to change careers and enlisted in
the army. Being successful he went to Goldie River Barracks for
training and joined the supply company at Murray Barracks soon
after.
While serving the army, Kelly decided to take up Adult
Matriculation with IDCE in 1998. After being discharged from the
force he continued with his matriculation studies and attained his
Grade 12 qualification at the end of 1999.
The following year, Kelly took the next step to enroll for the
Diploma in Commerce program with IDCE and at the same time was
reinstated in the PNGDF. But while he was halfway through his
studies he was retrenched in the downsizing program of the army
but he managed to complete his studies and graduated with his
diploma in March 2002.
The same year, IDCE offered the accountancy degree program for the
first time via distance learning and Kelly seized the opportunity
and ran with it until he graduated two years later.
Today Kelly is an accountant with the Department of Finance in the
Accounting Frameworks and Standards Division’s , Accounting
Branch.
“I see myself as a role model as a pioneer graduate of IDCE’s
Bachelor of Commerce Program to be in the workforce,” said Kelly.
“I see this as a lead up example or an eye opener for those
students who have started their studies through external mode but
gave up hope when they flunked their courses in the first
semester/year and thereafter or may be others have left because of
financial constraints or whatever but that is not the end of the
education career and they must continue to complete their
studies,” he added.
“My message to them is that you must master your destiny now and
the world will be bright for you tomorrow.”
Kelly, 33, has moved up to upgrade is qualifications by being a
member of the Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA PNG) and is
currently doing his CPA - the premier qualification of an
accountant
 
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