EDUCATION

Weekender

DWU welcomes new deputy president

By Dr KEVIN PAMBA
“I WILL do my best.”
With these words and a few more, Professor Fr Philip Gibbs, SVD took on his new role as the deputy president of Divine Word University (DWU).
A handover ceremony was held last on Aug 28 to congratulate the outgoing deputy president Prof Pamela Norman and welcome Prof Gibbs in front of staff and three university council members
Fr Gibbs is a long-serving Catholic missionary from New Zealand who first came to Papua New Guinea as a student in 1973.
He is a member of the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries or SVD (initials for their Latin name, Societas Verbi Divini). The SVD are the founders of the university along with the help of the Missionary Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit which in Latin is “Servae Spiritus Sancti” (SSpS) or Holy Spirit Sisters for short. The SVD and SSpS started DWU as the Divine Word Catholic High School in 1968.
The profile of Prof Gibbs posted on the DWU website reads that he worked as a parish priest in Porgera and Par in the Enga, lectured at the Catholic Theological Institute (or Bomana Seminary) in Port Moresby, a researcher at the Melanesian Institute, Goroka and research advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of PNG and Solomon Islands.
Prior to his recent appointment by the DWU Council Prof Gibbs served DWU as professor of Social Research and vice president of Research and Higher Degrees.  He has been involved in a number of academic and research projects including the elections in Papua New Guinea, History of the Church in Oceania and research with the Sorcery National Action Plan of Papua New Guinea. He is also a photographer and movie-maker.
Prof Gibbs officially took office on Monday, Sept 2 and will serve for three years. He takes over from Prof Norman who served in the office for the last three and half years. Prof Norman who has been with DWU since 2004 continues in her substantive role as the vice president for Academic Affairs responsible for all academic programmes, is a professor of education.
A formal handover ceremony between Prof Gibbs and Prof Norman took place in a “traditional” DWU morning tea in front of members of the university council and DWU staff at the staff mess in the Madang campus on Aug 28.

Incoming deputy president of DWU, Prof Fr Philip Gibbs SVD (left) and his predecessor Prof Pamela Norman cutting the “traditional” cake to make the occasion. Looking on is DWU President Prof Cecilia Nembou. – Picture by Dr Kevin Pamba.

It was witnessed by three members of the university council, namely the DWU President Prof Cecilia Nembou, Sir Peter Barter and Fr Josef Maciolek SVD who is the provincial superior or head of the PNG province of the SVD congregation.
The university council chairperson Archbishop Douglas Young, SVD announced the appointment of Prof Gibbs during the last council meeting in July to be effective on Sept 1, 2019.
Prof Gibbs is based in the main campus in Madang while the president Prof Nembou is based at the Port Moresby campus of DWU.
Prof Nembou offered her utmost appreciation to Prof Norman for her outstanding service as the deputy president for three and half years and welcomed Prof Gibbs to the new role.
Prof Nembou said her outgoing deputy was one of the most professional and astute academic leaders and administrators she has worked with and would miss her.
“She is an amazing person.
“We all know the kind of work she does.
“How many people 10 years, 20 years younger than her do the kind of work she does?” Prof Nembou asked.
“She does three jobs (and) she does them all very well,” said Prof Nembou.
“This morning I want to acknowledge the support she has given me as (my) deputy president,” Prof Nembou said.
Prof Norman came to PNG in the colonial days as a school teacher in 1964 and has spent most of her life in the country in between breaks for study and work in her native Australia and other parts of the world.
She is originally from Brisbane and is widowed with two adult children who are working in Australia.
Prof Norman’s profile posted on the DWU Website notes that she holds higher degree qualifications in education, quality assurance, public sector management, and teaching English as a second language.
Over the many years, she has successfully held leadership positions in vocational, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in PNG. She has been active in quality assurance activities involving external panels. Her profile says her particular field of expertise is in curriculum development and implementation and is author and co-author of many texts used in PNG.
Prof Norman also has overseas curriculum consultancy experience in Australia, Abu Dhabi, Solomon Islands and Samoa.
Prof Nembou welcomed Prof Gibbs to the new role as her duty thus: “And on behalf of the council, I would like to welcome Fr Philip Gibbs as the deputy president for the next three years.
“You all know Fr Philip Gibbs.
“He has been the vice president for research and higher degrees. He is a former member of the University council, he is a member of the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries PNG Province and he came to the university as a member of staff starting as head of the Department of Governance and Leadership.
“We gave him the responsibilities as vice president of Research and Higher Degrees and last July he was appointed as deputy president.
“So I ask all of you (staff), all of us to work together with Fr Philip,” Prof Nembou said.
Sir Peter also congratulated the two professors for being outstanding professional academics for whom the DWU Council has in high regard.
Prof Norman said she was very proud to serve DWU in her role as deputy president was also keen to be relieved of the role and will concentrate on her substantive position which is vice president for Academic Affairs. In the latter role, Prof Norman is responsible for all academic matters across all the DWU campuses in PNG.
Prof Norman said she was proud to have worked with many wonderful people at DWU and elsewhere after arriving in PNG from Australia during the colonial times as a teacher in 1964.
Prof Gibbs also said as a graduate of DWU, having graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) several years ago, he was keen to make a contribution as an alumnus besides his other academic, research, administration and pastoral credentials.

