Peter: If only my parents were here to see me now

By PETER WARI
PETER Wapendah Wari, 35, will now be able to help the Southern Highlands government plan and implement climate change policies, and natural disasters the province is prone to.
He graduated with a Masters in Response to Climate Change (Public Policy) degree from the Hallym University, Republic of Korea early this month.
The province does not have any climate change policies or management plans and operates on an ad-hoc basis when disaster occurs. Peter was recommended by the provincial administration to take up a two-year study through the Korea international cooperation agency scholarship programme last year.
He was accepted when the first surge of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic struck. He struggled to get enrolled and complete his studies.
“I am thankful to the provincial administration for allowing me to participate in the programme.”
He hopes more officers will be sent for training when opportunities arise.
Peter is the youngest in a family of seven who grew up in a Kumbrine Sengiso village in the Lower-Mendi local level government, Imbonggu district.
He is married and has a seven-year-old son. He completed Grades One to Five at the Pinz Community School from 1993 to 1997. The school was closed after a row over the head teacher’s position. So he stayed in the village for two years.

“ It was a heartbreaking moment for me standing in front of lecturers, students and others during the graduation ceremony. I wished my parents were alive to welcome me home with my achievements.”

He wanted to continue his education and travelled to the Kumin Primary School near Mendi town and repeated Grade Five there in 1999. He completed Grade Eight in 2002. Then he moved to do grades Nine and 10 at the Mendi High School.
His dad Wapendah passed away in 2003 while Peter was in Grade Nine.
“My parents were subsistence farmers and they struggled to pay my school fees and support me to attend the town day high school.”
He thanks his mother for supporting him to complete Grade 10 before moving to Tari Secondary School in Hela for Grade 11 and Grade 12.
He was offered a spot at the Divine Word University where he graduated after four years in Rural Health Science in 2010. He completed his compulsory residency programme at the Mendi Provincial Hospital in 2011 and 2012.
The hospital employed Peter as a clinical health extension officer for a year, before he went to Marie Stopes International to work as an outreach coordinator in Enga and Southern Highlands for a year. He finally ended up with the Southern Highlands provincial administration as the provincial coordinator for natural disaster, emergency and climate change from 2017 to today.
Sadly his mum Rosemary passed away in February while Peter was enrolled at the Hallym University, Republic of Korea. He missed the woman who was supporting him single-handedly when he graduated this year.
“It was a heartbreaking moment for me standing in front of lecturers, students and others during the graduation ceremony. I wished my parents were alive to welcome me home with my achievements.”
He had to miss his dad’s funeral as he was in the middle of Grade Nine examination. He also did not attend his mother’s burial.
“I wholeheartedly dedicate my academic achievement to them. They are my heroes.”
He has seen many children from poor families having to leave school early due to the lack of support for their education, especially when one or both parents die.
Peter knows how tough it can be.
“It is through the Grace of the Lord that I successfully completed my studies. God saw my struggles and hardships, the pain that I endured. With God nothing is impossible indeed.”