Determination pays off

By STACEY TARURA
LIKE the saying goes that family consists of people who love and care about each other, they are people who you can look up to for support and motivation.
“Being a responsible mother and at the same time a dedicated student cannot be an easy to handle,” Shirley Manamb Mangaea said.
Mangaea, from East Sepik and Central, plays a huge role in her family and her teaching career both of which share responsibilities of taking care and educating children.
But before all that responsibility came about, she was enjoying her studies at the Malabunga Secondary School in Rabaul, East New Britain, where she did her Grades 9 to 12 from 2001 to 2004.
She went on to do a Diploma in Vocational Education Training at the Papua New Guinea Education Institute (PNGEI) and graduated in 2006 before becoming a hospitality
instructor at Kabaira Girls Vocational and Vunamami Vocational centres in East New Britain.
“During those teaching years, I applied for Certificate 3 in hospitality operations in 2010 and was successful. I travelled to Vanuatu and trained there for six months.”
Having a passion for hospitality operations, Mangaea was encouraged by her husband Fraser to further her education qualification.
“I was not really serious when I applied for Bachelor in Tourism Management at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and Bachelor in Education at the Pacific Adventist University (PAU) in 2011,” Magaea said.
“Nonetheless, I was successful and received offer letters from both universities and I chose to take up bachelor in secondary education at PAU.”
She said the four years in PAU were very challenging and those times taught her many lessons.
“To be a mother while studying is the greatest challenge any person could ever experience, it means having extra responsibilities along with your study,” Mangaea said.
“I achieved my qualification with the challenge I had, having my second child during the first year of my study, a mum to a toddler and his elder sister during the four years of study was just something deemed as impossible for those that give up easily but I am not like that, I don’t believe in just giving up.”
She had a hard time trying to balance school and being a mum to her children and would at most times end up doing work when her children were asleep.
Mangaea said looking back it was an experience that she and her husband will not forget.
“The road we took was rough most of the time and we owe our children a lot for the times we spent in studies, but we will make sure they know that we never lost sight of them and that we always kept them close to our hearts and that later on we will tell them the rest about our sacrifices.
“That is the story that we will teach our children as they grow up that nothing comes easy but through sacrifices, self-discipline and determination to persevere with support from family one can achieve a lot.”
She said her parents and siblings back in Rabaul gave her the strength, but it was her dad who was always there for her and helped her young family most of the time.
“Nothing is impossible through God. Most times I took things for granted but the hand of God all these time was leading us.
“My mum’s word Never leave God is what I still cherish because in my heart I know a mother’s plea to her children comes with blessings if being followed.”
Shirley is now teaching at the Koiari Park Adventist Secondary School in Central, outside of Port Moresby.