Piano teacher Velma starting lessons

People
Velma Ninjipa and partner Thompson Maginde.
– Nationalpic by CLARISSA MOI

By CLARISSA MOI
AFTER recovering from an attempted carjacking which resulted in her being shot, 37-year-old Velma Ninjipa listed down 100 things she wanted to do in life.
One of them is to teach children how to play the piano, which missionaries had taught when she was young.
Velma and partner Thompson Maginde from Ialibu, Southern Highlands have a two-year-old daughter.
Velma remembers that day in April 2018 when a group of armed men tried to hold her up and her father Reverend Wane Ninjipa. It was a traumatic experience.
In the process of healing, she read a book by Sebastian Terry titled “100 things to do”.
“That book completely changed my perspective.”

“ I’m always about children because that’s my strength. I want to give back to the children and people what God has given me.”

The book tells of how, after Terry’s friend died, he asked himself: Am I really living? What have I achieved if I die today? Would I have done everything that I wanted to do?
Terry then wrote down 100 things that he should do.
“That captivated me because I came close to death too. So I wrote down the 100 things that I wanted to do.”
Now that Velma is turning 37, she wants to start ticking off things on her list too
“I felt like I was given a second chance in life. I need to now teach children which is one of my passions. I want to live instead of just existing.”
Her interest in music began when she was a little girl living with her parents in Pabrabuk, Western Highlands. The missionaries there taught her how to play the piano.
Velma later went to the United States of America to pursue an Advanced Diploma in Christian Music course, majoring in piano and minoring in voice at the Penn View Bible Institute.
“We in PNG don’t have a background in musical instrument from our ancestors. These are things that have been introduced by missionaries and western influence into our culture. We do have our own background music but it is totally different.”
When she came back from the US, Velma went back to the mission and taught children what she had learnt.
After serving for a year and half there, she moved to Port Moresby to work as an officer manager for a law firm.
In her spare time, she teaches piano classes.
“As life goes on, you sort of forget things that you are passionate about, that God placed in you which you should give back to others. I’ve been doing that in the past seven years.
“Now I realise that time is running out and that I should probably do this fulltime. So I resigned from work on May 28 to teach music fulltime.”
With the help of her sister Thelma and her husband Ronald Kavanamur, she opened a space last Friday at the Unity Mall inside the Steamships Compound in Waigani, Port Moresby.
Her classes will start on July 12. She already has 20 students. She charges K50 a lesson. There are 15 lessons per semester and 30 lessons a year. She will be offering group lessons to children and private lessons to adults.
“I’m always passionate about children because that’s my strength. I want to give back to the children and the people what God gave me.”