  • Dr Kevin Pamba is based in Divine Word University, Madang.

Look what K10 can do!

GABI Yominao was given K10 and told make at least K170 in seven days.
She made not K170 but K800 in the given week, surprising herself and her “master!”
Yominao was among a group of seven trainees who were each handed K10 to practice micro enterprise skills learnt during Personal Viability Game of Money training conducted by the Human Development Institute recently. All seven trainees (praxis in HDI speak) graduated last week with outstanding results, in fact setting a new record in making the highest return on investment by any cohort of trainees in the years this training has been conducted.
The group achieved a return on investment of over 48 times, bettering the previous long-standing record of 36 times set by a group in Solomon Islands.
The group’s statistics: Startup capital K70; total savings K7,075.80; net profit K3,401; return on investment 48.71 times.
“With the 10, I spent K5 each on popping corn and peanuts to resell. At the end of the third day I was quite surprised I had made K99,” Yominao said.
She then rolled over that amount and on day five she had K219 surpassing the target of K170.
Surprised and pleased with her progress, she decided to do more. She bought a bag of fresh fish and smoked them to resell and at the end of the seventh day, tallying all sales from the initial peanuts and popcorn along with the smoked fish, Yomnao had raked in K800!
“I was surprised that what I made in seven days was the equivalent to what some earn in a fortnight’s pay,” she said.
Yominao is self-employed and was sponsored by Dr Bage Yominao to attend the HDI training. Dr Yominao, has in fact sponsored a few others to attend the training, among them Brillyan Rikis who only completed grade six in formal education.
Polonhou Pokawin was the only man among the group and made K481 from his K10 at the end of the seven days.
He was also surprised by the group’s success. “You wouldn’t believe this. We managed what little we had and limited time and committed ourselves to market our products to reach the outcomes. It shows that we have to start small and work towards bigger things.”

Gabi Yominao (left) and her sponsor Dr Bage Yominao who is also a coach at the Human Development Institute.

Humbling experience
Another participant, Lilly Lesley who holds a Masters in Public Health, said: “We learnt a lot from each other. God has given us potential. There are impossibilities in K10.
“I needed to come out of my comfort zone to do foolish things. It required a spirit of humility for me to sell lollies.”
As a supporter of the HDI, this newspaper runs a weekly quiz and winners are selected for scholarships to attend training at HDI. And among this last group who did the PV Business Scheme Game of Money were two ladies who won scholarships through taking part in the quiz.
The Game of Money course is commonly known as the PVBS Level 2 and comprises coaching in the use of time and money, and team work to make money through networking and bookkeeping.
Its main object is to develop rich habits. Profit fit is secondary.
The training is therefore geared towards making persons viable first in order to run viable projects or micro businesses.
PV praxis must follow a set routine daily to develop rich habits.
Unfortunately, nearly everyone attempting small enterprises are focused on profit while paying little attention to the personal traits of the entrepreneur himself. Instead for a project of business to be viable, focus should be on developing the character and competence who wants to do business.
That is what HDI refers to as the personal balance sheet. That balance sheet is considered more important than the financial statement or balance sheet of an enterprise.
The Game of Money training was also an opportunity for the HDI to train its coaches. The role of the coaches in this training was to ensure that all the participants understood and started practicing the PV knowledge and skills they had gained in the two weeks of training.
The coaches – Emmanuel Raussi, Winsome Nenewa, Bathsheba Mitio and Wendy Boas – also made sure that data was captured correctly to secure an independently aided track record for each individual participant.
HDI also has a digital data system which was used to capture the performance of participants through a mobile application to determine both project viability and personal viability during the two-week course. The data system was produced by Grand Vavine of Ennovation Ltd who has worked with HDI ever since attending the Personal Viability Level 1 training several years ago.
The secret to making the returns they had is in the HDI model of “rolling over” money rather than setting aside what is considered as profit and starting all over again with the startup capital.
Retaining a dividend
The seven participants repaid the K70 from Samuel Tam, founder of HDI, paid a tithe (to a selected charity), contributed to the Papa Sam Scholarship Fund and retained a dividend.
Tam best summed up the training and graduation saying, “This is the only university (PV Grassroots University) that pays students dividends at the end of their training!”