Many hands, one degree, many thanks

By TREVOR WAHUNE

Success did not come easy, says the mother of a Kokopo town girl that graduated at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) last Friday.
Fiona Silo, 25, of East Sepik and East New Britain parentage, graduated from UPNG last Friday with flying colours, earning a degree in Politics and Linguistics.
Behind the graduation scene were inspiring accounts of what Silo had overcome to get where she is.
Her mother Emmah Kamel said out of her six children, Fiona has been an independent and constructive individual since childhood.
“I separated with her dad, when Fiona was still a child. During most of her spare time she took the responsibility to help look after her other siblings.”
Times were tough; Kamel had to leave her children in Kokopo, East New Britain to go for work with Newcrest in Kavieng, New Ireland.
“While I would be away for work, Fiona would create a classroom setting in a corner of the house, and help her siblings by teaching them what she learned in school.
“I remember once when she was still a toddler, she and her baby sister had separate baby feeding bottles. If Fiona’s was empty, she would sneak behind her sister and take her baby feeding bottle somewhere else to feed then sneak back to place it without being noticed to avoid making her sister cry.
“This was a caring quality she had for her younger siblings I identified from her at a very early stage,” she said.
Kamel said as Fiona was growing up she was very active in participating in school activities. “She lived up to be a very enthusiastic student since her primary school days.”
Kamel said when Fiona reached university she realised schooling was her only priority. “Fiona could totally drop communications with her family in times when she was tied up with studies. She is one who is very strict with her time.
“I remarried in 2003 when Fiona was in Grade three. As the eldest, Fiona took the initiative to build a relationship with my new husband. So she acted as a bridge for her younger siblings to follow and accept the new family setting. It was strange for the children, but they eventually picked up that this would be their step-dad and they would have to live with him,” Kamel said.
Sadly, Fiona’s stepfather passed away a few weeks before she graduated.
“It was so unfortunate, and so painful for us to accept that the person who gave his 100 per cent effort towards Fiona’s success since her third grade passed on before witnessing her graduate. Fiona was also devastated about his passing,” Kamel said.
Meanwhile, Fiona said “I owed my graduation day to my late father (step father) Apisai Jubilee who passed on a few weeks ago, leaving me distraught. It would not have been this way, had I not developed a bond with him.
“He cared for me as if I was his own child. I have nine other siblings, six of which are his biological children. After dad’s passing, mother now has the responsibility of fending for all 10 children. We, as a family, anticipate that things could get tough after father’s passing. This was because he handled most of the family affairs such as refilling the gas bottles for the kitchen, paying for electricity for the houses, paying our relatives who came to do chores at the house and many other errands.
“Like my other siblings, I was heavily reliant on dad’s advice. Knowing he was around made me all the more confident about myself. He had faith in me and showed me that I was capable of more.
“I recall the long talks we often had about a whole range of issues. We would discuss issues we had in the family, issues affecting the province and the nation, as well as global issues. Discussions with dad were always interesting. These discussions with him sparked my curiosity in learning. He taught me to love to learn and to always have healthy debates with others. I concluded this was the beauty of learning.
“Dad was always able to propose a solution to any issue or problem he identified. This was how he was able to manage and maintain the interests of his followers on the East New Britain Today – an online forum which he created, which allows for ENB citizens to air their views on issues affecting them and to make suggestions for change.
“I admired dad’s ability to ensure he read beyond information presented in the news, in order to prove the credibility of a story. He did this by extracting information from online articles or any piece of literature to construct valid arguments on a certain line, within the article, that he thought was untrue. I admired his intelligence. He was smart but never arrogant.
“He was a basic man. He never minded getting his hands dirty. He actively participated in community projects that he initiated and funded them with the aim to help others.
“Father enjoyed telling us about the progress of his community projects. A recent example of these community projects was the establishment of a cultural home in his village.
“Involving himself in the establishment of these community projects was his passion and he would glow each time he spoke of his experiences and plans he had to further develop existing projects.
“These discussions changed the way I thought and perceived myself. They created a sense of obligation in me. They made me realise I have an obligation towards both my family and people.
“His life blessed me. He inspired me to have a wider perspective on things.
“I received my degree last Friday with a heavy heart knowing the one man who would have been over the moon about my achievement, has passed on. However, I am also glad knowing that father never withheld the ideas he had. I believe he had similar discussions – like the ones he had with me, with many others who shared in his interests.
“The thought of him having share his ideas with others gives me peace because I know his aspirations for his people will still live on and reach fulfilment someday through people he sacrificed his time to share his ideas with.
“My father has gone to rest, leaving my siblings and I with a task to continue what he started.
“If there is one important lesson I have learnt from all the discussions I had with my late dad; it would have to be that:
“I should not forget to acknowledge the contributions that my family and other people have made in my upbringing and that the only way I can repay all their combined efforts, would be for me to utilise the knowledge I have acquired through my degree to assist in developing my community, province and nation.
“Hence, I owe my graduation day to you my late dad!”
When Fiona was asked about challenges faced during her school time she said despite having gone through a lot since childhood, there was not much to say about that now.
“I think the only thing I missed out on was the pleasure other kids had of having better lunch than I did back in grades preparatory to four.
“I used to be so embarrassed, the problem being because I was attending an international school and everyone knows the standard of lunch international school students have.
“Other children would be having hot dogs, pies, or Big Rooster for lunch while for me, it would be garden food and a bottle of water, pleasantly prepared by my grandmother,” Silo said.
“I remember when I used to complain to my grandmother about life not being fair for us, but the only advice from her was that if I wanted things to change, the only way out was to study hard and earn a qualification so I could work and earn a living for myself.
“I thank all my family members who directly assisted me since day one in school to university.
“I also thank all those who helped indirectly; these are people who kept eyes on me when I went to school, ensuring I arrived in school and got back home safely.
“Also those individuals who had the courtesy to buy me food and ice blocks just to keep me going from time to time back in my primary school days.
“My success was a collective effort from all the people that were around me.”