Disabled girl wins scholarship to study in Fiji

By AGNES FIFI UKI
BRENDA Lombange is proud of winning a full scholarship from the Austra­lia Pacific Technical College to study for a Certificate in Disability in Fiji for the next six months.
Lombange, 29, from Enga province, was born paralysed from the hip down.
Yesterday she admitted at being “shocked and happy” at her achievement.
“Without giving up and with faith in God, I am moving on in my career. I was born crippled from the hip down and I have been using crutches for 29 years.
“I was born with it and despite that I still thank my God for bringing the best in my life for He has never forsaken me.”
She said she had always had the desire to go to school like any other child and started school in the Nuiomanioh Christian Academy (New Tribes Mission) Goroka, Eastern Highlands province.
She did grades three to seven at the Mt Hagen Christian School, grades eight to 11 at the Highlands Lutheran International School in Wabag, and completed Grade 12 at Wabag Secondary School in 2003.
Having a dream to work as an office assistant, she said she graduated with a diploma in office administration from the Lae Technical College in 2006.
She was employed with the Papua New Guinea National Board for Disabled Persons Secretariat as executive assistant when she won the scholarship.
Lombange said after her study, she looked forward to coming home and being attached to a disability organisation so she could help other disabled members in her community with what she had learnt in Fiji.